The photo problem, who else has it?

[abd789]

I was reading a thread and saw that another member has the same trouble as me, maybe its more common

I look at myself in any mirror and I look great, cute, girlie.... try and take a picture and I look like a total man, my awesome hair nearly disappears, my features look masculine and I usually look like my father. Walk back to a mirror and Im awesome again....

[Jennygirl]

I definitely notice that it is much harder to take a photo that represents the way you look in 3D

I think a lot of it has to do with lighting and the way our eyes & brain capture form vs a lens with film / sensor. You really do see so much more with your own two eyes, a lot of things get lost in photos while other things are enhanced.. Doesn't always work out in a person's favor

I would try a more diffused lighting, like standing facing a large window

[bmapwv]

I also have this exact same problem. It is so bad that I am developing a phobia about it and break into tears when I see a picture of myself.

[Laura_7]

You usually can turn down the flash, this might help some.

And you might take a pic from different views, from the side etc ...

[abd789]

Ive always disliked photos of myself and avoid them, but I thought that was a gender identity issue, now I hate the ones where I am supposed to be gender correct...

[bmapwv]

You usually can turn down the flash, this might help some.

And you might take a pic from different views, from the side etc ...

Or I can just avoid the camera and have a happier life...

[allisonsteph]

I have the opposite problem. I look in the mirror and see the same reflection that I hated for so many years staring back at me. When I see a picture, I am shocked at the changes.

[Eva Marie]

I absolutely hate seeing pictures of me because they look nothing like what I see in the mirror.

[Harley Quinn]

I was reading a thread and saw that another member has the same trouble as me, maybe its more common

I look at myself in any mirror and I look great, cute, girlie.... try and take a picture and I look like a total man, my awesome hair nearly disappears, my features look masculine and I usually look like my father. Walk back to a mirror and Im awesome again....

Get someone to snap candid pictures for you. They always turn out better than selfies.

[Hyperduck_23]

Another good idea is to take a LOT of pictures in quick succession instead of trying to snap that one perfect photo....then you can pick one from the pile you've taken. I tend to think that it's the trying to pose and capture a staged moment that is the issue, and also why the candid shots others take without you knowing can be some of the best.

[cindianna_jones]

Before this last year, I think I had only 6 pictures of me. For my whole life. I had other problems that needed to be addressed from a long term abusive relationship. It is truly amazing how my self image has improved once I started dealing with that. Now I like most selfies I take of myself. A project thirty years in the making

Cindi

[melissa_h]

The photo problem I have is taking too many    I can catch the right angles and lighting with a camera, and easily delete the ones that aren't quite right.  When I look back, I wind up with a very positive view of the photos .... probably too positive for where I'm really at, but I'm a bright-side kind of person.

Mirrors ... I have a love hate relationship with.   In guy mode, I'm seeing my feminine side more easily in the mirror. In girl mode .... bathroom lighting is viscous. I have a small mirror in my kitchen that is much more forgiving.

[Tessa James]

No photo has ever been able to capture how wonderful I feel about being a transgender girl and woman in transition.  I do like my image in the fuzzy reflections we can catch in window glass but the sharp edges of a camera or mirror, meh.

[Sydney_NYC]

Yes, I definitely look more feminine in person than in pictures. The odd thing is that with video I do look more like how I look in the mirror which is feminine. There is something about stills that makes thing look more masculine. Also lighting plays a big roll. One trick for pictures is to overdo the makeup a little. Still pictures seem reduce the effect of makeup and makes you face look more natural in a good way.

On my iPhone sometimes using the chrome filter makes my face look more feminine and the back camera gives more flattering pictures than the front facing camera. Sometimes seeing your reflection just in glass (not mirror) make certain shadows present that make me look more masculine especially in the brow that don't show in person or a mirror. I once looked in the mirror next to some reflective glass and couldn't believe the difference. My cis wife was next to me and it had the same effect on her.

[JenniRP70]

Definitely feel the same way.

I feel like a woman when I'm dressed and I seem to naturally act like one too (or possibly overact!), but look in the mirror and I can't see totally through a bloke in drag!!!  Okay, I've been a boy/man for 40+ years so what do I expect!  My conscience sees an over-weight body with male facial features, thighs and calves like tree trunks, no real feminine waistline, wearing ladies clothes and thinks, "You are joking aren't you?  How the hell can you pass yourself off as a woman?", even with make-up.  But, I can't stop the desire to continue.

In honesty, I'm never happy with the photo's taken of me as a bloke and cringe at the selfies so I'm not photogenic as either sex    I guess we'll always see things differently to how others see us because we potentially have higher expectations or are familiar with things we don't like that become forever dominant in any view of ourselves.

Jenni

[Martine A.]

Yes yes yes. I have angles from which I look horrible on a photo. Doesn't everyone have those??

But when you meet me and talk with me, you see that girl before you even if looks is flickering. Appearance on its own is one part of the gender perception (and beauty after all), but not the only one.

Experiment. Could be it is what you haven't tried yet that gives good photos.

[kittenpower]

before I started transition, I saw a therapist for non gender related issues I was having, and as we were talking I decided to tell her about my trans issues, and I even went as far as telling her that if I looked in the mirror long enough I could see a glimpse of a woman; she replied "you would have to look for an awfully long time."

[JenniRP70]

before I started transition, I saw a therapist for non gender related issues I was having, and as we were talking I decided to tell her about my trans issues, and I even went as far as telling her that if I looked in the mirror long enough I could see a glimpse of a woman; she replied "you would have to look for an awfully long time."

Sorry, I really did laugh out loud reading that!  That's the sort of sarcastic thing I'd say to somebody!

[Joan]

Definitely, positively yes!

Every time I take a photo my nose seems to cover about half of my face. Big it may be, but I don't get quite such a bad impression if I look in the mirror.

[kittenpower]

Sorry, I really did laugh out loud reading that!  That's the sort of sarcastic thing I'd say to somebody!