Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I was just wondering if I'd regret not taking pictures / videos of my transition on T, as I see all those youtube videos of people talking about changes every month, recording voice changes and taking photos and everything. But I've never liked taking pictures of myself, I have very few ones of me pre-T, and now that I'm one week in, I'm a little concerned that I'll regret not doing it. Mostly because I guess it will be harder to notice changes if I don't do picture comparisons or anything, but I get dysphoric when looking at myself pre-T / female appearance, and there's no way I'd keep those photos/videos long-term.

What do you guys do? Do you all record everything? Am I the odd one out? Will I regret it if I don't?

I haven't had any pics taken to record anything. My daughter caught me playing with my grand daughter 2 years ago, last one before that was about 7 years ago. I don't regret it a bit, but I never felt the need to compare my 'progress' with anyone else. I know who I am and I know how I feel. Phooey on how I look, the mirror tells me more than I need to know as it is.

Do what you feel is right. Some pictures might be good for those dark times when it feels that your transition isn't going anywhere. If you are strong enough to just enjoy the ride your on then meh pictures really don't matter as much.

I think its up to the person. I just like to see from where I started to where I am now, like damn I came this far in my transition. I don't think you will regret it and your def not the odd one out. Everyone is different.

I have nothing. I hate pictures anyway. Nothing documenting my transition aside from a few videos of me with my snake, and its only audio with my snake as the forefront. That's my only record. I never cared to document it since I'm not planning to broadcast my transition. I don't regret it at all.

I am going to take pictures and recordings, but in my mind I see it as being able to see my progress when I'm feeling down. But I am sure there's guys who would simply see it as a reminder of who they used to be so if you don't want to record then that's fine, but then if you do, that's fine too. I think it's perfectly reasonable either way.

I'll probably be doing it and I really don't feel much dysphoria looking at my pictures. There's really no erasing the past so I just make peace with it.

I did at first... like the first 6 months maybe and then gave it up.  Never ever planned to make any of it public.  More just so I could see what went on.  I don't regret giving it up.  Everyone changes through life.  If a picture is taken... its taken.  If not then not.  I don't see a need to obsessively document my life in that way. 

I kind of wish I had taken pictures because I think it would be cool just to see how much I've changed over time. But I never liked taking pictures of myself, so it's not a big deal.

If you take a picture or other recording, you can delete it later. If you don't take it, and find you wish you had, there's nothing to do about it.

I take short video clips for my own reference only. No intention of ever showing them to anyone, certainly not going to upload them into can-never-really-take-back internet land. They are useful when I start thinking not much has changed.

I think that it really does depend on the person! Ive started doing daily recordings on Vine of only saying the date and what day Im on, I know others who don't even take pictures/videos but record their voice instead to hear the change in the voice. I don't think that you'll regret it if you don't but it is nice, at least in my opinion.

The only reason that I am taking pictures is because of having friends on facebook who are interested in following me.  Those are the only people who care so they are the only reason that I am taking the pictures.  I haven't started T yet but I've been making changes which is noticeable and therefore worthy of documenting.

I don't think you'll regret it or anything. I think it's a good idea to keep some kind of record either by journaling, taking pictures, or video. It helped me understand how much I've changed. If you don't have reference points you might not recognize changes. This goes with physical and psychological. Journals can also help you identify possible issues you might have with hormones.

I did videos (private only - YouTube posting isn't for me) to track my voice changes at monthly intervals.  I also did monthly photos of various portions of my body and overall appearance in the exact same positions so that I could gauge hair growth, fat re-distribution, etc. 

I would say, for myself, I would most definitely have regretted not taking photos/videos.  It was amazing to see the transformation.

I only took a photo right before I started with my friend.  I don't regret it but I guess a photo or two every now and then wouldn't hurt?  The only way I knew my body shape was changing was by how tight my dress shirts got around the shoulders!

Quote from: Nygeel on September 10, 2014, 06:53:28 PM
I don't think you'll regret it or anything. I think it's a good idea to keep some kind of record either by journaling, taking pictures, or video. It helped me understand how much I've changed. If you don't have reference points you might not recognize changes. This goes with physical and psychological. Journals can also help you identify possible issues you might have with hormones.

I agree with this, journaling is a great idea to keep track of your physical/emotional state (regardless of whether you're on T or not, honestly)

As far as recording/taking pictures...if you don't feel like that's what you want to do, I doubt you will regret it later. I have been recording my voice and taking pictures just so I can see my progress. For me it's a very exciting thing, but it's not that way for everyone.

I've avoided cameras since my dysphoria got really bad about a year ago.  The other day a friend showed me a picture of myself they'd taken without me knowing.  It was really good.  I was surprised because I realized I liked how I looked in it.  There is part of me that thinks more pictures would have been fun and another part of me that is really glad that I just have this one (perfect) picture at the end of current transitioning.

I think you might regret it, but I don't see how it could be a big deal. I regret not taking pictures during my transition the same way I regret not saving the baseball cards I had when I was a kid. It would be nice to have them, but not having them isn't causing any problems.

Quote from: Felix on September 12, 2014, 12:34:27 AM
I think you might regret it, but I don't see how it could be a big deal. I regret not taking pictures during my transition the same way I regret not saving the baseball cards I had when I was a kid. It would be nice to have them, but not having them isn't causing any problems.

That's a great way to phrase it. I've regretted it the same way I regret not keeping a lot of things. My life isn't any worse, but it's a bit less colorful.

If you go by standard internet rules, then you didn't transition if you don't take pics.


But really, its a personal thing. I took pics, but I really don't show them to anyone, so it was kind of pointless and I really don't care to look at them much myself considering the hideousness involved...

I did more of that stuff in the beginning of transition. Videos etc, but I'm too lazy/can't be bothered to do any videos now. I don't think it matters. I know plenty of guys with no internet presence. Being online doesn't make your transition more "real". And honestly, for me, I don't want people I know to find the videos and stuff.

I've heard people say they regretted not having pictures and voice tracks. You can do something very simple-- short videos (not uploaded) and/or selfies and a voice recorder.

--Jay

I took pics and made voice recordings in the beginning, then lost interest. I still think it's good to have those first pics in case I want to do a proper comparison one day.

I haven't taken any comparison pics and I don't regret it one bit. I have a few floating around that were taken like any regular picture (at an event, etc) and if I want to think about it I can be like "oh yeah that was December so like 9 months in."

The way I see it cis men don't take pictures of themselves as they go through puberty. They just look at old pics and can see how young/old they look. It's funny to imagine though "hey guys here's a picture of me 3 days after my balls dropped."

Thanks everyone for your answers, and sorry for not replying sooner, I've had a lot on my plate lately. I've decided that I'll only take one or two comparison pictures monthly or every two months, and later if I feel too dysphoric I can always delete them. But some of you guys don't record anything so that makes me feel less weird, either way as you say regretting it won't be that much of a problem. Btw I'm almost 2 weeks on T now, yay! I haven't noticed any changes at all though yet, but still!

I never did take frequent pictures as an attempt to record progress, but I'm glad I do have pictures from around the time I started T. I don't think you'll necessarily regret not taking progress photos, but now's the only chance you're gonna get to see this "you" again if you don't take at least one.

I'm not taking pictures or making videos. Sometimes someone takes a picture and that's fine. I personally know that if I started taking pictures every week or something I would become slightly obsessed (it's happened with other things) with my progress. Now I look in the mirror every now and then and think Oh look change, or I see people that haven't seen me for a while and they point things out and that makes me happy.

I never really took photos specifically for transition documentation. I kind of just ended up with several selfies throughout the last couple years and to be honest I don't even like to look at the earlier ones. I never planned on showing off my transition so it's not a big deal to me that I don't have a lot. Everyone is different though. Just because you take pictures and videos doesn't mean you have to look at them, but you'll have them if you decide you want to.

I don't think most bio boys document every change through puberty, but I'll personally probably wind up recording everything. I don't think you're alone, though.

Quote from: Manny on September 08, 2014, 05:54:32 AM
I was just wondering if I'd regret not taking pictures / videos of my transition on T, as I see all those youtube videos of people talking about changes every month, recording voice changes and taking photos and everything. But I've never liked taking pictures of myself, I have very few ones of me pre-T, and now that I'm one week in, I'm a little concerned that I'll regret not doing it. Mostly because I guess it will be harder to notice changes if I don't do picture comparisons or anything, but I get dysphoric when looking at myself pre-T / female appearance, and there's no way I'd keep those photos/videos long-term.

What do you guys do? Do you all record everything? Am I the odd one out? Will I regret it if I don't?

I didn't intentionally record my transition progress in any way. I don't regret it for the most part but the one thing I do wish I had done was taking measurements of various parts of my body. It'd be cool to know how much size I actually gained in my shoulders, chest, arms etc and to see how much smaller my hips got. I'd definitely recommend measuring and taking note of those numbers to any pre-T guy, you'll want them later for comparison purposes trust me!

You have to figure out what path is right for you. Maybe you want to start off recording the changes that way if you like it you can stick with it and if you don't like it then you can just stop.

I hardly ever took pictures of myself before I started my transition. There were the obligatory birthday, family and friend group pictures that I would be in but nothing special. I chose to not keep a specific transition record in the end. I didn't want to get caught up looking for new changes and becoming upset if things were progressing slowly or not at all. So I chose to let everything just blend into life and treat it as I did my first puberty. When I noticed things it was a pleasant surprise.

Just find your path and all will be well

I'm planning to do the 'one pic per day' thing for as long as I can be bothered. I've seen a few people (not just trans people) collate them into videos and I like the effect.

For me I think it'll be nice to have photos because I feel like I look at them from a more impartial view than when I look in the mirror, so they are more helpful in tracking any changes to my face.

Quote from: Nikotinic on October 06, 2014, 04:23:50 AM
I'm planning to do the 'one pic per day' thing for as long as I can be bothered. I've seen a few people (not just trans people) collate them into videos and I like the effect.

For me I think it'll be nice to have photos because I feel like I look at them from a more impartial view than when I look in the mirror, so they are more helpful in tracking any changes to my face.

I was thinking of doing this myself.