Hi All,

So today I dressed up and thought I was looking very feminine.  When I looked in the mirror, I thought I looked very good but when I attempted to take pictures of myself in the mirror with my iPhone, the pictures just didn't seem to catch what I saw in the mirror.  My wig was much more obvious.  My neck looked bigger.  Skin color was off.  I just look more male than I thought I looked.  Camera doesn't lie?

Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Paige

Cameras lie all the time. Phone cameras are short focal length so the picture has a fish bowl effect. Color shift happens because of the temperature of the room light and proper film makeup is way to heavy for normal usage.

Portrait photographers earn their keep as the know camera lighting, camera placement, posing in addition to using film with different color responses to make images realistic.

Ok, I played with my phone a little. I would still use my Pentax SLR BUT. Go to the camera and in the upper right corner of the screen there are three overlapping circles. Tap it and look at something white. Select the one with the best color and that will correct for your lighting. Stay as far back as you can from the mirror to get the image you want and if you can, crop the final picture if there is to much dead space in the image. The camera should be at eye level or a few inches above that. A full body shot can be a little lower.

This will get the most out of the camera you have but the camera is limited and lacks some of the features found in better cameras that correct for additional issues.

I'm a photographer and I think I know what your problem is. It could be the wide angle lens of your phone, yes but if you keep an iPhone an arm's length away you should get a decent result. All my pictures that I've posted here are shot as a selfie with an iPhone

Your problem is most likely the lighting. Try to find a spot next to a window that doesn't have direct sunlight, make sure to turn off the lights in that room so you don't get light from straight above as this causes dark eyes. Stand as close as possible to that  window and take another picture with the same camera and I'll guarantee you better results.

Feel free to PM me if you need more help.

Hugs
Jessica


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The issue is mostly certainly the combination of light quality, lighting angles and lens.  There's a reason why professional portrait studios use multiple lights/flashes from very specific  angles (key, fill, rim) and longer focal range lenses.  Proper lighting will either create interesting shadows or remove them depending on what you're after.  Long lenses at open apertures create beautiful background blur but more importantly the long focal length compresses facial features which is much more flattering. 

I too dabble in photography and I can tell you that to my knowledge no one has yet invented a camera that truly captures an image the way our eyes do. Least of all on a tiny little cellphone camera. Lighting is a huge issue in taking good photos.  If you ever get to see a model before they go on set for a shoot, you'll notice their makeup is very heavy and higher contrast than what you'd ever want to wear in public.  This is because of the way the lighting is picked up by the camera.   

Ultimately, the camera tends to be more perfect in it's capturing of light and color than our eyes.  Our brains play certain tricks on us based on the information they receive from our eyes.  Additionally our eyes themselves react differently under different environmental and health circumstances. Getting a photograph to look exactly like real life has been the goal of many photographers (although many just accept that it's not possible and choose to make photography it's own art form), I don't know that anyone has truly mastered that capability.

Thanks all for all the great suggestions.  I'll give it another try and let you know how it goes.  I think I might try my DSLR on a tripod with a timer too.

Thanks again,
Paige