I usually look drunk when photographed. Usually because I’m blinking at the worst possible time and am not good at smiling on demand.
The problem with pictures of my wife is that because she’s now keenly aware that she’s NOT photogenic, she tries extra hard. And that just results in an even worse forced smile. Which looks even goofier. The best pictures of her are candids.
One other technical problem arises with lighting and wrinkles. She’s got plenty of wrinkles, but in the soft lighting of everyday rooms, it isn’t really noticeable. What you notice is her pretty blue eyes and her generally pleasant demeanor. Turn on the flash, the wrinkles become prominent, and she’s ready to throw out every picture taken. And I agree, they’re not very flattering.
I had a friend of mine that I couldn’t get a good picture of. She always tenses up when the camera is pointed at her. The only good shot I ever got of her with a film camera was after her first baby was born. I don’t think she was worried as much about how she looked that day.
With digital cameras it is easier. Just try a lot of f-stops and shutter speeds and angles and throw away the bad ones. A lot of minor problems can be fixed in the photo editing also. I also find that portraits work better if you back off and zoom in.
My nephew has the same problem as you unphotogenic twin: he gets incredibly stiff in front of a camera. The result is a strained looking fact with a sneer or grimace rather than a smile.
I remember getting photos taken years ago by a professional portrait photographer. She was constantly telling me “relax your jaw,” “soften your eyes,” “relax your lips,” etc. After seeing the results, I could tell that even slight tension in some areas really affected how attractive I looked in the photo. My nephew does the opposite of all those instructions. Really. The poor kid looks more like he’s taking a difficult dump than smiling!
I think I’m the same way: I stress about having my picture taken, and I don’t think I look good in my pictures at all. Well, hardly ever.
Side note: I will often complain about photographing badly, and then have someone try to compliment me, “Oh, no, you don’t photograph badly at all!” as if encouraging me to have better self-esteem. This is weird because believing I photograph badly is having better self-esteem, since the alternative is to believe (which I don’t) that I photograph just fine and I’m actually that fugly in real life.
I think I’ve learned to improve my smile over the last couple of years, not only in front of the camera but in real life. In the past, I used to pretty much use my whole face to smile while now I mostly use just my upper cheek muscles and let them lift up the rest of my face a little. After 32 years, it was tough to retrain myself on smiling but I think I look better now in pictures when I don’t use all my facial muscles. I think my muscles have even slighlty reshaped themselves anyway as I now find it difficult when I try to smile the way I used to.
Before, I never ever used to show any teeth because I looked absolutely awful, but I don’t really have a problem with it now. I think the key really is to keep parts of your face relaxed, especially the jaw and eyes.
I am not photogenic and my sister is. She has literally never had a bad picture taken. I think it may have to do with her bone structure. She has high cheekbones and a round face. I am more angular and pictures don’t do me justice. I also think that it may be partly technique.
I have no idea because some super models look awful without makeup yet photograph so beautifully?
Some people have “sides.” You know good side versus bad side.
The best example is Justin Timberlake. Look at his photos. He can be very handsome from one angle and really ugly from another.
I am thinking not photographing well is like that.