# Who else here is NOT photogenic? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 16, 2003, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-here-is-not-photogenic/219419 "2003-12-16T23:33:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![PalJuicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a8b319/32.png) [@PalJuicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PalJuicy)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-here-is-not-photogenic/219419/41 "2003-12-17T12:48:41Z")
I used to be; now I get too self-conscious about looking stupid and end up looking . . . stupid (in a stick-up-my-ass sort of way). ---
**Author:** ![zephyrine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/35a633/32.png) [@zephyrine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zephyrine)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-here-is-not-photogenic/219419/42 "2003-12-17T13:04:34Z")
My real fear is that I AM photogenic, and I really DO look like that! ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-here-is-not-photogenic/219419/43 "2003-12-17T13:04:43Z")
I’m not exactly ugly on camera, but there is one ability central to being photogenic that I will never have nor understand: the ability to fake a smile. Unless I happen to be so happy about something that I actually have a noticeable smile, or laughing, at exactly the moment the picture is taken, I have to make a choice between looking like it’s my mug shot and looking like a mentally handicapped individual with his face contorted into a demented looking grimace. I just don’t understand how people can smile at will. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-here-is-not-photogenic/219419/44 "2003-12-17T13:24:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Snooooopy \* > \*\*I don’t know if cameras treat you badly, but you’re a cutie in person! \*\* Thanks :o ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-here-is-not-photogenic/219419/45 "2003-12-17T14:07:16Z")
I’m not photogenic at all. Of course I’m not all that in person, either. What’s the saying, “the camera doesn’t lie”? Whoever said that was lying. Some of the most beautiful people I know look kind of iffy on film, and some of the ugliest people I know look great in 2D. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-here-is-not-photogenic/219419/46 "2003-12-17T14:31:09Z")
I used to be very photogenic, but lately, it seems that all the weight I’ve gained is in my face and love handle dept. It totally blows. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-here-is-not-photogenic/219419/47 "2003-12-17T14:35:07Z")
Whenever I meet a new person IRL that I’ve known online, I am told that I’m better looking in person than on film. So, I guess I’m not photogenic. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-here-is-not-photogenic/219419/48 "2003-12-17T14:36:58Z")
I dunno, whatever photos I’ve seen of you look very nice. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-here-is-not-photogenic/219419/49 "2003-12-17T15:00:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SnoopyFan \* > \*\*Cameras hate me. > > I’d be really depressed if I were as unattractive as pictures say I am. \*\* Ugh, same here. And what really mashes the salt in the wounds is when someone insists the photo that has horrified you is a **really good** picture of you. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-here-is-not-photogenic/219419/50 "2003-12-17T15:24:40Z")
The only picture I really use of myself is about three years old, from my first election campaign. I don’t know why, but I actually look good in it. Although the boi seemed to like the ones I’ve sent him; but I think he would like a cocktail-napkin sketch as long as it was of me. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![zoog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7ea924/32.png) [@zoog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoog)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-here-is-not-photogenic/219419/51 "2003-12-17T15:59:55Z")
The camera gets a pretty good representation of what I look like, which is a damned shame. Mrs. Zoog is actually a quite attractive woman, but she doesn’t photograph well unless you catch her off-guard. If she’s actually trying to pose for a picture, the “smile” she comes off with is kind of scary. ---
**Author:** ![DaToad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@DaToad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaToad)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-here-is-not-photogenic/219419/52 "2003-12-17T16:36:54Z")
If ya saw pictures of the Phoenix Dopefests, ya wouldn’t ask! About the only thing worse than my pictures is my singing. ---
**Author:** ![Gundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundy)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-here-is-not-photogenic/219419/53 "2003-12-17T17:12:33Z")
I am not photogenic. At least, I hope I’m not. Even in pictures that I think are reasonably good I can only see flaws. I’m trying to get over my picture anxiety, though. ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-here-is-not-photogenic/219419/54 "2003-12-17T17:53:41Z")
About 10% of pictures of me are quite pretty. The other 90%? Ming-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling. That’s the sound of the Ming Alarm telling me I ming too much. ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-here-is-not-photogenic/219419/55 "2003-12-17T18:28:24Z")
I flee from cameras. I’m not a bad-looking person but I only look like me when my picture is taken from a point slightly above me, if that makes any sense. Side shots look absolutely awful because I have no bridge on my nose and a full face. Also, my looks tend to morph from year to year. Some years I look very Japanese, other years I look very Caucasian; I find few photographs where I actually look like how I think I look. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-here-is-not-photogenic/219419/56 "2003-12-17T19:06:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > \*\*I dunno, whatever photos I’ve seen of you look very nice. \*\* You may be the only person to think that - but then, it could be that both times we’ve met, I have not been wearing makeup and therefore look like crap on a stick. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-here-is-not-photogenic/219419/57 "2003-12-17T19:09:45Z")
Aw, heck… you look nice in person too. I really didn’t mean to imply otherwise. It’s tough judging your own photos. Mine look awfuler as the years go by. Luckily, since I live alone no one’s taking pics of me, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-here-is-not-photogenic/219419/58 "2003-12-17T21:08:57Z")
I’m horribly unphotogenic. I generally like what I see when I look in the mirror, I’m no hottie but I’m not about to scare little children either, but when I see pictures of myself I never fail to grimace. Even when the picture was taken on a “good” day (make-up’s fresh, hairs working for me, nice outfit), I’ll STILL look like ass. It’s really frustrating, and I’m actually starting to wonder if I have some sort of distorted vision of what I look like vs. the scary, scary image continually captured on film. To make matters worse, my parents are professional photographers. Guess who got all the lenses and new filters tested on them growing up? I’ve had a _lifetime_ of staring at horrific pictures of myself. Joy. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![boofy\_bloke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@boofy\_bloke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boofy_bloke)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-here-is-not-photogenic/219419/59 "2003-12-17T23:25:12Z")
Erm, I don’t know if I should be posting to this thread because I was not only a professional photographer but a model as well as being photogenic, but there are a couple of things I should clarify about photos. [ul] [li]They _are_ back to front because of the mirror thing.[/li][li]They are artificial: the camera lens is nothing like the lenses in your eyes so the image the camera records is distorted, unless the photographer is using a 135mm lens (which is the closest to the Mark I eyeball). Other effects may cause the face to be flattened, elongated or otherwise distorted.[/li][li]They record a frozen moment in time, generally around 1/125th of a second (especially when using a flash), which is a smaller “moment” than your brain can process (movies are projected at 24 frames per second and we think that we’re seeing motion rather than 24 individual pictures) so the photo lacks the temporal depth supplied by the Mark I Eyeball. We don’t get the same amount information from a photograph as we do from looking at a person in real life.[/li][li]They record light as it is, not as our brain filters it. A standard light globe produces yellow light but we see it as pretty much white. Old flourescent tubes are green but, again, we filter that light to white. Our brain adjusts its perception to daylight. If a shirt was red while outside it must be red when inside. It’s only when the light source is extreme or the viewer is sensitive that it’s noticeable.[/li][li]They record everything in real time. When we look in the mirror we can tilt our head thusly and add a little smile thusly and open our eyes a little wider thusly until we get it “perfect”. A photo gives you one click to get everything right.[/li][li]The lighting by your mirror is different from the lighting in the photo.[/li][/ul] FWIW even models get the blues. I look fat! My nose is huge! Look at that zit! You can see my broken tooth! PS A photo is never _more_ “photogenic” than your self-image. ---
**Author:** ![Cosmopolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@Cosmopolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cosmopolitan)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-here-is-not-photogenic/219419/60 "2003-12-17T23:32:19Z")
I certainly hope I’m not photogenic! FWIW, a date recently told me that my photos (I met him through a personal ad) don’t do me justice. Then again, he coulda just been trying to get into my bloomers. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-here-is-not-photogenic/219419.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-here-is-not-photogenic/219419.md?page=4)