The most common cause of camera distortion is that the subject is too close to the lens. Most photographers say that the type of lens used also has a lot to do with it, and wide-angle lenses (like the ones in our camera phones) are big offenders.
A camera has only one eye, so photography flattens images in a way that mirrors do not. Also, depending on the focal length and distance from the subject, the lens can create unflattering geometric distortions.
We have spent our lives seeing our faces in the mirror, and we have become used to seeing our face that way round. So when we reverse that image, it doesn't look right. No one has a perfectly symmetrical face.
Hold two hand mirrors in front of you with their edges touching and a right angle between them like the two covers of a book when you're reading. With a little adjustment you can get a complete reflection of your face as others see it. Wink with your right eye. The person in the mirror winks his or her right eye.
There's a difference between your image in the mirror and in photos. The image you see in the mirror is reversed compared to the image that others see face-to-face with you. Your friends are familiar with your non-reversed image, while you are familiar with your reversed image in a regular mirror.
Does camera show your real face? A photograph of you is your real face. When you look at the image of yourself in a mirror, you are looking at the reflection of your face, your face is exactly opposite what you see. A picture of you is most accurate as to what you look like, as the image faces the right direction.
The mirror is more accurate, since it doesn't exhibit any optical aberrations. You can't achieve that with any camera. Only flat mirrors can do this.
You might look better in the bathroom mirror because the lights are oriented right above your head, creating a sort of “professional” lighting effect. Aside from that, the mirror is going to reflect how you look in real life. Many people tend to look worse in pictures for several reasons.
We are used to identifying with our faces as they would appear in a mirror, but when we take a selfie, the camera captures our faces as strangers would see us from head on rather than we would see ourselves in a reflection.
People see the outside appearance, like a picture or mirror reflection. That is you.
There's another psychological bias that affects us when looking at pictures of ourselves. It's called the confirmation bias. It's the bias that makes you hate you. The confirmation bias is our tendency to search for and find information that backs up our previously held beliefs.
When using the filter, you're actually looking at the “unflipped” image of yourself, or the version of yourself that everyone else sees when looking at you. When looking at the inverted picture or video, it can feel like looking at a completely different version of our face.
Far away, nose and ears are about the same. We like the way we look from far away. But when you use a camera without a mirror, you are usually close, and when you use a mirror, the mirror makes you look farther away. This is why we look better in a mirror: it looks farther away.
A non-reversing mirror, also known as a True Mirror, allows you to see something as though you were looking directly at it, instead of its mirrored image.
I found the front camera gives more pleasing pictures than the back one, for example, the pictures taken by the back one often shows my eyes are proportionally smaller. Also the front camera seems to produce completely dark pictures when the lighting isn't good, while the back camera can still produce clearer pictures.
A flat mirror has no aberrations or distortion like a lens does. So your reflection in a mirror will always be a more accurate representation of you. A mirror reflection is a more accurate interpretation of the way a person looks.
When you look in a mirror, who do you see? Not the person other people see, since our reflection in the mirror is reversed by our brain. Raise your left hand, and the person in the mirror raises their right hand. From the way we part our hair to the way we smile, our faces are not symmetrical.
When being asked that can someone be very beautiful in person, but not very photogenic, most people would give the “YES” answer. There are some people around us look beautiful but not photogenic. What makes thing even more shocking is the opposite that some photogenic people do not surprise you in real life.
However, pictures show your image the way you really look. When you look at yourself in pictures, it's a slightly different version of yourself than you are used to seeing. Psychology Today added that not everyone prefers their mirror image over their actual image because some like how they look in photographs.
People with aphantasia experience either an inability or severely limited ability to create a mental image. To determine if you aphantasia, try picturing a familiar object or the face of somebody you know well. If you can't create a picture in your head, or if it's very difficult for you, you may have aphantasia.