Bad lighting, bag angle, weird expressions, taken from too far away, a close up that makes your nose bigger, some cameras that seem to capture all your flaws because they're so high definition, bad cameras that alter the actual color of everything, and lets not even get started on red eye and flash.
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.
This is because the reflection you see every day in the mirror is the one you perceive to be original and hence a better-looking version of yourself. So, when you look at a photo of yourself, your face seems to be the wrong way as it is reversed than how you are used to seeing it.
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.
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.
Play With Poses
Move around a bit, play with your sunglasses, etc. It'll make for a more interesting photograph and it'll put you at ease. Posing will get less difficult and you'll come up with a few familiar go-to's over time.
The mirror is a reflection.
It's a reflection, so it shows how we look like in reverse. Because we're so used to seeing the reverse version of ourselves, seeing how we look in pictures can be jarring. And unless you're blessed with a perfectly symmetrical face, the photo version of yourself can be even more wonky.
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.
Many people complain that they do not photograph well. In the present study, we hypothesised that the self-face is memorized more beautifully than reality, which may result in reports of being not photogenic. We took photographs of students who were in the same university course and were familiar with one another.
If you think you look better in person than in photographs, you're probably right. According to new research by psychologists at the Universities of California and Harvard, most of us succumb to the "frozen face effect" in still photos -- and it's not very flattering.
The camera lens is not the human eye
It's called lens distortion and it can render your nose, eyes, hips, head, chest, thighs and all the rest of it marginally bigger, smaller, wider or narrower than they really are.
REASON #1: YOU'RE A REVERSE VERSION OF THE SELF YOU SEE IN THE MIRROR. No human face or body is perfectly symmetrical. Although we often think we're surrounded by symmetrical people, this is only because our brains “correct” what we see within just seconds of meeting a new person.
Avoid the I'm-so-over-it look.
"Keep your body language warm and open. Don't cross your arms; it makes you look defensive. And face the camera while looking directly at the lens. Tilt your chin down slightly to make your eyes appear larger and more seductive."
Your actual self, however, is the one that you actually see. It is the self that has characteristics that you were nurtured or, in some cases, born to have. Self-concept is the construct that negotiates these two selves.
We Expect The Mirror Image
One major factor is that photos generally show us the reverse of what we see in the mirror. When you take a photo of yourself using some (but not all) apps or the front-facing camera on an iPhone, the resulting image captures your face as others see it. The same is true for non-phone cameras.
When it comes to appearance, which is more accurate, the camera or the mirror? 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.
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 new study shows that 20% of people see you as more attractive than you do. When you look in the mirror, all you see is your appearance. When others look at you they see something different such as personality, kindness, intelligence, and sense of humor. All these factors make up a part of a person's overall beauty.
According to psychology, when we see ourselves in the mirror, we tend to think of ourselves as prettier, than how we actually look to others, in real life. That's the perception of the mirror, vs what you look like to others in real life.
However, not liking yourself in photos is very real, and not being comfortable in front of a camera will translate to a photo easily, and create a less than perfect portrait of you. It's not necessarily a real portrait though, there is an actual scientific explanation as to why we don't like ourselves in photos.
Are Some People Just Naturally Photogenic? Some characteristics translate more gracefully to film than others. Sharp cheekbones, a square jaw, and other angular facial features make for attractive subjects in photography because they better capture the available light.