NationStates Jolt Archive

Of all the people I know I am the least photogenic. I can NEVER take a picture correctly. I'm always blinking or have a messed up look on my face. Why is it that some people are doomed to taking crappy pictures for as long as they live? Just look on the pic thread and see my pics. I just don't look right. Is anyone else cursed with this? If so what recurring events or characteristics cause your pictures to turn out horribly?

I know i'm cursed with it :(

Sweet crap no, I always look stoned in pictures. Especially ID photos. And it's not always true.

This is probably why my car gets searched everytime I get pulled over...

Sweet crap no, I always look stoned in pictures. Especially ID photos. And it's not always true.

This is probably why my car gets searched everytime I get pulled over...

You haven't seen a bad ID pic until you see mine. My god, if I ever murdered someone that's the photo they'd show on the news. It's THAT bad.

My eyes are always in a weird half open state or I look dead.

errr... can I make a slight correction... photogenic means you look great in pictures but (unless you're using a tripod and have some way of framing it and seeing how you look before you hit the shutter) you're not the one TAKING the picture. The correct phrase should be, "Yes, I LOOK GREAT IN pictures."

I'm an E.S.L. Teacher sorry,
Cathenia

You haven't seen a bad ID pic until you see mine. My god, if I ever murdered someone that's the photo they'd show on the news. It's THAT bad.

You have nothing on mine. It looks like I have a mullet. :p

You have nothing on mine. It looks like I have a mullet. :p
haha, shit. Mullets just scream either ex con or trailer trash :p

Mine looks like Scarface without the Al Pachinoness and with big poofy hair.

You haven't seen a bad ID pic until you see mine. My god, if I ever murdered someone that's the photo they'd show on the news. It's THAT bad.
Definately got that goin' on. Check this-I am a balding guy with long stringy hair-I always wear a floppy hat that I have to take off for the photo. On top of that I always go early in the morning to avoid lines. I also have a three inch long goatee that gets straggly and forks, with a mustache too bushy to be a fu manchu but it's that way anyway. Add to that sunken eyes with bags that are accentuated by it being 7:30 AM. When the neighbors say "He was such a quiet, nice guy" no on will believe them...

I am horribly un-photogenic. I cannot force a smile for a picture. I must be caught smiling naturally by suprise, or else it looks like someone grabbed my cheeks and pulled my face back. I also have hair that, while I am in the process of growing it long, is currently at a horribly sloppy looking shoulder length.

Thank goodness my ID photo actually looks halfway decent...except that nobody ever thinks it's me, since I have a short buzz-cut on my drivers license!

not in the slightest, i always look crap on pics

Definately got that goin' on. Check this-I am a balding guy with long stringy hair-I always wear a floppy hat that I have to take off for the photo. On top of that I always go early in the morning to avoid lines. I also have a three inch long goatee that gets straggly and forks, with a mustache too bushy to be a fu manchu but it's that way anyway. Add to that sunken eyes with bags that are accentuated by it being 7:30 AM. When the neighbors say "He was such a quiet, nice guy" no on will believe them...

Sounds like you're quite a character! :p

not in the slightest, i always look crap on pics

I haven't seen ONE bad pic of you! Why must you insist on feeding yourself these false dillusions of ugliness?!? Stop it! Bad, bad Tink!

I am decidedly unphotogenic. A fair number of people (with full eyesight and normal aesthetic sensibiltities) have described me as attractive, but in photos I look like a Nosferatu. Pasty skin, sunken cheeks, sunken eyes. I think its my complexion, because I look half-decent in black & white photos. Strangely enough I am Videogenic...I look good on film and video. Odd that.

Sounds like you're quite a character! :p
I'm hard to forget. I had to move to Santa Cruz just so I could walk down the sidewalk without people crossing the street. Here, I look like a square...:D

I'm not photogenic, mostly because of my teeth. For some reason they are very small, like the size of children's teeth so I always have a gummy smile. :(

I'm hard to forget. I had to move to Santa Cruz just so I could walk down the sidewalk without people crossing the street. Here, I look like a square...:D

I have a tendency to feel comfortable around people who aren't "normal" or "usual". I have no clue why, but I just love it when people are different.

I haven't seen ONE bad pic of you! Why must you insist on feeding yourself these false dillusions of ugliness?!? Stop it! Bad, bad Tink!
bleh

bleh

Bleh right back at you!

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y189/Freetha/Freetha.jpg

they say the camera puts on a few pounds.. but in my case.. it acctually takes them off.. ;) that's how photogenic I am..

You know, when a chick with an online cult that has a collection of pictures starts complaining about her not being photogenic, kinda makes me want to ask what kinda bait you're using today...
for every pic i post i have to take like 50 to get one that i feel is ok and i still don't think i look like i do in real life

actually I look pretty good on camera

for every pic i post i have to take like 50 to get one that i feel is ok and i still don't think i look like i do in real life
I think that puts you at a better ratio than professional models. But I retracted the statement a little too late...

Like most people I don't look great in photos. That's because most people can't take photos.

for every pic i post i have to take like 50 to get one that i feel is ok and i still don't think i look like i do in real life
its in the technique you use.
how long you been trying to get a good shot? have you tried adjusting the lighting? how bout the location where you take the shot. some people photograph better outside than they do inside.

Like most people I don't look great in photos. That's because most people can't take photos.
Just say no to flashes.

Just say no to flashes.
flashes tend to f up the pic unless they are used professionally

flashes tend to f up the pic unless they are used professionally
Mostly because the camera is the worst place for light to come from.

i try to smile too much in pictures and end up looking like a dork. i can't help it.
plus i close my eyes/blink a lot when there's a camera in front of me.


short answer is i'm cursed too :(

Just say no to flashes.
flashes tend to f up the pic unless they are used professionally
Indeed, frontal flashes tend to highlight skin imperfections. Ideally the flash should be reflected onto the face by bouncing it off walls or using a reflector. The frontal flash looks so unnatural. It looks as if real life would look if you had the sun embedded in your forehead.

I would say I'm average on the photogenic scale. Besides those settings on digital cameras which make every single pore on your body stand out like a stripper at the Pope's funeral I'm not too difformed by photos, and generally look pretty good. That said, I've got a certain charm or charisma or whatever that I can put across while in person but never seems to carry on to film/JPG. Or the Interweb.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y189/Freetha/Freetha.jpg

they say the camera puts on a few pounds.. but in my case.. it acctually takes them off.. ;) that's how photogenic I am..
nice photo.
looks like you would photo better in daylight
you would look good in front of a river or in front of some snow capped mountains in a soft white dress.
or even at the mall. You got the eyes, hair and face for it.
forget about the beach though unless it is done right. no offense intended.

Indeed, frontal flashes tend to highlight skin imperfections. Ideally the flash should be reflected onto the face by bouncing it off walls or using a reflector. The frontal flash looks so unnatural. It looks as if real life would look if you had the sun embedded in your forehead.

it all depends. the purpose of some shots is to get the imperfections. Sometimes getting the perfections makes you look more realistic. but it depends on how its done.

I would say I'm average on the photogenic scale. Besides those settings on digital cameras which make every single pore on your body stand out like a stripper at the Pope's funeral I'm not too difformed by photos, and generally look pretty good. That said, I've got a certain charm or charisma or whatever that I can put across while in person but never seems to carry on to film/JPG. Or the Interweb.
a good photo will put those qualities out for you. but it takes a lot of practice to get it to where you can get those qualities in the picture.

i try to smile too much in pictures and end up looking like a dork. i can't help it.
plus i close my eyes/blink a lot when there's a camera in front of me.


short answer is i'm cursed too :(
for your blinking:
either look off to the side
or pretend your looking at a hot female


smiling is always good don't worry bout looking like a dork.
but if it really bothers you, think of something serious as you look into the camera, this will also help you with your blinking
but don't ever scowl

nice photo.
looks like you would photo better in daylight
you would look good in front of a river or in front of some snow capped mountains in a soft white dress.
or even at the mall. You got the eyes, hair and face for it.
forget about the beach though unless it is done right. no offense intended.

none taken.. and thanks.. ;)

Some are crappy but some are really great

Other!

for your blinking:
either look off to the side
or pretend your looking at a hot female


smiling is always good don't worry bout looking like a dork.
but if it really bothers you, think of something serious as you look into the camera, this will also help you with your blinking
but don't ever scowl
thats the problem - i used to scowl and look dead miserable in pictures, so now i make an effort to smile and not look like the living dead. and believe me in many pictures i look like a total dweeb :p
but rather that than look too serious...

thanks for the advice on blinking though *looks off screen*

I like taking pictures.
there is one picture I took of a cloud formation back in cali.
It looked like an eye. You can get this effect if the sun is directly behind the cloud. Except that one this occasion the sun was setting in the opposite part of the sky when I noticed it. And the weird thing about it was that all the other clouds were moving but this one stayed in the same place for 3 hours.
I got like 12 photos of it. I called the series the title "Eye Of God". On one photo I put the caption "Eye of God watching Los Angeles".
That's like my favorite series. Though I've also photographed women who have posed for me. And some animals and stuff.
There was this island where I took a picture of this spider that was as big as your hand. These things were huge and they spun webs across the roads and stuff. I was taking a photo of one when it jumped at me. I instinctly punched out and it went flying. F ing thing scared the shit out of me. I thought I was going to get bit and took off running. They were freaking poisonous too.

but where I'm at now, you're not allowed to take pictures. Its a secure location.

I never smile when my picture is taken (and if I do, it's due to a technicality).