At what point did you take pictures/allow them to be taken?
I'm honestly curious. I'm looking through some older pictures of me 5-10 lbs heavier... And know I look different now, but I'm afraid of comparing pictures in case I see no difference. So... I won't... Until I reach onderland. Then... Maybe.
So... For you... At what point did you start taking pictures or allow pictures to be taken of you to mentally (or more in depth) compare with your "before"s?
I recently saw pictures of myself at my heaviest, about 50 pounds more, and I almost cried. They were my prom pictures too. Just awful. I still don't like looking at pictures of myself at my current weight because they only remind me I still have such a long way to go.
i *just* took my before picture last night. i plan to take one every 10lbs, so i hopefully end up with a dozen or so images for a photo journal.
as far as general 'out and about' photos, whatevs, they happen and if i'm out with friends they obviously know what i look like regardless of my weight so i don't really worry too much.
I took a set of photos of myself on the day I bought a scale, which was one week after I began working on losing weight. I took a second set when I reached 10% body weight lost (I could see a few minor differences from the first set), and I will take a set at every 10%. But, the photos are of me in a bathing suit (horrific!!!!), and so I'm the only person who will ever see them.
I have a few posed/candid "before" photos that were taken around the time of my highest weight, and so those should suffice if I ever feel compelled to post before and after photos here at 3FC as I reach goals.
As to letting people take photos of me... I don't look much different yet, and so I still avoid it as much as possible! I hope I feel differently someday.
This is the best plan. I wish I had pictures of me at my heaviest.
I, too, wish I had allowed pictures to be taken of me at my heaviest. However, I did not... it took me losing about 65 pounds to allow a picture to be taken and it is the avatar picture.
I wish I had saved or took pictures of myself. I was always too embarrassed and would untag any picture that didn't look flattering. I think I have one picture of me at my heaviest when I was graduating but that's about it if we are talking body shots. I didn't start taking those until I had lost about 40lbs.
I didn't start taking pictures until about 40 pounds in which I regret. I do have one or two random shots and a few birthday pictures but they aren't the best since I am not just standing there looking at the camera or anything.
I took photos every size, which was every 15-20 lbs. In the end, I ended up with a nice series of shots as I shrunk.
I take pictures every ten pounds now, when I started I waited until the first 20 were off to see a difference, because I was at a high enough weight that they didn't show much visible change until then.
Always have, always will. It never dawned on me to exclude myself from photograhps. To me photos capture important live events and emotional moments - it's the memory and emotion being captured and highlighted, thats important not the aesthetic beauty of the photograph (or it's subjects).
To me a good photo of me is one that captures my personality or emotion in the moment, not one that makes the best decorative accessory.
One of my favorite wedding day photos (keep in mind I was at or near my highest weight on my wedding day) is kind of ugly (even for me at the time). I'm crying and my mascara has smeared. It's taken at a horrible angle (making me look even wider than I was) and I look kind of blubbery and racoony, but it was captured right after my husband's grandfather gave me a gift from my husband (since I of course wasn't going to see him until the ceremony). It was three dozen roses, roughly cut in assorted bright colors. If my Mom hadn't made my beautiful wedding bouquet, I would have chucked it and used the giant messy bunch of thorny roses for the ceremony.
Not all of my wedding photos are flattering (some would argue none of them are), but no matter how thin I get, I'll always love and display those photos.
As for documenting weight loss, I always plan on taking photos specifrically "for weight loss comparison," but rarely do. When I was living with my parents and sisters, during one diet I actually set up tape lines in the basement (one for my sister to stand toes up to, and one for me to). I'd wear the same outfit (very elastist spandex capris and a white t-shirt). The plan was that every two weeks I'd have her take a photo and when the clothes got to big, I'd buy a similar outfit for consistencies sake). The diet didn't last long enough to take more than a few pictures, but it was an awesome way to mark progress because camera angle, posture, and clothing didn't interfere.
I'd do it now, except my husband would think I've gone off the deep end (he already thinks my weighing more than once a day is obsessive).
At what point did you take pictures/allow them to be taken?
