Does the camera really add weight
 

I have googled this and the only thing that I could find to explain it is that it can add weight because you are taking a 3D image and transferring it to 2D. I took the dreaded front back and side photos of myself June 24th and today I took my updates. let me just say they still look awful even though I have lost about 5 lbs. granted that 5 lbs may not show yet, but I stood in front of the mirror with the photos and I just don't see my self looking as bad as the photos do. Is there anyone here that knows about photography? I am really down about these photos/ I have been working so hard!:(

I dont like photos either....But they do make you look bigger...or maybe they allow us to see what we really look like...We cant lie to ourselves with pics! I dont take them.....

I never let others take my picture and I have very few photos of me with my kids. I have one angle that works and my husband thinks it is funny but he goes along with it. I took those picture so that when I am having a day that I feel like giving up I can pull them out and they motivate me to work out. I am doing well with my eating since I am a diabetic.I had to change my whole eating pattern, it was not as hard as I thought once I got used to it. The pictures that I took today showed some change but not as much as I would like. I just wish it would happen faster! I spend so much time thinking about my weight and my self image. I only have about 20-25 lbs to lose but they are my lbs and I want them gone! Those photos just made me never want to put a swimsuit again.

Don't get discouraged!! A couple of years ago, I also did the front and side view photos to compare to my new n' improved look. That didn't work so well. I always knew I my hips are wider proportionally to the rest of me, but it didn't help seeing the front pic where they seemed to jut out like crazy! I was really disappointed when I saw those pics, because like you, I never thought it was THAT bad. I haven't taken those "pose" pics since just because I think taking regular pics of places I go will tell the difference over time. Since you have an "angle" that you like, it will be the same in all the pics over time and that will show the difference. ;) :)

Honestly? Uh... I have found that video cameras add more weight than photos, from my personal experiences.

I don't think the camera adds 10 pounds, unless you are caught from a bad angle. ;)

Learn to get comfortable in front of the camera now while becoming okay with what you look like, knowing you won't look that way forever. That way, when you lose weight, you will be VERY happy being photographed and will no longer hide when friends want to take pictures for the sake of memories. :D

It's funny. I would see the few photos of myself (although they were a rarity) and think, "gosh, I look sooo much bigger then in real life". But then I would see other people's photos and think, "but they look the same size, why do only *I* look larger?" I wasn't too much in denial now was I? ;)

But the real funny thing is, now I see a photo of myself (they're no longer a rarity) and think, "am I really that small?"

Don't let those photos get you down. Use them as motivation to commit to a change. Know that the changes ARE coming.

And besides, we're all our own worst critics. Don't be so hard on yourself. :hug:

I don't know but I do have a trick to share. If you are taking a pic and standing to the side, put your weight on your back leg. Why? The leg you put the weight on is using more muscle, which is in turning bulking up a little to hold you and it does in fact make that leg look a little larger than it normally would.

i dont think pictures make people look bigger i think that people just dont think they are that big to start with

Someone once told me that our mind takes the fattest we've ever been and the thinnest and what we see is right in the middle. Ever wonder why when you see a photo of yourself you look bigger?

When I was heavy, I always thought I "carried my weight well" and that I didn't look my weight. Once I lost the weight, I looked back on the old pix and yep, I was kidding myself. I really did look every bit of 257 pounds!

A friend said to me that it was my mind protecting myself from reality. I couldn't "see" myself, no matter how hard I looked.

Now I'm in the same boat as Robin. When I see a photo now, I'm astonished that I look that small. I can't "see" it either. I stare and stare, thinking "is this how I look to other people?"

There's a lot of truth to Mary's point about us seeing ourselves in the middle of our heaviest and thinnest!

I have not been on in a few days, thanks for the tips, replies and encouragment. I am going to try to quit being so hard on myself. I am going to put those pictures away for a while and just concentrate on how I feel and keep doing what I have been doing. I am off to post another question/sunject.
Thanks guys!

If a camera really adds ten pounds, then I have about 5 on me :)

I agree...we cant see what we really look like...I dont take pics anymore because I dont want to get myself down and stop working out....

Words to live by! i love this....Makes sense...

It could also be that you just take really horrible photos. Like as soon as a camera is pointed at me I automactically tense up and make the wierdest poses and expressions known to mankind. It's disgusting.
I've asked my mom to honestly tell me if I seriously look that fat in real life and she said no but agreed I take hideous photos. There is the occasional candid photo where I look fine.
So just ask someone you can trust to tell you the truth whether you look in real life as you do in the photos.