Good news: it's just an illusion caused by camera angles and lighting, not your actual body size!
Cameras can alter subject size depending on a multitude of factors like lens, camera settings, angles and lighting conditions. Wider-angle lenses, thick lenses and lenses with a short focal length cause more distortions and make the subject look bigger, while direct and harsh light has a similar result.
Pictures also only provide a 2-D version of ourselves. Depending on your features, if you have a soft, round face, photos can flatten your features and further distort the "real" you. For example, just changing the focal length of a camera can even change the width of your head.
Wider-angled lens = fatter-looking face (if it's close to the camera). No, cellphone lenses are not more accurate in terms of proportions. Their normal settings are still wide-angle lenses compared to ordinary cameras.
It's known as the mere exposure effect. You're more exposed to, used to your image in the mirror, so when you look at a picture you unconsciously notice all the differences and it's like there's something off.
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.
Most of the cameras do have lens distortion which will cause our figure or face to be fatter.
There are 3 main reasons the camera seems to add weight to your pictures. Wide-angle lenses distort subjects close to the camera, and low angles also make them appear bigger. Besides, bad lighting often creates deep shadows that highlight your flaws, including perceived extra fat.
Which Is More Accurate: Mirror Or Camera? The truth is neither flat mirrors nor cameras show us exactly how we look. Both methods are susceptible to distortions influenced by various factors. Mirror images offer self-perception reflections (when reversed), while camera photos capture how others perceive us.
A larger mirror can create a more expansive view and can help you see your entire body, which can lead to a more balanced and realistic perception of your size. Smaller mirrors, however, might focus attention on particular areas, potentially creating a distorted view of your overall shape.
You see yourself “flipped” in the mirror, and that's what you're used to. But everyone else sees you the right way around, the same as the photo, so that's what they are used to. For you or them, it's seeing what you're not used to which makes photos look weird, and highlights asymmetry.
Photographer Nadia Meli spoke with Cosmopolitan.com about this reality. “Our bodies and faces do not look the same in the mirror, on a professional DSLR, on the phone camera, the front lens the back lens – all of these don't show us how we actually look either!” she said via the magazine.
Which is more accurate, a mirror or a picture? Viewing yourself in the mirror will provide a better picture of what you look like in real-time. Pictures are not the human eye, like mentioned earlier, there are so many variables that go into photos such as angles, lighting, camera lenses etc.
“The camera adds ten pounds.” This common phrase actually describes the effects of lens distortion caused by wide to semi-wide angle lenses, which can make people in pictures appear heavier than they really are.
Reflection from a Plane Mirror
The image distance always equals the object distance. The size of the image is the same as the object (the mirror does not magnify the image).
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.
This theory posits that it's actually the mirror distorting your face. Of course, a mirror flips the image, meaning everything you see is on the opposite side. So when we see a photograph of ourselves, which is not flipped "imperfections you've gotten used to over time are now new and surprising".
The answer is simple: Mirrors. 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.
Becoming aware of common biases and thinking about how you've been applying them (without realizing it) is also important. But even more so, starting to remind yourself that others are applying those same biases to you (without even realizing it) will help you figure out how others see you.
What does “skinny fat” look like? Phenotypically, they look lean and healthy, but when we check them out they have high levels of body fat and inflammation. This ectomorph body build has hidden high levels of body fat. They appear thin and flabby.
However, when we see a photo, we look at a 2D representation of ourselves, which is not reversed and can look different from what we see in the mirror and we are not used to the reversed face in the photo. We don't have a symmetrical face that shows no differences when it is reversed.
When you look down at your stomach you bend over slightly which bunches up the fat over your abs a bit, making you look less lean. As others have said, trust the mirror and the scales. Take photos regularly so you can see progress.
Does the camera really add weight? I mean it's not gonna put 10 pounds on your body. It doesn't have that supernatural power but it might make you seem fatter in the picture. It depends on various factors like distance from the camera, focal lens, Lens Distortion, Wrong Poses, and much more.
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. Now flat mirrors have one disadvantage: they mirror you.
While mirrors can provide an accurate reflection of our physical features, they can also distort our appearance in subtle ways. Factors such as lighting conditions and the angle of reflection can also affect how we look in the mirror.