| When photos lie
Posted: 12/14/2007 7:44:29 PM | In doing photography as a semi-serious hobby, and having met a few people from the interweb, it seems like the pictures often only sorta resemble the person. There are a few common "truth-bending" techniques I've noticed a lot. Feel free to add your observations as well.
Old photos. Very few people look like they did 10 years ago. People will notice the difference, especially if you have less hair, more chins, or fewer limbs than in your picture.
Flash too close washing out facial features. She didn't think I'd notice the difference between the lily-white porcelain skin in her profile and the red, wrinkled, pockmarked face at her house?
Camera at arm's length, shot from above. This one's a double deceiver. First it stretches out the neck while you're looking at the camera, which hides the double, triple, or quadruple chins. Also it hides sausage arms and makes a woman's chest seem larger or obscures a clear shot of the belly. Hey, some of us LIKE girls who live life like they aren't afraid to swallow their food. Don't hide it.
Grainly, off color webcam shots. This hides everything. Not only do webcams suffer from low resolution, but also poor image management software. Too often they're placed so the subject is in bad lighting so they never maximize the camera's limited potential. Many are so bad you could have two heads and nobody could tell. Because they're hooked up to computers the subject is almost always seated, cutting off most of the torso, giving good concealment and plenty of opportunity for deception. What part of the world do you live where the internet is in every home, but halfway decent cameras don't exist?
Hey, be yourself. I tend to lay it all out up front because if you'll date me after reading my profile and seeing my photo, there won't be any surprises. If you see one of these tricks it's probably a red flag. Yeah, they may just have no eye for composition, but as the site's title says, there are Plenty Of Fish in the sea. With those kinds of pictures serving as warning labels, I'd keep fishing.
Then of course there's Photoshop and outright stealing images. If you're from Nigeria you're probably not naturally blonde. Try another scam. 
So... Can you point out some other methods for masking one's true self with photographic trickery? | |
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| When photos lie
Posted: 12/14/2007 7:49:03 PM | | im going to sleep on this tonite and look for a hint of any social redeeming value in this thread. | |
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| When photos lie
Posted: 12/14/2007 7:54:10 PM | Really, really excellent post.
I have only met two people from this site, and one of them definitely used photo's as you decribed... the definition was not NIGHT and day but seeing her for the first time did throw me off slightly.
I have used webcam shots for my profile as well but that is because getting someone to take a picture of me as it stands on its own, for an interenet dating site, is very odd. I also have a selection from digital photo's and I always go on cam in bright light all the time... I do not browse mens profiles, but I can tell a lot of women use particular photo's you have described above, certainly.
Only setting yourself up for a downfall, i'm actually not photogenic at all and most people are surprised at how much better I look in real life than in photo's anyways... but then again it works in the opposite fashion as well I find, like my ex... she took extremely beautiful photo's but in reality looked different, when nothing was manipulated.
Just the way it is sometimes... but as formentioned, excellent post and definitely signs to be potentially weary of. | |
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| When photos lie
Posted: 12/14/2007 7:55:05 PM |
I'm going to sleep on this tonite and look for a hint of any social redeeming value in this thread. [/quoote] It's about using a cynical eye to spot people who may be hiding something. It's up to you to decide if that's of any redeeming value or not. | |
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| When photos lie
Posted: 12/14/2007 7:56:58 PM | OP.... How dare you suggest that I am not sometimes ghostly-white and glowing?! 
Honestly, I find a lot of those pictures amusing. People actually think they are fooling people with their "tricks". | |
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| When photos lie
Posted: 12/14/2007 8:19:15 PM | | I met some guy off this site, lo and behold, his pictures lied. He was MUCH better looking in person and I thought he was lovely in photos! | |
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| When photos lie
Posted: 12/14/2007 8:19:37 PM |
OP.... How dare you suggest that I am not sometimes ghostly-white and glowing?!
Looking at your pics I'm reminded why I'm working toward better photography gear and studio lighting. You really ought to be shot by a pro who knows photography. I bet you'd be very pleased with the results. I know most men would be! 
I wonder if anyone will trade me a Canon 5D for one of my kidneys?  | |
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| When photos lie
Posted: 12/14/2007 8:41:52 PM | I've noticed some people take a snapshot of nothing but their face (closeup)or they are half nude & in a distant photo so you can't tell what you are looking at or talking to.When someone does this it makes me wonder if they are not attractive enough to get a relation started on moral character or just being their self. | |
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| When photos lie
Posted: 12/14/2007 8:57:10 PM |
Can you point out some other methods for masking one's true self with photographic trickery?
There’s the David Byrnes and Tina Weymouths. You know, The Talking Heads; no body shots. You look at that head and shoulders…
And you may ask yourself
How do I know this?
You may ask yourself
Will she fit in my large automobile?
And you may tell yourself
Bet she’s as big as a split level house!
And you may tell yourself
This is not a beautiful date!
Letting the dates roll by; deception can be found
Letting the dates roll by; when you read “few extra pounds”
Back into the pond again; another honey’s gone
Not in this lifetime; maybe when I’m underground
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go97
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Joined: 11/25/2007
Msg: 10 | |
| When photos lie
Posted: 12/14/2007 9:12:30 PM | | good thread...which only reinforces the notion that there are a lot of limitations to online pics and chats and that you have to meet the person for real to see who they are and how they act before falling into online despair (as in lost love) or naive love (before meeting them) ahahahha | |
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| When photos lie
Posted: 12/14/2007 9:41:11 PM | It's called Internet disease, and I suffer from it.
Why? Why do I wear makeup? Why do I wear green? Why do I wear skimpy panties under my businesswear? Why do I dye my hair away from my natural golden blonde? (The blonde in my profile pics is a wig)...
Because it makes me feel good about myself. I have a point blank photo of my body shape in my profile, but I'm fully aware that certain angles are more flattering. Certain lighting is more flattering...
It's not me lying... I have that body shot right there. It's me putting my best foot forward.
That being said, I'm not looking for a date, I'm looking for friends. *shrug* | |
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| When photos lie
Posted: 12/15/2007 5:02:16 AM | | You raise a lot of good points. Excellent post. | |
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| When photos lie
Posted: 12/15/2007 5:40:09 AM | | i believe a lot of people are intentionally trying to mask their true looks but there are many that aren't.what's the point in doing that? it's such a waste of time to deceive someone in this manner..but then again many are deceptive with their emails as well.i used a web cam as that is all i had available and yes there a few lines there that the camera doesn't reveal..but it certainly wasn't intentional.i guess it boils down to actually meeting someone in person,they won't be deceived for long!! | |
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| When photos lie
Posted: 12/15/2007 6:07:56 AM | I agree with all of this. I try and update my photos as much as possible. I dont understand why someone would have a photo that is old or distorted, if you intend on meeting someone in person...do you think they wont notice? That is why I put my body size on my profile, most of my pics are head shots, so not to mislead anyone I tell them up front I am a size 12. This way, there are no suprises. Honesty..Imagine...  | |
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| When photos lie
Posted: 12/15/2007 6:24:28 AM | | My hair isn't red anymore, it's black. LULZ I AM MADE OF TRICKERY AND DECEIT! | |
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| When photos lie
Posted: 12/15/2007 6:34:30 AM | | In my 2 - 3 years of online dating, I've met more that actually looked better in person than in their photos. | |
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| When photos lie
Posted: 12/15/2007 6:35:00 AM |
My hair isn't red anymore, it's black. LULZ I AM MADE OF TRICKERY AND DECEIT!
Maybe, but you make up for it by liking horses.
Horses are good people. | |
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| When photos lie
Posted: 12/15/2007 7:10:32 AM | I'm with Daisy. The men I've met were nearly all much better looking in person than in their photos.
Women use flattering angles, flattering lighting, because they're not going to do the opposite. No one wakes up and says, "Let's see which insanely unattractive view of myself that I should put on the web?" In many cases, the pics you see on here are going to be how the person feels they look at their best. When you meet them, that is how the person looks in day-to-day situations. No one looks the same all the time, and there's nothing wrong with putting your best foot forward. If someone wishes to call me deceptive because I put a picture of me in full sunlight (my personal best lighting), then that's their problem. | |
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| When photos lie
Posted: 12/15/2007 8:08:51 AM | ...yawn...scratch..
slept on it.....same conclusion....sorry... | |
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| When photos lie
Posted: 12/15/2007 9:03:12 AM | I don't think that most of the poor photo's are intentionally bad! Most people who own and use cameras are mediocre photographers at best, and some don't know what camera to buy, let alone how to use it well.
That being said, yes, there are some attempting to use old pictures or crude tricks, even using someone elses
picture! pretty stupid if you ask me. The jig is up when they walk into "starbucks" to meet you for that first date or meeting. They've proven them selfs to be at the very least, deceitful, and at the very most, an out and out liar before they so much as utter one word! | |
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| When photos lie
Posted: 12/15/2007 9:05:59 AM | | im spanking myself right now because im bad.....the camara made my hair look shinier than what it realy is.....the camara says i have healthy shiny hair and its actualy like a cotton ball i fight with everyday.....im being misleading.... | |
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| When photos lie
Posted: 12/15/2007 9:14:40 AM | Canon, you did miss the people that post a pic of them in a crowd. Of course the at a distance and grainy was mentioned as well... Then of course the lie about the age thing can really get old...
I am a former hair stylist so I get dinged constantly about what color is my hair... Blonde, but one day for kicks I tried red... What a mistake that was... Since then it hasn't been blonde and probably won't be for a long time... Old age has a thing for make fine hair to fine to bleach the color out...
OH WELL...
However, with that said, not all of us are professional photographers, and many complain that women get glamour shots... Ummm yeah, what a shock, can't see the selling point in UNGLAMOUR shots...
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| When photos lie
Posted: 12/15/2007 9:33:02 AM | | A photo can give a broad idea of what a person looks like. However you can't always determine how good looking a person is from a pic. Photo are 2-D and people are 3-D. Things like camera focus, angle lighting, background etc can all effect what a person looks like on a pic. Some people aren't photogenic. I know women who look average or below average on their photo, but are very attractive in person. Intentionally using old and deceptive pics are a completely different story. | |
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| When photos lie
Posted: 12/15/2007 9:33:28 AM | | I am pretty straight forward with the info on my profile and that includes my photos. I've posted head shots, shots from further away, with glasses and without because I don't wear them all the time, and a grainy webcam photo. I want people who contact me to see ME. What you see is what you get and I would never want anyone to think I had deceived them. Of course, everyone wants to portray them in a positive light. When people go overboard with the illusion of what they are it makes them seem dishonest, or lacking self-esteem. I would much rather find myself attracted to who a person really is; not what they are pretending to be. | |
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| When photos lie
Posted: 12/15/2007 10:08:58 AM | | I had nice normal pics on a paid site a few years ago..the real deal and all I got was a bunch of jerks asking for erotic poses ....no matter how many pics you put up..it's not enough to attract that soul mate out there.. | |
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