Since the invention of phone cameras, users have wondered if the picture they take with their cameras is representative of how other people truly see them.
When you take a picture with your front or back camera or look in a mirror, the image you see could be different in all three mediums.
They could look similar or radically different depending on the angle you take them, the quality of the camera, the lighting, or the type of mirror used.
It’s no surprise that people have been obsessed with knowing how they look to other people.
The natural urge to look your best combined with the seemingly different versions of yourself you see in other mediums helps to increase this concern.
This article will help you understand why your pictures look the way they do in some mediums and help you figure out how to view the real you.
Is The Back Camera What I Look Like to Others
Many factors can affect the quality and accuracy of an image you take with your camera (front or back).
The pictures you take can be affected by the quality or resolution of your back camera, the focal length of the lens, your positioning, or the amount of adequate lighting available.
These could all affect your picture’s accuracy and result in you getting a warped and untrue image.
However, if you take precautions to take up a good position with adequate lighting and a proper angle, using your back camera is more likely to produce an accurate image that mirrors reality.
Your back camera is usually of a higher quality than your device’s front camera. It can pick up little details and use minimal lighting to produce a clear image.
Is The Front Camera Accurate
The front camera of smartphones is one of the means that users can use to take self-portraits or “selfies.” But are these “selfies” an exact representation of what you look like to other people?
The front/back camera of your phone is not immune to the other factors that affect the quality or accuracy of a photo.
When attempting to take a good and accurate “selfie,” you should ensure good lighting, angles, and proper positioning. You also need to account for the “quality” of your device’s front camera.
Neither camera is accurate. The front camera of your device is more “wide-angled” than the back. A “wide-angled” lens enlarges the foreground and diminishes the background.
That is important because you want your selfies to focus on you rather than your surroundings.
A wider-angled lens will help you see a more defined portion of the area in front of your camera. That increased focus on closer details is essential for taking good selfies.
The images produced will be clear and improve your self-portrait. The length of the “lens” of your camera can also be vital in determining the accuracy of the image you capture.
A longer lens will ignore the surroundings and focus on a smaller portion of the image in front of the camera, giving you a better and more accurate photo when you take selfies.
Which Camera Should I Use?
When trying to look your best in your photos, your camera can influence how your pictures turn out.
Using the right camera can make a difference in how your pictures turn out. The front and back cameras of your devices are great at different things, making it crucial to know which one to use in different situations.
Both the front and back cameras on your device are capable of helping you take great photos depending on your usage and the type of image you’re aiming to produce.
If you want to take a selfie or a self-portrait with a primary focus on your face, the front camera is considered a better option for the task.
The front camera excels in capturing images near just enough detail to hide minor imperfections.
On the other hand, the back camera is better suited to taking pictures of subjects at a distance due to its higher resolution and clarity.
It just comes down to usage. You can use any camera for whatever purpose you want.
However, it’s vital to employ photography’s best practices when taking pictures. Ensure adequate lighting, proper distance and angles, and posture of the subject.Â
Why Does My Face Look Weird Using the Front Camera
Since the invention of selfies, people have always wondered why most of their selfies are warped and make their faces/features look weird.
It’s not news to anyone that using your device’s front camera to take self-portraits can sometimes produce terrible results.
The images produced by the front camera are usually inaccurate and have exaggerated features.
One reason for these inaccurate images is that the lens on your device’s front camera may be too short to help take good photos at that range.
Taking pictures using a short lens at close range (close up) can result in distortion of your image.
It could cause your face and features (nose, eyes, and lips) to appear larger/wider in pictures than in reality. Front cameras also flip your face in the photos they take.
The warped images may also hide ears or exaggerate the nasal asymmetry of your picture due to the stretching of the image.
You can try to counter the wide-angled distortion by holding the phone camera a longer distance from your face before taking the photo.
If you still want to capture “close” images of your face using the front camera, you should try holding the phone at a distance and zooming in before taking the photo.
That will help to negate the stretching effect of the camera and give you a more accurate picture of your features.
As mentioned above, ensure to use photography best practices when taking your shots for the best results on any camera.
Use a True Mirror Instead
If you notice, regular mirrored surfaces or mirrors produce slight or massive differences in the images they show you.
When you check two standard mirrors side by side, they may show you different reflections of the same image. That can be frustrating and lead to even more confusion about what others see when they look at you.
One way to tell what people see when they look at you is by examining your reflection in a “true mirror.” A true mirror is more accurate than photos from your (front or back) camera and regular mirrors.
You can get a much more accurate representation of your looks through a true mirror than through cameras or regular mirrored surfaces.
A “true mirror” (also called a non-reversing mirror) is a special kind of mirror that allows you to see the “real” image of an object or subject.
“True” or “non reversing” mirrors allow you to see the “real” image of an object by showing you a picture of your subject as though you were looking directly at it (rather than its mirrored image).
Regular mirrors produce mirrored images. That phenomenon is the main reason the text on your clothes is backward when you try to read them through the reflection of a regular mirror.
Ask Others What You Look Like Compared to Pictures
Another way to find out what you truly look like is by asking the people who look at you a lot.
You can find out what you look like by asking your friends, family, or colleagues (anyone you spend a lot of time around and are comfortable with).
You can show them a few images of you and ask them what they think to find out if the photos are an exact representation of your looks.
Due to the way we take pictures, most of us look different in them. We’re self-conscious and don’t show as much natural emotion as we usually do. That can affect your photo’s similarity to your looks.
If you’re unsure how to ask, you can make a game about it. Show your friends a few images of you and play a game of “bigger or smaller.”
Choose a feature (maybe your nose) and ask them to compare the photos to your face and tell you if your nose is bigger or smaller than in the images.
Asking others can give you a general idea of the size and shape of your features (and General looks) instead of the inaccurate image you see in photos and mirrors daily.
Note- you may receive mixed or inaccurate answers if you ask your friends how attractive you are. That is because different people find different features attractive.
Instead, ask about the size, position, and shape of your features compared to the photos you provided and judge how you look based on your definition of attractiveness.
Change iPhone Settings
The pictures taken by your device could sometimes seem strange, weird, or out of scale. That may be due to a flipped Image.
When you take a picture on your iPhone, the image you see on the screen may not be the same one you see after being saved on your device.
That is because viewing yourself through your device’s front camera is like looking in a real mirror. You see a reversed image of yourself.
However, when you take the photo, your iPhone reverses the image to the norm and produces a flipped image.
If you’re using an apple or iOS device, your photos could look much worse than you do in reality. That is due to the flipped image produced by your device.
The iPhone camera is known for flipping the images produced by its front camera. That can make people appear worse than they are.
A flipped image produced by your iPhone’s front camera could cause your features to look weird or asymmetrical. How to stop your iPhone from flipping your pictures.
How to Change iPhone Camera Settings
You can stop your device from flipping your pictures by turning off the feature in your phone’s settings. Here’s how.
1. Launch your “settings” application and scroll down to “camera.” Toggle off “mirror front camera.”
2. Settings > Camera > Mirror front camera.
Now, any photos you take on your iPhone should appear the way they were on the screen before being taken.
Compare a Picture With a Mirror
Another way to discover what you truly look like is to compare your reflection in a mirror to your photos.
Although your photos are not 100 percent accurate, they can be valuable in establishing some key facts about your physical appearance.
Comparing them to your reflection can help you picture your true self and draw a conclusion about your actual looks.
Since neither your pictures nor your mirror reflection is accurate, combining both images could give you an estimate of what other people see when they look at you.
Look at an image of yourself in photos and compare the dimensions of your facial features to what you can see in your reflections in a real mirror.
A direct comparison of both images could give you an idea of what things look like to everyone else. You can also play the “sizes game” to help with the comparison.
That means picking a random feature (maybe eyes or lips), comparing its size or shape in a photo, and comparing that to a reflection from a real mirror.
Video Yourself Instead
Videos of yourself are more accurate depictions of what you may look like to others. You can capture yourself in your natural element and see yourself better in them.
When you take pictures, you might make a specific “still” or “frozen” pose that could be unflattering and make you look weird. That is where videos are much better.
You can take decent videos of yourself in a few different poses, expressions, or distances and note how these factors affect or influence the final image.
You can examine your face and features from different angles and lighting to see how you look in every aspect and draw a conclusion.
People also tend to be more natural and expressive in videos than in pictures. That can go a long way to affecting how accurate they are.
When you make videos to check out your looks, ensure that you hold the camera far enough from your face, use adequate lighting, and shoot from proper angles to achieve the best possible result.
Clean Your Camera For a Clearer Picture
If you have problems with photos you take on your phone/some of your images look blurry, you may need to clean your phone’s camera lens to solve it.
How to clean your phones camera lens for a clearer image
1. Use a cleaning pen or a soft makeup brush
Cleaning pens are one of the best tools for cleaning the tiny, hard-to-reach lens of your phone cameras. They come in various sizes/brush types and are great for removing dirt from lenses.
You can also use a soft makeup brush to clean your lens if you don’t have a cleaning pen.
2. Use a microfiber cloth
You can use a microfiber cloth to clean dust or smudges from your phone’s camera lens. They are great for the task and don’t leave particles behind like tissues.
If you don’t have a microfiber cloth, you can also use any soft, clean piece of material.
Note – Don’t use a material washed with fabric softener to clean your camera lens. It can sometimes leave streaks on them.
3. Use a lens wipe
Lens wipes are one of the best tools to clean your lens. They are moistened with actual lens cleaner and are great for removing dirt, smudges, or oil stains on your lens.
Note – do not use domestic grade glass cleaners to clean your lens. They are too strong to use on the delicate glass of your phone’s camera lens.
Conclusion
I hope this article gave you a general idea of how to view your actual image. Please let us know in the comments if you have any more questions.
You can best ask the people who see you most often if the pictures you post accurately represent yourself.
If you don’t trust their opinion, you can always go to your mirror and look at your face, take a picture, and compare the two.
Taking videos will be more accurate regarding how people see you. It captures your motion similarly to human eyes.