Can cameras really add 10 pounds in pictures?

[Prince of China]

A family friend was taking our pictures and then showed them to us. My mother was horrified about the way she looked. "I'm too fat!" My mom is pretty fit for someone who has had a child (me) and is in her mid-forties. We took a few more pictures and my mother was just terrified. Then, I brought up something about cameras adding 10 pounds, I watch T.V. shows and they joke about cameras adding 10 pounds. Then, our friend said, " Oh, that's right, cameras add 10 pounds." Then, he tried to convince my mother to take some more pictures with us. She still wasn't very satisfied. Is this true? I just wanted to confirm and take the worry of my mother's mind. If it is true, how exactly does it work? Is it the lighting?

 

[qckbeam]

People just have an image of what the look like all worked out in their minds. When they see themselves from a different angle, and it doesn't match up to how they’ve always pictured, they freak out. People also have a tendency to see only the bad in pictures of themselves.

 

[Prince of China]

What if...instead of working it out in their minds, they actually saw themselves in a mirror and still didn't see exactly what they're supposed to look like in a picture, do people freak out then?
When people look a picture, they just see the negative side of themselves?

 

[Steve]

Perhaps (correct me if I'm wrong, cuz this is only a thought) the bright light of the flash can equally light many countours of one's face and body, taking away a great deal of contrast and making one's appearance seem more full or rounded...hence, fatter...


...just a thought.

 

[Prince of China]

That's an interesting theory. It might be true.
I just noticed something, you are living in the place where Carly Patterson was born.
I need some facts. Do video cameras have this effect?

 

[Steve]

I know I'm going to regret asking this, but...what's a Carly Patterson?

 

[Ikerous]

I know I'm going to regret asking this, but...what's a Carly Patterson?

Hot gymnast chick...
didnt you watch the last olympics?

 

[Steve]

Hot gymnast chick...
didnt you watch the last olympics?

Not the WHOLE thing...

 

[Prince of China]

She won the All-around for the U.S. That is something that hasn't been done in twenty years (before Carly won).
Yeah, I have to admit, she's a lovely person.
I'm a fan of Carly Patterson. I even remember asking you guys a question about a forum dedicated to her. I showed you guys a link, but I forgot that the default skin was in pink and everybody just de-railed the topic and laughed me. You were there, Ikerous.
Speaking of de-railing threads, let's not de-rail this one.

 

[Steve]

Right...back to how cool my flash light theory is...

 

[Prince of China]

Anyone else have any ideas (Or facts)?

 

[Steve]

Well, it's about TV...but you know.

By MICK LaSALLE
San Francisco Chronicle

Oh, Mr. LaSalle: You stop it, now, with all that self-deprecating talk about the camera adding 10 pounds and so on. You don't have so much as an extra ounce on you. - Gregory Davidson, San Francisco

Oh, Mr. Davidson: You're too kind. The truth is that TV doesn't necessarily add 10 pounds. This is what it does: It takes a three-dimensional image and flattens it, and this can make you look fatter or skinnier, depending on how you're sitting. For example, say it's the day after Thanksgiving, and you have a little puffiness under the chin, not a double chin, but a little extra something going on under there. The camera, in flattening that image, will take what's in the back and bring it to the front and make you look heavier. However, if you just lean forward an inch or two, so that the camera doesn't pick up the puffiness, you can look skinnier on the screen than in real life. By just leaning imperceptibly forward, you can practically give yourself a face-lift. Look at Chris Matthews. The guy is in his late 50s, but he always looks boyish, partly because he's almost always leaning forward..

 

[Ames]

http://prevention.stanford.edu/research/publications/detail.asp?911

http://www.plasticforkdiaries.org/infobites/detail.cfm?EpResourcesID=159

http://www.tccd.edu/collegian/archive/articles/model.html

 

[Prince of China]

Thank you, The Thing.
:cheers:

 

[kirovman]

You should get the same picture as what you see in real life, unless you've got a fish eye lens, or you stretch the picture.

 

[Exclamatio]

maybe people are actually fat

 

[Tr0n]

maybe people are actually fat

:dozey:

Wish I was wise as you.

 

[SupremePain]

the flash theory seems lightly, though some people sometimes probably see the bad things about themselves........

on a related note that chick who won wasnt hot, she looks like a 10 year old boy.... which may turn some of you on, but not me..... im no Gary Glitter

 

[Gray Fox]

Because of the bright flash you get much more costrast in a picture, and that is wgy when most people take pictures of themselfes they look uglier, and that is why in studios they have the light coming from all firections on the character so that you don't have that much contrast so you don't see all the little dents or zips in theri face. And the 3d to 2d explenation is also a good one.