Naked Science Forum
General Science => Question of the Week => Topic started by: thedoc on 21/12/2010 15:34:28
-
Hello,
Love the show!
Some people look good in pictures, and some people do not. Some very good looking people are not photogenic... I've noticed this when you look at the same people on video.
Has there been any scientific research into what makes one photogenic (or not)?
Thanks,
Shane
Asked by Shane Kerr
Find out more on our podcast page (http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/podcasts/show/2010.12.19/)
[chapter podcast=2924 track=10.12.19/Naked_Scientists_Show_10.12.19_7714.mp3](https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenakedscientists.com%2FHTML%2Ftypo3conf%2Fext%2Fnaksci_podcast%2Fgnome-settings-sound.gif&hash=f2b0d108dc173aeaa367f8db2e2171bd) or Listen to the Answer[/chapter] or [download as MP3] (http://nakeddiscovery.com/downloads/split_individual/10.12.19/Naked_Scientists_Show_10.12.19_7714.mp3)
-
We posed this Question to Fhionna Moore from the University of Abertay, Dundee...
Fhionna - I think the thing about being photogenic is that you could be the best looking person in the world and just take terrible photographs. There are certain things people can do to make themselves more or less photogenic, but there are certain things that some people are lucky enough to have which means that they'll take a good[img float=right]http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/copies/RTEmagicC_Large_format_camera_lens.jpg.jpg[/img] photo, and I think that’s got a lot to do with maybe bone structure, and probably as well, being able to smile naturally and look natural in front of the camera which doesn’t seem to something that everybody can do, which I know from personal experience. The kinds of things that people can do to make themselves look more photogenic are things like, for example, I read a study recently where camera angle can make people look more or less attractive, depending on whether they're male or female. So a camera angle tilted looking down on a female face makes her look more feminine and therefore more attractive, whereas a camera angle sort of looking up at a male face makes them look more masculine. There are things that women do, obviously like wearing makeup which tends to give you a healthier appearance, and we know that a healthy appearance is closely related to attractiveness. So things like having a healthy skin colour and skin texture, things like having blood profusion in the skin, so someone that exercises regularly has a lot of blood circulation, makes them look healthier. Evidence recently from the perception lab at St. Andrew shows that these things are related to the diet you eat. If you've got lots of fruits and vegetables in your diet, you've got better skin colour and you look healthier and therefore, more attractive. So there are things that people can do to enhance how photogenic they are, but I think ultimately, it comes down to how naturally people behave in front of the camera and perhaps very basic things like bone structure.
Kat - So the combination of genes, good health, cosmetics, and the skill of the photographer. But what makes a face attractive in the first place?
Fhionna - There are things like having a symmetrical face, so not having too much asymmetry in the two halves of the face tends to be associated with attractiveness and I suppose that's just good luck and good genes. We know that women with feminine facial features are treated as much more attractive, so that’s things like having bigger eyes, and a smaller jaw. In men, it seems to be more complicated. Having sort of a feminine male face is attractive and so, is having a masculine male face. So, I think a lot of it is down to your good genes.
-
Camera lenses produce distortions which can improve or worsen a persons appearance ...
Back-of-a-spoon-distortion is called "barrel distortion",
The opposite of barrel distortion is "pincushion distortion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_distortion)".
Using a camera lens which suffers from “pincushion distortion” could flatter A L-W (and David Gest).
[ Invalid Attachment ] (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/images/2008/04/18/andrewlloydwebber.jpg)
http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=23100.msg253099#msg253099
also see "perspective distortion" ...
The general assumption that "undoctored" photos cannot distort a scene is incorrect. Perspective distortion is particularly noticeable in portraits taken with wide-angle lenses at short camera-to-subject distances. They generally give an unpleasant impression, making the nose appear too large with respect to the rest of the face, and distorting the facial expression ... Conversely, using lenses with much longer focal lengths for portraits results in more extreme flattening of facial features, which also may be objectionable to the viewer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perspective_distortion_%28photography%29#Angle_of_view_of_the_capture
-
Photoshop!
Sorry I have to disagree with Mira on two points. First she doesn't look horrible in the photos I've seen of her and the ugliest car ever was the AMC Pacer. Not only is the car ugly but it has huge windows so everyone can see who's driving such an ugly car.
-
it's so unfair when u see photo after photo of friends who take great photos!
i'm not a bad looking chick, but the photos i take are usually horrible!
HELP!