top of page
Search
Hector

Why is your nose too big in your selfies?


Have you ever really looked at someone's selfie, or your own, and wondered. Why is the nose so very big, and how come it dominates the entire face?

Actually it's all down to perspective.

Knowy knowy photographers will tell you the reason for the distortion is 'wide-angle' lenses, like those fitted to your mobile device.

Well, yes, and no.

In reality it's to do with how far away the device is. When you're close-up the relative distance from the end of you nose to, say, your ears is quite extended. Perhaps as much as 3:1, whereas when the camera is further back the difference is very much reduced. Professional photographers, the good ones, know this and keep back as far as possible to achieve something more like 1.25:1.

There's an awful lot of nonsense talked about lenses, all they do is magnify to a greater or lesser extent, they DO NOT alter perspective or depth of field. (For all you shocked and offended techies out there Langford was wrong about this)

So why am I bothering to tell you this if it's impossible to do anything about? It isn't, and many of you may have found this out for yourself. Really look at your pics, if you've taken some with a selfie stick and cropped them to just the middle where your face is, notice how your features look more in proportion? That's right, just by moving the camera further away perspective is corrected and you look mighty fine. Don't worry about losing quality in the image, with so many megapixels you've got oodles to spare.

122 views0 comments
bottom of page