Do you filter your selfies?

[nala]

Do you filter your selfies? I don’t know if I’m using the proper term. But. I have noticed that many people appear different in person than on their social media selfies. I was told they use filters.
So, based on this definition, do you filter or use filters on your selfies?If so, why? If not, why not?

 

[kenny]

Never took a selfie.
Actually never took a pic with my phone.
Have no clue what a "filter" is.

I do have filters for my DSLR lenses, a polarized one, and UV ones to protect the optics of every lens - but I suspect that's not what kids nowadays mean by filter.

 

[lyra]

Heavens, no. Like Kenny, I have never taken a selfie. Well, not on purpose. Gives me the heebie jeebies. I wouldn't have a clue how to use a filter, and wouldn't use one, because I'm just that hard on myself that I'd feel it would be like lying.

 

[stracci2000]

I took a few selfies when I first got my cell phone several years ago. I thought the fish eye lens made me look ugly, so I stopped doing it.

 

[lucida818]

Nope cos I don’t bother & am not active in social media.
Lazy to find out how to do it too......
I do notice ppl using Samsung phones take better photos!

 

[dk168]

Happy as I am, however I seldom take selfies or appear in photos.

DK

 

[missy]

No. I think that pics that have that done to them look so fake. Plus I have no clue how to do that anyway lol. If I'm posting a pic I want it to be real and if I don't like a photo I just won't share it. I take photos with my iPhone 6s Plus. It's old but it keeps on working and fingers crossed it continues as I am not savvy with technology and I don't enjoy learning how to use new devices.

Here's my most recent selfie pink nose (it's cold out now) and all.



This is me. Pink nose and all. Just in time for Christmas (hello Rudolph lol).

 

[monipod]

I take selfies for my Instagram account. Not often, but just for something different. I don't use Facetune or any face/body altering filters. The Instagram filters are usually enough. Just to darken or lighten the mood of the photo etc. Snapchat filters... that's a whole other level! I use some of the fun ones but the ones that make me look like a different person, not so much.

 

[missy]

I take selfies for my Instagram account. Not often, but just for something different. I don't use Facetune or any face/body altering filters. The Instagram filters are usually enough. Just to darken or lighten the mood of the photo etc. Snapchat filters... that's a whole other level! I use some of the fun ones but the ones that make me look like a different person, not so much.

I agree about some looking like a totally different person.

I noticed when some people use "filters" because their face appears blurry as if they are erasing marks/wrinkles etc. I think those filters make one look super creepy but I know some people feel more comfortable with using them and whatever works for that person.

 

[monipod]

I noticed when some people use "filters" because their face appears blurry as if they are erasing marks/wrinkles etc. I think those filters make one look super creepy but I know some people feel more comfortable with using them and whatever works for that person.

Oh definitely each to their own but just like plastic surgery, you can usually tell if someone has used one too many filters

 

[House Cat]

Is this how everyone looks so good in their selfies? I always look like death. I just figured that i didn’t know how to take photos.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

I don't really take selfies unless the kids want to take a picture. Never have used a filter either on IG, my neighbor uses them on hers and she doesn't even look like the same person.

 

[missy]

The best selfies are bling selfies of course...no filters.


I don't mind showing my hand and fingers in all their bare truth...they are sort of mangled from auto immune issues. I am just happy they still function.

 

[KKJohnson]

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't but if my toddler is bringing me the phone then that means its Snapchat time with filters galore (she usually loves Snapchatting with her daddy I have so many of their photos on my phone)

 

[distracts]

I edit the brightness/contrast/color saturation to make things more clear or more like how things look in person - you know how phone cameras can sometimes make things look different than reality. Sometimes I make pictures black and white like if my skin looks super weirdly colored but it's otherwise a nice picture - but that's pretty obvious. Occasionally I'll get rid of red-eye or blemishes. But I don't use the skin-smoothing, lip-and-eye-enlargening, chin-reducing filters that a lot of people use these days.

And for my PS pics, I normally don't edit at all, unless something looks wildly different than it does in reality, and then I'll post a "this is what my phone captured" and a "this is edited to reflect how I perceived it" picture - like with emeralds which in photos never look anything like they do irl.

My goal with any photo editing I do is to make things look more true to how I saw it when I took the picture... which is why I think removing obvious blemishes is fair game but overall skin-smoothing is not... like think of your friends - do you ever remember them with zits or the leg bruises people always get or whatever? I certainly don't. So I'll remove stuff like that, while leaving overall skin texture, etc. But then, I'm doing this in photoshop and have years of experience editing photos. I'm not just slapping on a one-size-fits-all generic filter.

And oh yes... the silly snapchat filters. I do use those. But like KKJohnson above, you can certainly tell when I do, lol!

 

[bludiva]

I don't tend to take a lot of selfies or filter my photos but some phone cams do automatically when they detect a selfie..."beauty filter" a la old school hollywood

 

[distracts]

Never took a selfie.
Actually never took a pic with my phone.
Have no clue what a "filter" is.

I do have filters for my DSLR lenses, a polarized one, and UV ones to protect the optics of every lens - but I suspect that's not what kids nowadays mean by filter.

"Filter" is the current one-size-fits-all word for any edits to the raw image file. A decade ago, the term was "effect." (I used to get asked ALL the time what "effects" I used on things like desktop wallpapers I made and shared online... now I'm asked what "filters" I use. I use "starting with nice images and having over fifteen years of experience with adobe photoshop to edit each image to best produce something aesthetically pleasing according to artistic and design goals I thought of before starting," not a one-size-fits-all file I downloaded from a site that has more ads than content. Like I've even been asked about newsletters or flyers or posters I've made before what "filters" or "effects" I used on the pictures... uh... hiring a professional photographer, then calibrating the images for print in the format I was getting it printed in, then arranging them nicely with the text in InDesign? It's not "a filter," it's basic design work. Anyway. Rant over.)

 

[chemgirl]

I make beer as a hobby and I have a page that chronicles my brewing journey. I post pictures of process, beer, and some instructional videos. Sometimes I post photos of myself filling a keg or something like that.

I don’t filter. I’ve come to realize that almost every “influencer” in that space does. Some people will spend hours photoshopping pictures to look a certain way. The more I meet people in real life, the more surprised I am.

One popular account stretches herself out so she looks thinner. I was so surprised when I met her and she’s like 5 feet tall. Of course when she posted a photo of us we were almost the same height...

Recently a man at an event admitted that he spends around 10 hours per post by the time he sets up the shot, takes a million photos, and edits to his satisfaction. Who has time for that? I take maybe 15 minutes to set up a video, shoot the video, and post it.

Maybe that’s why my account isn’t as popular, but honestly who has time for that?

 

[KristyDarling]

I don't take selfies cuz I look terrible in them but @missy - love your cute pink nose! I'm a fellow pink-noser, too -- it "blushes" at every little thing, the slightest chill in the air, a sneeze, watery eyes, etc. LOL.

 

[nala]

I don't tend to take a lot of selfies or filter my photos but some phone cams do automatically when they detect a selfie..."beauty filter" a la old school hollywood

Omg. This!! Is this for real?

 

[jaysonsmom]

Not for profile pics, but my teens and I took pics of Snapchat selfies and sent them to each other for fun

There is a misconception that filters make you more beautiful...I beg to differ.

 

[bludiva]

Omg. This!! Is this for real?

Yesss it is

 

[mrs-b]

No. I've seen filters that are so strong, they almost eliminate entire features in photos - eg - people with almost no identifiable nose, or no belly button. And as for pores on skin - nary a sign!

I think I'd rather use no filter and look old and ugly than use a filter and look like a complete wanker.

 

[telephone89]

I was having this convo the other day with someone lol. I almost never take selfies, but I don't mind a light filter or photoshop. One of my family members ONLY takes pictures with a snapchat filter that makes your eyes bigger, adds fake eyelashes and smooths out your skin. I'm like, I know what you look like, and its NOT THAT lol. She doesn't ever post a "normal" picture, only these weird fake beauty ones.
eta - I do normally do some light edits on regular photos though. Normally brightening, since it's always so damn dark here.

 

[elle_71125]

I have 15 and 13 year old nieces so I’m pretty familiar with Snapchat and instagram. So yes, I use the Snapchat filters. I don’t share those pics publicly but I will use the filters to send to my hubby. He thinks they’re adorable (he see’s me bundled up in PJs, with no makeup and bed head...so I’m not fooling anyone there).



ETA: I can only dream of having eyes that big. Lol

 

[mrs-b]

I don't mind people doing funny filters, or animal filters, or pirate filters, or any filter of that kind. That's just fun, and why not? It's the beauty filters that take off 50 lbs and increase eye size by 50% and remove any and all physical blemishes - and are then passed off as real - that I dislike so much. There is one young lady on my FB feed who posts heavily edited photos ALL the time - sculpted face (she's quite overweight), bigger eyes, thicker hair, heavily cropped, tilted head, photo taken from slightly above, shadows removed, skin smoothed - that sends me a bit nutty. I look at her photos and think "What are you doing?? We KNOW what you look like!" But of course there's always a bunch of people who post saying "Wooooow - sooooo beautifulllll!" and "What's your secret?????" and "Tell me about your skin routine!!!!!!" - so naturally, she keeps going with these almost-nonthing-like-her photos.

 

[Wewechew]

On my Facebook, no. I refuse to be one of those people that is unrecognizable in person compared to her pictures. I will do Snap Chat filters, but I feel that's different than Facetuning features beyond recognition.

I did recently Facetuned a picture I added to my "professional" IG. Nothing major, just smoothed out a couple fine lines and sun spots on my forehead.

 

[missy]

I don't take selfies cuz I look terrible in them but @missy - love your cute pink nose! I'm a fellow pink-noser, too -- it "blushes" at every little thing, the slightest chill in the air, a sneeze, watery eyes, etc. LOL.

Me too. On our very first date we went for a walk through Central Park on a cool autumn day at dusk and Greg said he thought it was adorable how my nose turned pink. You can always tell how I am feeling. Cold, embarrassed, mad, happy etc just by looking at my face and my nose and cheeks. LOL I cannot tell a lie. My face betrays me every single time.

 

[elle_71125]

I don't mind people doing funny filters, or animal filters, or pirate filters, or any filter of that kind. That's just fun, and why not? It's the beauty filters that take off 50 lbs and increase eye size by 50% and remove any and all physical blemishes - and are then passed off as real - that I dislike so much. There is one young lady on my FB feed who posts heavily edited photos ALL the time - sculpted face (she's quite overweight), bigger eyes, thicker hair, heavily cropped, tilted head, photo taken from slightly above, shadows removed, skin smoothed - that sends me a bit nutty. I look at her photos and think "What are you doing?? We KNOW what you look like!" But of course there's always a bunch of people who post saying "Wooooow - sooooo beautifulllll!" and "What's your secret?????" and "Tell me about your skin routine!!!!!!" - so naturally, she keeps going with these almost-nonthing-like-her photos.

My SIL posts nothing but insanely filter pics on FB and I barely recognize her. I don’t understand it. People are eventually going to see you in person right?

 

[missy]

My SIL posts nothing but insanely filter pics on FB and I barely recognize her. I don’t understand it. People are eventually going to see you in person right?

Exactly. I am so glad I never had to do online dating but if I did I would totally make myself look worse in the photo so the person I was meeting wouldn't be disappointed! I wouldn't want to look amazing in a photo and terrible IRL and then have his jaw drop when we first met LOL.