Click! Why TV Makes You Look Fat

Why TV Makes You Look Fat

The pounds have crept up a bit on me which is why I decided to start consulting with a fabulous dietician at my gym. (If you'd like her name, e-mail me.) I'd lost about 5 lbs. already when I got the e-mail that I would appear on Good Morning Texas in about a week. That was last week. I was on this morning.

A friend graciously agreed to go with me and help me lug my fancy canvas print, frame, and easel. Traffic was surprisingly a non-issue. (Yes, you can drive down 75 some mornings rather smoothly. Amazing.) We got there entirely too early which gave me extra time to be nervous.

I got to see the beautiful WFAA studio and the lovely people who work on the show. Paige McCoy Smith interviewed me. She was really good at her job, making me feel as much at ease as I was going to feel. The three minutes or so went by much too quickly and I was out the door, back on 75, and home.

Then I watched myself on the video tape I had recorded.

Let me back up a second. People told me prior to the show that the "camera adds 10-15 lbs.". I always figured the reason for this is that wide-angle lenses tend to distort features. A good use for a wide-angle lens is when you are in a small room and cannot move back far enough (or zoom out enough) to get everything to fit in the scene you are capturing. I avoid using a wide angle lens for portraits because of the distortion.

TV studios are short on space so they would need a wider angle lens than something shot outdoors with lots of space. However, I did a little internet research and there appears to be no consensus on whether this is true or not. In my case, I did think I looked a bit larger (fatter) than I am in real life. And I thought a few other people that I saw in person looked a bit larger on TV, too. So I'm going to vote for the "camera adds weight" theory and ignore those skinny people who say I'm just in denial. :)