Is there more foreshortening when I look in the mirror than when I look at a video or photograph of myself.
For example, if I am naked, or with bare legs, and I walk towards a mirror, will my knees look lower to me than if I watch a video of myself walking towards the camera? (assuming the camera is at my eye level.)
And if so, which of these two perspectives more closely represents reality? / Represents what another person would see as I walk towards them?
Thank you.
The amount of foreshortening is a geometric effect and depends only on the distance of the observer / camera from the subject.
For example - if you stand a long way away from the mirror, you will see very little foreshortening, but if you stand right up close to the mirror, you will see a lot.
When you are looking in a mirror, the “virtual” self you see is effectively twice as far away from you as the mirror is, so a camera that is twice the you-mirror distance away from you will have the same amount of foreshortening.
You may think that camera lenses with a short focal length produce more foreshortening than long focal length lenses, but this is not the case. If you take two cameras with short and long focal length lenses and point them at a subject, the amount of foreshortening will be the same. What is different is the apparent size of the object on the sensor/film. The short focal length lens will make the object appear small whereas the long focal length lens will make the object appear much bigger.
Short focal length lenses allow you to get closer to your subject before they fill the screen. This proximity to the subject is what causes the foreshortening, not the lens focal length.
So, in answer to your question - it depends on whether the camera is at the same distance from you as twice the distance of the mirror.
Hope this helps.
Slarty.
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