Progress photos you can actually compare.
Most progress photos don’t fail because nothing changed. They fail because everything else changed too: the light, the angle, the distance, the time of day. Then you can’t tell what’s you and what’s the photo. Keep all of that the same, and the only thing left to change is you.
Pick one spot, and keep it
Choose somewhere you can stand every time: the same wall, the same mirror, the same patch of floor. A plain background helps, because there’s less to look at that isn’t you. Mark where your feet go with a bit of tape, so you’re not guessing next time.
Keep the light the same
Light can change how a body looks more than weeks of training do. Light from straight above deepens every shadow, and light from one side does the same on that side. Face a window in daylight, or use the same lamp in the same place, and take your photos at about the same time of day.
Fix the camera’s height and distance
Put the phone at the same height each time, around your chest, and the same distance away. A tripod, a shelf or a pile of books will do, with the self-timer. A phone held at arm’s length is at a different angle every time, and the angle changes your proportions. Don’t zoom, and don’t use the wide lens: step back to your mark instead.
Same pose, same clothes
Front, side and back, standing relaxed, arms loose by your sides. Wear the same thing, or as close as you can, because fit and colour change how a shape looks. Don’t flex in one photo and not the next: pick a pose and keep to it.
Same time, same routine
What you’ve eaten and drunk changes how you look from hour to hour. First thing in the morning, before breakfast, is the easiest time to repeat. Once a week is plenty, and every two weeks is fine: there’s more on that in how often to take progress photos.
Compare months, not days
From one day to the next, the change is smaller than the noise: water, sleep, a big meal. Put this week’s photo beside one from two or three months ago, not yesterday’s. If it looks as if nothing has changed, look further back.
Line them up
Even then, no two photos land in quite the same place. Showing the last photo faintly over the camera, as a guide, gets you much closer. Then slide between the two, rather than flicking back and forth, and the change is far easier to see. Alterio does both: it shows your last photo as a guide for the next, and lines your photos up so you can slide between them. There’s more on how Alterio’s progress photos work.
Not just bodies
The same rules work for anything that changes slowly: a plant on the windowsill, a room you’re doing up, a drawing a day, the way you stand. Same spot, same light, same angle, and give it time.
Keep them private
Progress photos are personal, so keep them somewhere only you can see. In Alterio they live on your phone. Sync keeps an encrypted copy with your account that only you can see, and you can switch it off.
Published