How come I look weird on camera?

for years, I've always thought I was somewhat good looking. I always look in the mirror and thought I looked good. but recently I've gotten myself a digital camera and took a lot of pictures and video clips of myself. And then I notice how strange I actually look.

like... my face complexion is completely different that what I see (or think I see) in the mirror. my face is not symmetrical, like, even in just the photo, I can tell. when I close my lips, one side is bigger than the other side. and my eyes are strange too.. I've never noticed how small my eyes were until I took close up pictures of my face. and my teeth bulges out everytime I speak.

The mirror has deceived me for years... why is it that I feel that I am good looking when I look in the mirror, but in photos/videos I look like shlt? I just cannot understand how my face can appear differently on the camera to the mirror

"There are a few different possible causes for this. First, it's important to understand the difference between looking at someone with two eyes as opposed to through a single camera lens. With two eyes, the human brain is able to see the three dimensional aspects of someone's face, even when viewed directly from the front, and it gives much more information than a camera can. With a camera, the subject is viewed through a single lens, and thus much of the three dimensional qualities of the face are lost, and the face may seem narrower, less full, or with different proportions, especially when viewed at a close proximity. An interesting effect can be seen if one compares a close up picture of someone's face to a picture taken from twenty feet away from the same angle (particularly while directly facing the camera). The face will appear different in each picture, and the farther shot will give a better representation of the person's true three dimensional appearance. A more detailed explanation of this concept can be found in the US patent document for the "imaginograph"

Simply put, a person's eyes can analyze particles of light or whatever its looking at better than cameras.

A picture is really inaccurate compared to the human eye :)

I know what you mean. I look in the mirror, and like what I see. When I take photos of myself or when other people do, I don't normally like the way I look at all. I think there are a number of reasons. For one thing, you are seeing the opposite image of the reflection in the mirror. Since you aren't used to that, you think you look weird. Also, certain lighting, certain camera angles, and trying to look good seem to make you look bad. Many people look much better in real life than in pictures.
This also reminds me of how people hate the sound of their voice when they hear a recording of it.

Ohmygosh! Im in the exact same situation! Everyone thinks I look very pretty and so do I, but then in every picture I look horrendous: big bags under my eyes that I never notice in the mirror, a wierd yellowish face color. I actually considered plastic surgery because of the awful way I look in photos.