The Flash Adds Seven Years to your Age

The internet is chock-a-block full of exhaustive and polemical analyses of "photographic quality," which to me is like arguing about the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin. The end of the Holy Grail Quest for perfect "quality" is like the end of a rainbow. Low noise and perfect color and sharpness in the corners never made a better picture. Bah, sayeth the Curmudgeon.

Similarly fastidious analyses of pictures, though—that I can get into! That's fun. I was delighted by this statistical analysis, written by Christian Rudder, of 522,000 "profile" pictures on the internet dating site OkCupid. The testers collected "millions of judgments" (I'm quoting, not mocking) from respondents as to which pictures they found most attractive, and then collated these judgments against the photos' EXIF information.

I'm sure you'll be interested in the whole article, but the short take is that the results are fascinating. Among the findings:

• The use of more expensive cameras makes you look more attractive, although...
• ....Panasonic Micro 4/3 cameras make you look the best—by a large margin*.
• Use of flash adds seven years to your apparent age.
• The wider the aperture the better! And...
• ...iPhone users get the most sex.

Not sure I get much out of the "time of day" metrics, but your mileage might differ. In any case, a fun and different article.

The major takeaway: turn off the on-camera flash for pictures of people!**

Mike
(Thanks to Richard Chomko and several others)

*A fairly mystifying and seemingly arbitrary finding, in my view—the only explanation I can think of is that only people who are relatively "in the know" about photography would care to own Micro 4/3 cameras at this point in history—but there it is in the chart. That explanation also might account for the high showing of the second-place camera type, "Leica point-and-shoots," which scored the highest in the p/s category, also by a large margin.

**Unless you're a Strobist reader and know how to do it right.

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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Featured Comment by John Camp: "I love stuff like this. It's so compelling, while at the same time, so meaningless—it's the data equivalent of Cheetos or 'CSI Miami.' Who couldn't love the fact that the 'best' photos are taken with Panasonic 4/3 cameras...and who couldn't think of seventeen reasons why sampling problems didn't corrupt the whole set? Good stuff, I say; the mathematical equivalent of pulp fiction."

Featured Comment by Scott is not pig!: "Hi Mike, I don't think they are asking subjects which picture is better, they are asking them which person they want to date more. So the actual conclusion is that Micro 3/4's users are just a damn good looking bunch. Or maybe people who value aesthetics and photography as a hobby are sublimely attractive. Or maybe Micro 4/3 owners like to take pictures of beautiful people and send them to them and the beautiful people subsequently use them for computer dating. In other words, I suspect some mediating variables!"

Featured Comment by Richard Skoonberg: "I have a Light Scoop for on camera flash and it's pretty cool and fun to use. With it my flash doesn't add seven years to people's age. Check it out."

Mike replies: Hey, the guy who developed the Light Scoop is Ken Kobré, who wrote Photojournalism, The Professionals' Approach. The major how-to text on the subject of the last thirty years. That book would make my top dozen of photo how-to books.

Comments

[Dave Fultz]

What fun! Even if most of the conclusions are incorrect. . . .

The most interesting data was the graph, "Sunrise, Sunset and Photo Attractiveness." There were indeed clear spikes at "the golden hour."

Dave

[John]

I found the final graph showing the relative attractiveness of the photo vs. position of the sun, most telling. The peaks just after sunrise and just before sunset. Ah, gotta love them "golden hours".

[hugh crawford]

(I'm quoting, not mocking)

I don't know if I can get through the rest of the day without using that in conversation.
google shows only one other use of that as of today, we'll see if it catches on.

This could get right up there with "all due respect". I've been trying to get my kids to preface their disagreement saying "with all due respect" rather than "you are an idiot" or just simply *sshole.

[Ed Hamlin]

I didn't realize that I had a flash on my camera. In seriousness, I wonder why the 4/3 camera seemed to make the person look better. Could it be a better quality lens?

Makes you wonder about people and surveys doesn't it?

[Tom Duffy]

"...iPhone users get the most sex."

maybe you could amplify that one a litte bit. Do people who have iPhones have sex more often because they own an iphone, or is it that the people have sex more often tend to buy iphones? If the former, I should reconsider the Droid X that I've been thinking about.

perhaps there is a simpler explaination, namely that if you own an iPhone 4 with antenna problems and can't make a phone call, you find other things to do to fill in the time.

[Bill Lewis]

Mike,

This is a bit off topic but have you ever considered offering photo critique on your site? My dilemma as an amateur but interested photographer is that I haven't sufficient knowledge/experience to judge my own work effectively and would welcome comments as to whether a particular shot of mine really had any merit beyond personal interest.

I don't particularly mean technical merit i.e. white balance, resolution, etc but rather does the picture "work" on some to be determined scale or level.

For one I would be willing to pay a "reasonable" fee to get this feedback as an educational experience.

I think it might be limited to a few shots from each individual over some fixed interval or some such scheme.

I ask this because from what I see on TOP and what I know of your background.

Just an idea (probably not the first time you've heard of it).

Bill Lewis

[Josh Hawkins]

I obviously need to start advertising "that my f1.2 photography will make you the sexiest!"

[Damen Stephens]

Damn - I'm buying an iPhone and a packet of condoms tomorrow !!

[Mike Johnston]

Bill Lewis,
I actually started doing that at one time--I was offering formal, written portfolio reviews. I provided, I think, four of them. The problem is that the amount I was charging--$175--seemed at the expensive end of "reasonable" to me for the purchaser, yet it did not begin to repay the amount of work that went into each review. Each was about as much work as a full magazine article, for which I used to be paid anywhere from $500 to $1500. It's not the saying that's hard, it's the figuring out what to say.

Mike

[Bob Dales]

Data mining at its best! I hope the flash effect isn't cumulative.

Off to get an iPhone.

bd

[Kevin Bourque]

I also notice that, at age 51, I'm automatically unattractive. I don't suppose the iPhone is going to help me.

[Tom Duffy]

Take two:

I guess my Leica M isn't the babe magnet it used to be...

[ctein]

Dear Folks,

I'm with JC on this-- wonderfully amusing mathematical junk food!

I understand spikes in photo-making at noon and midnight. (Wonder how many of the photos in the midnight spike happened to be on New Year?) But 4 AM?! The bars have been closed for 2 hours, nothing's opened up yet. Assuming a high percentage of sexual content in those photos, it still seems like an odd time. I mean, by two hours after someone's left the bar with a prospective partner, either they ain't gonna get laid or they've already been laid, mostly.

Has 4AM become the defacto closing time for after-hours clubs and raves? IMWTK.

So much fodder for amusing speculation.

I gotta say, though-- the time of day vs quality stuff looks bogus. Absent error bars on the graphs, that looks more like a plot of random fluctuation. Doesn't correlate with sunrise/sunset because they vary by hours with the season and those peaks are way too narrow. 'Sides, there's a much more substantial peak at 4AM. (What ARE they doing?!)

Much fun, much fun.

pax / Ctein

[stevierose]

@ Tom Duffy-

I am, frankly, too spent at the moment to provide you with a detailed answer to your post, but--pant, pant,--Don't get Droid! (moan, gasp)...Get iPhone!....Sorry, got to go now! (OH...MY...GODDDDDDD!!!!). ;O"

[Anton Wilhelm Stolzing]

I just bought myself a Sony Nex 5. I assume it has not yet found its way into the statistics. Hopefully once it is covered it will score well.
Now what I still need with this camera is a lens with large aperture. 35 mm f 2 or so ...

[Steve Duffy]

Hell, I never realized my camera's EXIF file kept a record of my sexual contacts as well!

[Roger S]

Mike, I think the photo reviews would be better as a subscription service as multiple people can benefit from the advice of a single critique. Maybe signing up for subscription gives you the right to submit an image a year and read responses to all critiques (bi-weekly?) Craig Tanner has a worthwhile free version of this at The Mindful Eye.

[Mike Johnston]

Steve,
Don't worry, I think that part came from the questionnaires. [g]

Mike

[Doug Brewer]

I hear ya, Kevin.

Starting to think, iphone or no, that I couldn't get laid if I ran an open bar at a bridesmaid's convention.

maybe if I got one of those 4/3 cams...

[charlie]

This is the kind of stuff that is produced by people who have jobs with nothing to do, but need to show that they have been doing something.

[Mark Kinsman]

Wow...I did not know the iPhone had an app even for that....the more sex that is. Maybe its an ultra-vibrate mode for the ringtone.

[Will]

The delta between Leica Point and Shoots (themselves Panasonic Point and Shoots) and Panasonic Point and Shoots (themselves finishing well, third amongst Point and Shoots) fascinates me.

Are users that buy Leica more skilled? Are Leica's executives particularly gifted at choosing Panasonic's best to rebrand?

A fascinating read, to be sure.

[01af]

Well ... it's a well-known fact that 91.7 % of all statistics are just made up by their authors anyway.

[Dwig]

The m4/3rds cameras may be getting a boost from the "The wider the aperture the better!" factor.

I'll lay odds that more m4/3rds users shoot portraits with wider aperture lenses than users of any other class of camera, including DSLRs, and that's "more" in absolute terms and not just percentage of owners.

[John Camp]

Tom Duffy said:

"...iPhone users get the most sex."

maybe you could amplify that one a litte bit. Do people who have iPhones have sex more often because they own an iphone, or is it that the people have sex more often tend to buy iphones? If the former, I should reconsider the Droid X that I've been thinking about.

The answer's simple: iPhone has an app for it. Droid doesn't yet, but I'm sure one will be along. iHooker is simple, straightforward and works in most large cities in the US, Europe and much of Asia. There do appear to be some implementation problems in the Middle East, parts of Rome and Salt Lake City.

JC

[cb]

Lets see: Number of storks -declining. Number of births:-declining. Same slope. This proves the storks bring babies to new parents.

[Mike Johnston]

"This is the kind of stuff that is produced by people who have jobs with nothing to, but need to show that they have been doing something."

Wally!

Mike

[Bryce Lee]

I no longer own nor use a "flash!'

Besides flashing is not normal unless you're trying to be an exhibitionist in a long coat.

[Jeffrey Goggin]

I own *four* m4/3 cameras and just bought a Contax 645/Phase One P30+ combo. Imagine the life I could be leading if I could ever be bothered to sign up for a dating site!

[Michael Walker]

It's easier to take attractive-from-top-right-large-eyes-slimm-face-selfportraits with a 3/4 camera

a DSLR is too heavy for that

[Rod S.]

Just wait till the Pentax 645D hits the stats!

[john robison]

I had to put on my barn boots to wade through the comments so far....I don't think they will be high enough.

[Benjamin R. George]

I suspect the attractiveness-by-camera-used graph shows mainly that people with disposable income who are concerned about status/fashion/appearances tend to be judged better-looking - they care how they're perceived and have the resources to do something about it. (We might also expect them to keep similar company, and to provide photographic services for their friends).

Purchasing a Leica point-and-shoot is an act of conspicuous consumption, so we'd expect them to be owned disproportionately by the people who have money and are status-conscious.

As for μ4/3, there's been a considerable marketing effort to position μ4/3 cameras as fashionable (as they're compact, come in a variety of colors, and in some cases have appealing retro designs), and they've recently gotten the kind of press buzz that makes it clear they're the kinds of cameras you want to buy if you're trying to position yourself as trendy.

After those two categories, the SLRs are most expensive (so owned disproportionately by people who can also put resources into looking nice) and tend to offer the best image quality, which does count for something.

I don't mean, of course, that everybody who buys a μ4/3 camera is well-off and concerned with appearances, I don't even think that's the main reason people buy them. But if μ4/3 is getting more than its share of people like that, which seems plausible, then that would explain at least part of what we're seeing here.

[Wolfgang]

Hahahaha - I read this at 4:52am in the morning, and the walls were almost booming back my laughter.

Numbers: I'm in the so-called "Business Intelligence" (which is an antagonism in itself), and I know that with most of those numbers, you can do exactly one thing, which is: nothing at all.

Now grab your D700's, and go shooting! Or in the case of Mike, take your m43rds, but don't let your wife know that it attracts others ;-)

Thanks for a good one, and cheers,
Wolfgang

[robert e]

"That book would make my top dozen of photo how-to books."

What a terrific idea for a TOP list, Mike! [g]

[Clayton]

I have just started a job in Algeria. My visa photos were in a studio with four lights. My badge photo was p&s with pop up. I would estimate twenty years difference.
The 4/3 crowd get a little extra depth of field. I don't like my women out of focus.

[Arg]

What happened to the Olympus Micro 4/3rds cameras???

I suspect a slight (?) flaw, if the Panasonic is first and the Olympus doesn't even register on the scoreboard.

[Martino]

I concur with what robert e said: How about a top dozen list of how-to photobooks?

[Arg]

I'm willing to punt that the Olympus m4/3 cameras are bundled in to the 'Panasonic m4/3' category (since they don't appear at all anywhere else). 90% of them don't have a built-in flash unit so nearly all their photos would be non-flash which would give a very high score to them as a category.

[Nige]

from the topic heading I thought this was going to be a story about how long we've wasted waiting for sites with 'flash' load, not that I have, I just hit 'back'!

[Ken White]

"So the actual conclusion is that Micro 3/4's users are just a damn good looking bunch"

I just put my m4/3 gear on ebay. Being a late middle aged over weight male I just couldn't hang with the beautiful people. Do they still sell Geritol? My blood feels tired.

[Ken N]

I suspect a severe lumping error. No Olympus DSLRs were listed, so I suspect they were lumped in with Panasonic m43.

A single data point for sure, but when my wife hired me to photograph her for her upcoming book, she specifically asked that I use the E-1 as it makes people more attractive and healthy looking. Something about skintones and all that intangible stuff.

Oh, and John, iHooker has been pulled off the app site. Too many bugs.

[John F. Opie]

"Do people who have iPhones have sex more often because they own an iphone, or is it that the people have sex more often tend to buy iphones?"

Actually, they're so amazed that someone would have sex with them that they can't stop talking about it and want everyone to know...

:-p

[James McDermott]

iPhone users get the most sex ... yes, but very rarely with another person.

[Deirdre]

My thought on the µ4/3 was two-fold:

1) It's a less intimidating camera than a DSLR, thus you might be able to sneak a more natural or candid shot.

2) The pancake 20mm lens is one of the two kit options with the Panasonic, thus it meets the aperture correlation.

3) The zoom lens is faster than many out there, so ditto.

I know when I got my (film) Nikon SLR ages ago, I made the mistake of getting a slow zoom first. When I picked up my Panasonic GF-1, I opted for the 20mm, which is a fine lens for my purposes.