Dreaded "see through" effect again

[challengedforest]

Hi. I posted a little while ago about this really horrible effect with the light behind you. I can't quite locate that thread now, but someone asked me to post a pic. This is what I was talking about.
Any advice / thoughts on how others have handled this scenario. Any time light is bright and behind you, especially if someone is shorter than you.ty It's not the world's best pic, and obviously I have made sure the effect is about at its worst for clariIty, but it can be a real confidence sapper. It really does cause "staring syndrome" at its worst.

Edited September 16, 2019 by challengedforest

[pkipling]

Hmmm. A couple thought/questions:

1) Is it this noticeable in the actual photo when you're not zoomed in like this? We can pick out any flaw when zooming in so closely, so I'm wondering how accurate of a representation this is to what most people would see when they look at the photo.

2) Is this an example of a photo that you would actually use/share? The photo almost seems like a silhouette, in which case it doesn't seem like it would be a useable photo to begin with. 

3) Lastly, lighting is key to taking quality photos in regards to any physical feature - not just the hair and its density. If the lighting isn't great, then neither the skin, eyes, teeth, etc. will look great... But that doesn't necessarily mean that those things need to be "fixed" - if that makes sense. 

I know this may go off course from your original question and what you're looking for - but at the moment I'm not so sure this is something you "need" to address. Fix the lighting as you would for any photo, and you just might be set!

[Panamera13]

OP - Post pics that are in normal/low light so we can see the comparison

[challengedforest]

Hi folks. Nothing special was done in the pic except that I sat in front of a bright window with the light behind me. Sure you'd be able to see my face a little better (which I don't really want!) with another light source in front of me, but this is pretty much what I see if I stand in front of a mirror with the light behind me. It's not really zoomed in, though I cropped out my face. The picture is making my face look dark, but it is not misrepresenting the backlight effect.

My hair is about a #6 at present, which is about as long as can be tolerated without the effect getting worse. I'm not especially keen on hair shorter than this, but maybe the fact it is #6 is exacerbating things. So as you can see, it is dead easy to see what is in effect a bald scalp with thin hair sticking up.

Edited September 17, 2019 by challengedforest

[challengedforest]

The effect isn't nearly so bad when from a different angle and bright light isn't behind. It's like a different world.

This is definitely a zoom in.

[jjsrader]

You could resort back to 'close-cropped' hairstyle in the front.  Hairs to the side and matted down or close to the scalp to reduce the contrast.

Or up the density w/more procedures.

I suppose you could grow longer but you'd have to keep the hair flatter to the surface in the front.

Less contrast in color from scalp to hair would help too - but not everyone wants lighter hair.

Other than that - it's simply a matter of lack of hair density.  Simple as.

Edited September 18, 2019 by jjsrader

[Helper]

My DH was in months 5 through 8 this summer and when sitting outside, I could see exactly what you are talking about. I could see the shape of his head with hairs.  He didn’t do anything, as there was nothing to be done. I think it’s getting a little better though. You don’t see that at all during the evening. I thought it was just because he’s mostly white hair.