Taking your own passport photos?

[sam_gordon]

I keep hearing no smiles??? I smiled in my picture, which was taken at CVS (and no one told me not to smile). Got my passport in 2 1/2 weeks (and it wasn't a rush).

IIRC, the smile needs to be "natural".

 

[aprilgail]

I just went to the post office with the passport application- they do the rest- they take your photo, photocopy the papers that need to be sent along with the application and mail it for you-simple.

 

[smiths02]

I just went to the post office with the passport application- they do the rest- they take your photo, photocopy the papers that need to be sent along with the application and mail it for you-simple.

I tried to do this. Post office called me morning of (appointment at 2pm) and said their camera was not working!
It was also a little more expensive, but would have been worth it to me.

 

[robinb]

Went to Costco last year. Took 15 minutes from taking the picture to them handing me 2 official passport photos. $4.99. Way too easy and cheap to try to do it myself.

This is great to know! My DD needs to renew her passport and I was just going to have to do at the application office for $15. I am worried about her photo being really bad.

 

[STLDisney_Freak]

We got ours done at Walmart.

 

[bcla]

IIRC, the smile needs to be "natural".

The State Dept has examples.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/requirements/photos.html

This one they call “natural”:

This one isn’t:

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Walgreens. $14.
Just renewed mine with no problem.
You do get 2.

My dd saved her other one from over 10 years and resubmitted to renew and she got hers rejected. She was told "picture was to similar." They expect you to age.

Well it should have been a photo from within the last 6 months. They are pretty clear on that requirement.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Went to Costco last year. Took 15 minutes from taking the picture to them handing me 2 official passport photos. $4.99. Way too easy and cheap to try to do it myself.

Mine was 4 passport photos for $4.99+tax.

There were two photo slots but each slot held two photos (which equals 4 photos total).

 

[NYCgrrl]

Next passport renewal will be in 2020 for me.
I'll worry about it then.

 

[Dancind]

We took our own, printed them out at home. I think I got a do-over. And yes, I'm smiling, sort of like that first photo but with no teeth. This makes my mouth go upwards instead of down, which is my usual RBF and I didn't want that on my Passport!

Besides, when you present your passport for review, don't you tend to have a nervous smile anyway?

 

[iivye]

We had ours done at the post office when we brought in the applications.

 

[bcla]

The hardest part is getting the background shadow minimized. The State Dept has recommended a 3 flash system with two diagonal flashes in front, and one in the back pointed up just to remove any shadows. I took my kid’s photo outdoors, and with it being bright enough but without any direct sunlight I managed a photo with no background shadow,

The State Dept has that online tool, but it seems that it’s mostly for visa applications, where the photo can be electronically transmitted with the application. US passports still require a paper photo, but only one these days. For those posting from other countries, are there electronic photo uploads these days? I thought maybe the State Dept could do that, even with paper applications. They have an online application generator, which saves everything to a database. The paper copy is a formality, although I believe it needs to be signed. They have a matrix code to scan, which should bring up the application as submitted online. It should theoretically be possible to upload a photo to save to the database.

 

[sam_gordon]

The State Dept has recommended a 3 flash system with two diagonal flashes in front, and one in the back pointed up just to remove any shadows. I took my kid’s photo outdoors, and with it being bright enough but without any direct sunlight I managed a photo with no background shadow,

Where did you see that?

I took all of ours indoor with the camera mounted flash.

 

[bcla]

Where did you see that?

I took all of ours indoor with the camera mounted flash.

It was a while ago. A lot of pro studio setups have three flashes, including one in the back to fill in any shadows from the front flashes. I haven't had any photos rejected for passports/visas/etc because of background shadow, but I was worried because there typically would be a sharp shadow if it was indoors using a single front flash.

 

[georgina]

My DH has successfully taken ours and the kids' photos for renewal by mail. We take them in front of a white wall, he has a good camera with just one flash, it has not been a problem.

 

[BLAZEY]

We are NOT allowed to take our own passport photos, they MUST be taken by a commercial photographer/studio. Photo's taken at home and or retouched (even by the commercial photographer) is an automatic rejection. It must have the photographer's stamp on the back

 

[sam_gordon]

We are NOT allowed to take our own passport photos, they MUST be taken by a commercial photographer/studio. Photo's taken at home and or retouched (even by the commercial photographer) is an automatic rejection. It must have the photographer's stamp on the back

Is that in the US?

 

[bcla]

Is that in the US?

Canada?

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-passports/photos.html
https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/ircc/migration/ircc/english/pdf/pub/pass-photo-spec-eng.pdf
Canadians living in the United States and abroad
Our requirements for passport photos are different from those in the United States and other countries. Photos for Canadian passports must be taken in person by a commercial photographer or studio. They must also comply with all of our photo requirements. If they don’t, we will reject your application.

Bring the Passport photo specifications to the photographer or studio to make sure they meet the correct photo requirements.​

 

[BLAZEY]

Is that in the US?

No, Canada. Most, if not all studios guarantee the photos will be accepted by Passport Canada or they retake the until they are accepted. I do know that years ago (40 +) you could take your own pictures. It saves them and you time and money if they don't have to reject your photos.

 

[bcla]

I'm not sure how they handle it for Canadian expats. Obviously it's possible for a photo place to just sort of wing it. There's obviously some professional software that can use settings for passport and visa photo requirements from around the world. Heck - it might even be easiest to just use one of the online systems, print to a common 4"x6" sheet, then trim. But they just need the imprimatur of the studio.

However, it's gotten a lot easier in the US. I know people who have dealt with passports, INS/USCIS, etc. It used to be a huge pain because INS/USCIS had a standard for a 3/4 profile in one direction, and it was better to go to a studio that knew the specific requirements. Eventually they switched to the same requirements as the State Department's for passports and visas.

The online generators are all different though. I wanted to see what was available, and I got a variety of different styles. "With one, the only way to move the box and resize was with "buttons". Most employ a standard drag and drop system. I saw one that only produced 2 2"x2" images centered on a 4"x6" sheet. It did have options for larger sheets such as 5"x7", where it produced 4. That one didn't have any noticeable borders though. The one I used puts in a thin line that can be trimmed away, although there's no line on the left or right edge. The strangest one I tried charged for the download - at 0.1 cents per sheet. I guess the user is supposed to buy "tokens". The one I used now has an ad on the sheet, and I had to wait a minute before I could download. I think they make their money by referring to photo labs to print and get a cut.