Taking your child’s passport photo yourself can save you a lot of time, stress, and money, if you do it right.  The rules for all passport photos are the same, with no special exceptions for infants or toddlers.

A passport photo must comply with these requirements:

  1. The photo must be less than six months old.
  2. The photo must be 2 inch x 2 inch.
  3. Print must be clear and have continuous tone quality.
  4. The subject must look directly into the camera. (With eyes open.)
  5. The full face, hairline, and both ears must be visible.  (No hats.)
  6. No one else and no other objects can be in the picture. (Parent’s hands and pacifiers are forbidden.)
  7. No shadows on the subject or background.
  8. Have a white or off-white background.

If your child is old enough to follow directions, then the only issue will be getting the proper setup.  However, if your child is younger, then things get a little trickier.

Infants and Toddlers

For children too young to sit, a good option is to put them in their car seat.  The upright position encourages both staying awake, and looking ahead.  Cover the car seat loosely with a plain white sheet including all the straps and buckles.

Another option is to lay the baby on a white background.  A plain white piece of poster board works well.  Avoid paper which may wrinkle or tear.

Dress the infant in dark colors and have someone stand right behind the photographer with their face as close to the camera as possible.  Have them use their best technique for making baby look.

The Setup and Camera Settings

If your child can sit or stand, have them do so in front of a plain white background.  A plain white sheet or large piece of white poster board or paper works well.  Dress them in darker colors for better contrast.

The final snag waiting to ruin your passport photo is a shadow on the background.  With a traditional pop-up flash, your child will cast a dark shadow on the background which will get the photo rejected.  Use a lamp placed on the floor behind your child to illuminate the background.  Keep it far enough away to avoid a spotlight.

Boost your ISO setting.  It increases the graininess, but it’s only a 2×2 photo.  Then, you may not need the flash.  Keep your shutter speed at 1/125 or 1/250 to eliminate blur from hand shake or a squirming kiddo, and fire away.  Don’t zoom in too tightly.  It is much easier to crop to what you need than to try and frame it for the shot.  You may need to take several pictures to get one that is right, especially for infants, so be patient.

Once you have your photo, you can use your favorite software to adjust the white balance, brightness and exposure, but do not soften or make other adjustments.  Find a shot that meets the requirements and then crop the photo to 2×2 size with the eye level between 1 1/8 and 1 3/8 inch from the bottom of the photo.  The total height of the head should be between 1 inch and 1 3/8 inch.  If you can’t make that happen, try your next best photo.

Prints

When it comes to printing, use your best photo printer with your best photo paper.  Don’t get cheap here.  Smudged prints or those with visible lines or dots will be rejected.

Now all you have to worry about it the paperwork.

 

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