Use the Magic Wand or Quick Select tool to select your background and simply press the delete key to remove it – ensuring the fill layer is a 5-10% grey as a totally white background is against the guidelines and will cause rejection. However, if the background of your passport photo image is a little dark or off-colour, it’s easy to use PhotoShop or Elements to fix the background, and make the subject stand out. If you can get away with a quick colour correction and exposure correction, then great. Make Your Own Passport Photos – Post-productionĪvoiding post-production as much as possible is the aim of the game – in fact, images which have been digitally manipulated to change your appearance are not allowed. You could even do this yourself if you use the camera’s self-timer and rest on an appropriate surface or, if you have one, use a tripod. Take several photos as to get the best possible image, avoiding smiling and blinking. When reviewing your images, ensure that they are well exposed – you don’t want underexposure, as the detail of the face will be lost in the shadows. Expose for the subject’s face, preferably using a spot or centre-weighted evaluative metering setting, and face detection, if your camera offers this. Flat lighting is integral, as shadows over the face or background may cause your images to be rejected. LightingĪvoid using the flash as this increases the likelihood of red-eye and background shadows – however, if you can turn the flash down then a small pop of fill-in can provide good colour balance and open up facial detail.ĭaylight is best, such as from a window, as this can provide as equal a balance as possible to avoid shadows on the face and background. The image of you, from the crown of your head to your chin must be between 29 and 34mm (while the overall height of the image is 44mm). You can’t use a photo that has been cut down from a larger photo, so make sure to position yourself or the subject so that they are completely filling the frame. As much as a photobooth will happily do all this for you, avoiding the expense is the target here. So snaps in a random place won’t do – you have to specifically shoot for the right posed shot in the correct location. Your surroundings are important and need to be neutral – for example, should you stand by something red it will have a luminescence that will reflect red light back onto you. It’s a lot like taking a very boring portrait photo. How to take your own Passport Photos – Shooting Background and positioningįind a light-coloured wall (should be light grey or cream, not 100% white where possible) as a background and shoot your passport photo subject using the portrait orientation. Passport Photos (), and if you’re in the UK. It’s worth checking the guidelines on the official government websites as they can change: U.S. Children under 1 also don’t have to have their eyes open, though if someone is supporting their head with a hand, that hand is not allowed to be visible. The posing restrictions for children under 6, however, are a little less stringent – the child doesn’t have to be looking at the camera or maintaining a neutral expression. Official advice suggests that very young infants are placed on a plain light-coloured sheet and photographed from above. If you’re taking a passport photo of a young child they have to be the only person in the photo – you can’t prop them up in your lap. The official rules state ‘no glare off glasses’, though if you wear glasses you’re probably best off just removing them entirely – you also can’t wear tinted glasses or sunglasses. Though official rules state you cannot wear anything that covers your head, there is an exemption if the covering is worn for religious or medical reasons. There should be no shadows on the face, no hair in the face, no facial-coverings and, if printing on photo paper, the images must have no tears, creases or marks. The photo should also have been taken in the last month – so you won’t be able to use an old photo that you happen to have on your computer. A neutral expression with closed mouth, no red-eye, clear and sharp focus, with a plain cream/grey background, posed face-on to the camera, are all a must. Shooting passport photographs demands that you stick to some stringent rules. However, the guidelines for taking your own passport photos still apply, so make sure to follow our guide to get the best results. You can also submit your passport photos digitally, so you no longer have to print the photos. Our money-saving guide shows you how to shoot your own passport sized photos quickly and easily at home…
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