Let's Do it : Passport Photo at Home

Every time you post a form in some official or unofficial document they demand a passport photo of yours and then you think that I have it in my wallet, but when you open your wallet you see that you have used all the passport photos you had taken last time. In a moment of hurry you go and search your whole house, cupboards, almirahs and everywhere else. And then you realise you do not have a negative too, Now a days negatives are also not used for taking photos.

Then you decide to go to the neighborhood photographer to take a passport and realise that the day is a public holiday and the studio is not open and or many be the studio people are not there. What do you do ? Frustration sets in. True.

And if the photo is of a kid the problem is even worse, you make up and then try to convince the kid to take the shot and when you reach the studio, you find it locked. It all becomes so frustrating.

Why not do it yourself ?

It is easier than said, believe me. Let us do it on our own. Of course you may be thinking that it may not be as good as a studio shot, but anyway you need a passport photo for official purposes and not for posting on your webpage or facebook profile, so let it be.

This is not only simple but also interesting to get it done all by yourself. You may however need the help of someone else if you wish.

First : Prepare the person for the shoot. You know it well, just a little make up and some powder and some freshness on face etc. Do that well, since you are at home and not in a studio so you can take your own time.

Second : Stand erect and look straight into the camera. Did I mention camera ? Well you may be thinking where is the camera ? But hey, you are forgetting we all have mobile phones and now finding a mobile phone without a camera is tough so you can use your friendly mobile for taking a picture. Or if you have a camera at home do use that.

Be informed about these important points

• The photo must be taken against a simple light coloured background, if there is no such area in your home, you can put a cloth on the rope and stand infront of it.
• Look straight into the camera and shoot. You can take as many photos as you want until you find the best one.
• Don't wear glasses, what so ever, correction glasses or sun glasses.
• Try not to be too close to the background, it may cause shadow marks and the image may not come good.
• Use absolutely normal lighting for shoot, do not go for heavy sunlight, it can cause shadows on face and eyes may blink.
• If you are shooting with use of flash make sure you do not look straight into the flash, it may cause red eye. (Red eye is redness seen in the eyes in the photos after taking photos).
• Face should be clearly visible, no face masks, no hats, no mufflers and caps.
• There must not be any feeling on the face, let the natural you be there, do not smile too.

Well that is all, I hope by now you got a handful of photos of your or your known person and it is time we sent those photos to the computer. If you are using android mobile phones you can directly do the photo on the mobile itself. But if that facility is not there, go for sending the photos to the computer.

Now I got photo, next what ?

Well, now you need to go to a website http://idphoto4you.com. This is a website where you can create your own passport photo. On the front page of the website you can see flags of many countries, it is because different countries use different dimensions of passport photos. You need to chose your country, i.e. India for me. In India passport photos are of the size 3.5 cm X 3.5 cm.  You can also make small passport photos too. You can chose the size from a drop down list on the website.
 

Now upload the best photo of all you have shot yourself. After the upload is over you will be prompted to crop the image, which means you can decide how much of the image you want to keep and the areas of the image you want to remove. The website has an amazing feature that it can detect your face and adjust the frame accordingly. After you have created the cropped image all you need is to click the make photo button.
Your passport photo is ready. you can download the printable image from the download page. You can take a print at home using any inkjet printer with some glossy paper or photo paper, or you can mail the same to digital colour lab for taking our prints. You can also use the photo to digitally embed in online documents.
The best part of all this process is it is FREE of cost, you do not need to pay a penny to get your own passport photo done.
 

So who are willing to give it a try ? Go do it and show me the results in the comments and if you face problems ask me questions.

Description: How to do passport photos at home