Homemade Passport Photo - tips for white backgound?

[crunchdy]

My son needs a passport photo and gor various reasons we want to take it ourselves. There are lots of white walls inside our house but we're struggling with shadows. I looked online to see if I could get a cheap (<£30) white backround for use in the garden but they are generally more than that (if they have a frame) and the cheapest get poor reviews. Any tips? (Last time we put a white sheet over the side of the trampoline but had a nightmare getting it crease free and flat).

We had exactly the same problem despite it in theory being a very straightforward task.

In the end we went to Max Spielman in our closest supermarket and the picture was taken, checked that it met the requirements handed over and also emailed to us in 5 minutes.

I just took a selfie against a cream wall in my living room. Passport office accepted it no problem. Don’t remember struggling with shadows, can you try different types of the day. I’m not sure how a background would make a difference with shadows.

I think we did it in a well lit room and used the flash on the camera.

I strung up a white sheet between two chairs. It was opposite a big window to avoid directional shadow. If you son is under a certain age (is it 5?) There is some flexibility with eye contact and expression so check the website.

The images I sent were flagged as unsuitable for some reason in the initial application process before I submitted. I sent them anyway as they matched all the criteria and you could see my daughter clearly, eyes were visible, good contrast with back ground. They were accepted when I submitted.

I don't think there are consequences to failing the photo side other then a slight delay.

With shadows can you get a desk lamp to back light?

I know you must have reasons, but we recently did DD's at a local photo shop. It cost £10 for a digital copy all linked with the passport service, and the shop checked it to make sure it complied with the rules.

If there are SN involved, I wonder whether a local amateur with kit might be kind enough to visit you at home if you put out a request on your local facebook community page?

I had mine taken against a pale green wall and it was fine.

I just sat on the kitchen counter with white wall behind. 12 year old son took photo and it was great.

Bright natural light but not direct sunlight, I did my DCs in our kitchen on a bright day with the back door open to let in as much light as possible. But by the time I needed to do mine we had repainted the kitchen blue and the only room with white walls has little natural light and we just couldn't do it without shadows (I got someone to do it at my work in the end). If it is shadows from you, stand further away and use the camera zoom to get the closeness.

Mine was against a very pale cream wall in a well-lit office stairwell.

Experimenting with light sources (lamps from the side) might reduce shadow. But with good overhead lighting there might not be much shadow in the first place.

If you are willing to pay £30 I would just go to a photo shop, we had to as we hadn't got a suitable plain wall and I couldn't be bothered to faff about with sheets

Sorry just see you want to do it yourself

I used an app that removes any background and offers some sort of refund if the photo isn't accepted

The photo we managed to get accepted for DD2 was done in the brightly corridor outside shopping centre toilets! 😂

Yes, I was going to suggest going out somewhere to find a white wall to stand against.

Aldi and Lidl have big windows to reduce the amount of lighting needed in the shops so maybe somewhere like that on a sunny day?

Firstly do you have a wall that gets hit by direct sunlight at a fixed time of the day?
then try using any lamp you have in the shadow areas. The non picture taking parent is in charge of getting equaling up the lighting.

Last option is a bright flash light shining directly at the child along the same line of sight as the camera. This is hard as the child will squint and blink to protect their sight.

Re shadows, we tried various different walls, same problem everywhere. Ended up using the booth at Asda, for a photo which can upload automatically.

I took a selfie against a wall next to the window, so there weren't any shadows. It was accepted no problems.

Can you lay a white sheet on the floor outside and get him to lay down? And stand over his head?

I took a selfie against a plain white wall and then made it brighter using the editing function.
It was accepted!

Right, first off, natural sunlight. Avoid areas lit by spotlights. Step forward so you are about 75 cm to a metre away from the wall. Shadows should reduce enormously. Just check your eyes aren't shadowed.

I got perfectly usable pics of my lot and myself this way.

We used Photo Booth online.

I used a pale blue wall (Borrowed Light by F&B) and it was acceptable. I used desk spotlights and standard lamps from other rooms to light the room really well and eliminate shadow. And used the photo assessor tool in the passport app. Got all 4 kid's passports back with 10 days.

There’s a really good app for this. They say they won’t accept it but there were no issues with ours! We had trouble with shadows on your white background before

TBH I tried to do this for ages at home before giving up and going to Snappy Snaps.

Hand a white sheet. Somewhere where you have good light.

Use a lamp in front to give you even light. A photographers light is even better