Author: Paspic

You don’t have to be a professional photographer to successfully set up a photoshoot to take acceptable passport photos of the whole family. There are a few simple steps you should follow to ensure the photos you take are appropriate for passport use. Camera placement and lighting are the biggest factors you should pay close attention to.

Positioning your camera

The U.S. Department of State, who issues passports for U.S. citizens, doesn’t allow you to take “selfies” or hand-held self-portraits, so you need someone to take your passport photo for you. This doesn’t mean you need a professional, just someone who can follow a simple photographer setup. This begins with where the camera is positioned.

The camera should be set at the eye level of the person being photographed and held at least four feet away. The photographer should frame the person in the viewfinder with just their upper body showing and empty space above the head.

Lighting and backgrounds

The background you use for passport pictures should be a solid white or off-white surface and should not contain any type of pattern, print or texture. The area should also be well lit with lighting strategically positioned to eliminate shadows.

How do I avoid passport photo shadows?

Don’t use overhead lighting, which can cast shadows. Instead, place one light on both sides of the person being photographed at about 45 degrees from their face. Place a third light close to and facing the background to uniformly illuminate and further remove shadows.

Exceptions for babies, but not children

Baby passport photos are the only ones that can differ from those you take for other members of the family. Depending on the age of the infant, it may not be able to hold its head up on its own and you’re not allowed to hold it up for them. In this case, you should lie the infant down on a plain, white or light-colored blanket with lighting on both sides of its head. Babies under one-year-old aren’t held to the rule of having their eyes open and mouth closed, but child passport photos for toddlers over this age should be treated the same as adults.

With the travel season coming up, it’s time to dig out your passport, complete with the passport photo which looks more like a mug shot than something you’d be pleased to show to strangers for the next ten years of your life.

The problem is that there are now so many rules about passport photos – no hair in your face, no head coverings, mouth firmly closed – that it makes it almost impossible to look good in your photos. There are some things which you can do to tip the balance slightly back in your favour though. While many of these apply to the ladies, there’s nothing to stop the gentlemen giving them a go as well!

Choose a quality place with good lighting

Before you get in front of the camera, try a corrective primer base. This will give your face some colour, which is helpful as flashes from the camera tend to bleach out colours, or even worse, make you look a bit green. Try a peachy toned primer to combat the bleaching.

Apply a little makeup

• Dark circles can look a lot worse in a passport picture, so pay attention to those by covering them with some concealer or powder. Even if it’s not an area you usually cover-up, you’ll be grateful you did for this.
• A light coloured lipstick will stop you looking too unnatural. Again, the whitening effect of the harsh flash means that a bold lipstick will seem a lot more intense than it actually is, so tone it down on this occasion.
• If you like to use blusher, follow the same sort of guidelines, and keep the tones neutral to cope with the sudden flash. A bronzer might be a safer bet on your cheeks than a pink or red blusher. Can you wear makeup in a passport photo?

Follow Camera Directions

While contouring is all the rage at the moment, remember that trends come and go. Think of the dewy looks of the 90s – you wouldn’t want to go out like that now. If you must contour, try to keep the focus away from the forehead and more into the centre of the face.

Ready to take your photo?

Upload it to us at Paspic when you’re done, and we’ll get your model-ready passport photo back to you in no time. With our helpful tips, you might even want to double up and use it as a headshot for your portfolio!

 

Taking your baby abroad for the first time can be a fantastic and rewarding experience for the whole family. The key to having a great time traveling with your young one is being organised. We’ve put together our top tips for an excellent trip.

1. Take Essentials With You

Babies don’t always adapt well to changes in diet so make sure to either research whether the milk or baby food they are used to will be available in your destination. If you aren’t sure, it is always best to take a supply with you to avoid any mishaps. Other products that it’s useful to have with you are any lotions or creams they are used to.

What to Pack in Baby’s Suitcase:

• Diapers and wipes
• Diaper cream
• Baby wash
• Body lotion
• Sunscreen
• A bottle brush
• Infant utensils

2. Check Facilities At Your Accommodation

There are lots of items that you will need when you are away but won’t want to take with you, such as travel cots. You don’t want to be caught short on arrival though so it is always best to double-check the availability of items like this before you go. It is also a good idea to look up some reviews before you book to see how child-friendly somewhere is. The internet is great for this with tons of holidaymaker review sites meaning you won’t end up faced with unsafe equipment.  check the complete baby packing checklist here.

3. Get Their Passport Sorted

Previously, children could be added onto their parents’ passports but this has been changed. Remember that anybody traveling abroad, no matter how young, now needs to hold their own passport. It can take four to six weeks for a child’s first passport to come through with standard delivery or it can be fast-tracked with the one week service. Make sure to apply for this in plenty of time and remember that first-time baby passports can not be processed on the one-day fast track service.

A key factor that delays passport processing is when photos are sent off that don’t comply with the quite strict photo regulations. Trying a service like Paspic can greatly reduce the chance of your baby passport photo being rejected, as 99.5% of Paspic photos are accepted the first time.

The modern rules and regulations for passport photos can be confusing, and costly if your snap is rejected by the passport office. This is where an innovative company called Paspic, which based on The Sussex Innovation Centre (SINC) site, has streamlined the passport photo process.

Sussex University alumni Yehuda Hecht came up with the clever idea of combining digital photography with cutting edge technology to improve the passport photograph process. All new passport photos must include measurable and unique physical characteristics for today’s biometric facial recognition software. The Paspic system works by taking a digital photo and analyzing its suitability in terms of these characteristics.

The Paspic system is so accurate that 99.5% of passport photos are approved upon the first submission to the passport office. And if your photo is rejected, Paspic sends a refund for the submission.

This cutting edge technology has a rich history, based at the SINC site. Yehuda was at the School of Applied Sciences at Sussex Uni from 1970 to 1973. Paspic, previously known as PhotoMagic, was founded by Yehuda in 1989. Yehuda’s patented PhotoMagic technology is used worldwide in almost all of the 20,000 digital photo booths.

In 2000 Paspic was established and the company’s focus shifted from connecting the photo booth kiosk to the internet to making it possible to create passport photos at home. In today’s world of smartphones and digital photography, it’s an obvious step but is also one that relies on years of technical research and development.

Paspic has continued to go from strength to strength. From taking your child’s first passport photo to creating photographic ID cards such as driving licenses, student cards and so on, every individual need a photo ID in one form or another. Paspic is delivering photographic IDs for all these needs and continues to grow and develop its technology as the world demands more photographic IDs within more stringent parameters.