Probably, any person, at the word “photo for documents” immediately thinks in the direction of a photo salon. But if you faced the necessity of making a passport photo for your baby, it can turn out to become a real challenge. But what if you can’t find a good way to make the kid’s passport photo? Newborns are too small to take to a photo studio. For sure it will be inconvenient, distressing, and quite troublesome for everybody – for the children, for the parents, and for the photographer.

How to do it in a non-stress mode? You can easily process it at home by yourself! You’ll need just a photo camera and your baby! Take a photo and send it for retouching, fitting for all the requirements and then print in the nearest Walmart! You can make it for free, will need only 0,25$ for printing at Walmart passport pics. Making photos at special studios very often can be overpriced. So printing at your local shop and getting photos ready in several minutes can sound like the best idea.

Even if you do not mention reasonable questions like “How will anybody be able to recognize him from this photo in three months?”, there are many other incomprehensible issues. The most complicated thing is how, well, how can you photograph a baby according to all the rules and regulations? And these rules are quite numerous:

  • The face should not be affected by facial expressions (smile or cry)
  • The face has to be symmetrical, without turns in any direction
  • Both ears must be visible
  • The mouth must be closed
  • Both eyes must be openly looking straight at the camera
  • Eyebrows in a neutral position (not raised or frowning)
  • The shoulders are symmetrical, as is the head

Yeah, now a three-week-old baby will make a serious expression, sit more symmetrically, and patiently pose.

So let’s start preparing!

  • The first and one of the most important things is lightning. The best option for our goals will be using space with soft natural light. Try not to use the flash. Bright light can frighten a baby and the real results can be far from the expectations. Do you have windows looking to the sunny side? Perfect! Even on a foggy or overclouded day, you will have astonishing light near the window!
  • Choose the appropriate background. According to the legislation of each country, the requirements may vary. In the UK for example you will need white color while in Australia it should be gray. To create it, use a chair and cover it with a sheet of paper of the necessary color. For the smallest babies, you can use a blanket and lay it on the floor.
  • The camera should be placed at least 1 meter away so as to have space to cut the photo and to adjust it to the requirements for the size as they are also different. Try to attract his attention by making some noise or showing him some toys behind the photo camera to make him look straight. But don’t make him laugh and don’t stay too close in order not to create a shadow over him. And of course, make a lot of photos to be sure that you have a variety of choices. For sure at least some of them will be exactly what you expect!
  • Plan your photo shoot during the early afternoon or late morning. You will get a perfect combination of the best light and best time to have your kid in a great mood.
  • You should also prepare casual clothes, preferably plain and contrasting with the background, comfortable for the child.

You have to take into account that not all children are absolutely the same: some boys can monotonously play with a toy car for several hours while another girl will find it rather complicated to sit in one place for more than a minute. Do not try to press the baby to pose for you. In the best-case scenario, you just will get unsuccessful cards with a stony face, and in the worst case, you will kill your child’s willingness to take photos. Just relax, have fun and play and maybe with time your child will grow up and offer you to make family portraits again and again and this will become one of your favorite pastimes together! Your kid has to be happy, relaxed, well-fed, dry, and ready for the challenge. Otherwise, it will be better to postpone this for some time as the good state of the model is the obligatory rule!

You have to be wise and patient and understand that more likely you will need some time to get the best result.

We hope that reading this guide will appear helpful to you. And we want to know what you think about this. Did this article reveal all the incomprehensible questions and issues on this topic? Will you use these tips to make passport photos of your child on your own?

Share your thoughts in the comments.