What’s the best way to get a passport photo? I am renewing my passport by mail. I read all of the specifications and it says ‘selfies’ and webcam photos are not acceptable (something about pixels), but I don’t have a way to print one on glossy paper, anyway, so that’s moot.
I went to Walgreen’s and had it done. I am still angry. When I first inquired about it, one young girl in the photo department immediately said, “No earrings.” OK. fine. Then another woman took my photo and said, “Oh, wait, your have to be able to see your ears.” No where on the web site does it say that. So I try to stuff my very short hair behind my ears. I tried telling her I didn’t think that was a requirement. I am fortunate to have small, flat ears. Even with my hair stuck behind them you can’t see them in the photo. My facial expression looks angry. And it’s dark. I am very fair. Then I saw her ‘photoshopping’ the background to make it white. The web site says you can’t do that. It cost me $16 for the dumb photo. Should I take it back and go somewhere else?
There are requirements for ears, and I believe no tank tops. We had it done at a drug store and my daughter just took a t-shirt and wore it for the photo. I know for my daughter’s immigration photo she had to have a right ear showing. Tell that to a crying 2 year old.
Sounds like you got a person at Walgreen’s who doesn’t know what they are doing. I’d take it back and talk to a manager. Perhaps they’ll have someone there who can do better.
I’ve had success at Fedex Print & Ship (used to be Kinko’s) and at the USPS location in my area that processes passports.
I took photos at home against a white background. (Specifically, the leftover science fair foam core tri-fold poster!) Used a cropping site I found online that produced four passport-sized photos as a 4 x 6 print. Uploaded to Costco and printed for 19 cents, or whatever it is that Costco charges for a print. Had to cut one photo away from the four to mail away with my passport app.
I’ve never even used my passport, but my D lived in Asia for a few years and now she travels a lot, so I keep my passport in case she gets kidnapped and I have to go look for her. LOL
I’ve taken photos with a digital camera at home against the required background and printed them myself on my home printer. I used Adobe illustrator to scale them correctly. The State Dept has no rules about who can take them. They were for our whole family and all were accepted.
My D and I had ours done at the post office. My S-I-L had her family pics done at Walgreen’s and when she went for the passport, they were the wrong size.