The Anatomy of a Passport Photo

Oliver and I will be attending a wedding in Mexico in a couple of months (rough life, no?) and both of our passports just expired. Rather than spend time and money having passport photos taken by a grumpy non-photographer shooting flat pictures under fluorescent light, we decided to take a stab at it ourselves. In the end, after figuring out the lighting situation, achieving neutral expressions, standing at the correct distance (not too close, but not too far away) and editing the photos to look more washed out and evenly lit, per the gov's strict passport photo guidelines, it probably would have been worth our time (and money) just have the damn things taken by someone else. But then I wouldn't have a blog post dedicated to the outtakes, would I? Here's how we fared:


Just getting the lighting sorted out. I can't resist being a pain in the buttocks. Oliver hasn't shaved yet. Let's get the show on the road….


Killy: Too dark, not amused
Oliver: Too much shadow behind head, also not amused


Killy: Too much expression, not looking straight into camera
Oliver: Far too happy; crooked head (my fault, but on purpose)


Open mouths: not appropriate


Killy: These pictures are boring
Oliver: You're boring – I'm looking out the window


Killy: Are you sure that last one isn't going to work?
Oliver: You can't be serious


Getting into character...


Money shots (gross lighting courtesy photoshop, since it seems to be a requirement). Done and done! Mexico, here we come!