Tips for toddler passport photo?

[peachdragon]

I have to either take or get a picture taken of my 16 month old daughter for a passport photo. I went to a drugstore to get one taken and they basically turned me away because they don't have experience with young children. I've read the guidelines, and they seem nearly impossible to achieve with a squiggly, squirmy young child.

Does anyone have any tips on getting an acceptable passport photo of a toddler? I have one from her one year photo shoot, but I'm not sure if it'll suffice (she's not looking DIRECTLY at the camera lens, but just behind it). Here it is

[frlcb]

Where do you live? Look for a place that just does passport photos and they can do it. There has to be a certain amount of white space so I don't know if those do, but if it is enough then i am sure the photo is fine. We took the one of our son ourselves because he was only 6 weeks and it ws not an issue.

[beer]

We had the passport office take the photo when we applied for his passport. It is definitely not as good a photo as the ones you have posted. There are requirements for the size etc.

[peachdragon]

OK, maybe the best bet is to have the post office take it. Thanks

[dutchgirl678]

We had my son's taken at Costco. DH held him up in front of their white screen and it worked fine. He was only 3 months old at the time . And Costco is cheap too, only $4.99 I believe.

[shorty20]

If you have a AAA office near you, I believe they take them there as well.

[noonecareswhoiam]

Costco. Just had pics taken yesterday for DS's renewal.

[Deleted]

We did my son's at the post office. My son would not sit still for the post office lady and kept crawling out of the frame. DH jumped behind the camera and I got behind him and made all kinds of silly faces. He got the shot real quick. Done!

[dragonfly08]

Another vote for Costco. I haven't had it done with a squirmy toddler, but I did have my kids' photos done there and even with them cooperating it took multiple shots to get everything per State Dept. requirements. They were cheap ($4.99?) and took as many pictures as necessary until it was right.

[mdgirl]

Maybe this only works with a baby, but my nephew was laid on a white background on the floor and the photographer shot standing over him.

[Redpoppy]

We took DS's at the town office when we submitted his passport application. More than Costco, but we had to submit the application anyways there so saved another trip. I think they sat him on a stool.

[peachdragon]

Jul 30, 2012 20:07:32 GMT -5 mdgirl said:

Maybe this only works with a baby, but my nephew was laid on a white background on the floor and the photographer shot standing over him.

Yeah, that wouldn't work with my toddler. She would roll immediately and get up.

Sent from my PG86100 using proboards

[travelingturtle]

If you could zoom in on that photo a bit, I think it would work. We did our sons at a photobooth and he was screaming in it and it ended up really dark, but they accepted it. They said as long as it shows his forehead, chin, and both ears it's good.

[GilliC]

The State Dept has an online tool to crop & resize your own passport photos. It's about halfway down this page:
travel.state.gov/passport/pptphotoreq/pptphotoreq_5333.html
For that photo, you might need to add some extra whitespace at the top, but I think a bigger issue is that her head is tilted too far down.

[jend1018]

I think your picture is fine. You can crop it to the correct measurements at CVS on their photo machines.

IT was a freaking ordeal doing DS's picture. First I laid him down and DH had to get on the floor under me to hold his arms down since he wanted to keep lifting them. And then the sheet was getting bunched. Then we sat him up against his mattress that was propped up on it's side. 26 shots later, there's a shadow on one side and it printed a bit dark but they accepted it with no problems.

He was asleep in his car seat when we took him to apply so I'm glad I didn't have to wrangle him for a photo there.

Here's his (uncropped) mug:

[Brit]

Jul 31, 2012 3:33:34 GMT -5 GilliC said:

The State Dept has an online tool to crop & resize your own passport photos. It's about halfway down this page:
travel.state.gov/passport/pptphotoreq/pptphotoreq_5333.html
For that photo, you might need to add some extra whitespace at the top, but I think a bigger issue is that her head is tilted too far down.

I did an infant, not a toddler, but I used that tool, my own camera, and developed it at Walmart.

ETA: Her picture is pretty crazy looking, but the State Department was willing to accept it and customs hasn't complained.

[lifewithpants]

We went to Walgreens (she was 20 months old), stood her up on the chair with me holding on to her. One employee had the camera while another one waved a red ball from the toy section to get her attention. They were really good sports, and the pics came out pretty good. A key for me was going in the middle of the day when the store was pretty empty, therefore the staff was willing to help me out!