# Passport photo **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 6, 2017, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-photo/800892 "2017-11-06T16:17:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Plumpudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Plumpudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumpudding)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-photo/800892/21 "2017-11-06T18:36:34Z")
In Norway the police does it when you go get a passport. They no longer allow you to bring them with you. They also have booths if you need passport-photos for other purposes. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-photo/800892/22 "2017-11-06T18:39:34Z")
I used Walgreens. While I wasn’t unhappy with my photo, my standards aren’t very high. The customs guy doesn’t care provided it nominally looks like me and no one else is going to be looking at it. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-photo/800892/23 "2017-11-06T18:39:58Z")
I’ve always taken my own. Touch it up with Photoshop a little so I’m not completely hideous, and attach it to my application after printing on photo paper. I’ve yet to have one returned to me. I’ve also never had a bad passport photo! Those things last a decade. Who wants a bad one!? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-photo/800892/24 "2017-11-06T19:31:37Z")
Costco. About $5 for 4 photos ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-photo/800892/25 "2017-11-06T20:07:49Z")
> [@Disheavel](#): > > There are a dozen apps on iOS, android for taking the picture. Then have it sent to Walgreens for printing. $.17 total. > > Stand against a white wall with good lighting in front of you. My children are wearing pajamas in their passport photos which never ceases to amuse me. Bingo. That’s exactly what I did in July when I had to renew my passport. The free app had all the guidelines of what should be where and automatically created two photos at the correct size, all I had to do was upload it to CVS’s online printing service and pick it up. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-photo/800892/26 "2017-11-06T20:18:51Z")
I got mine at CVS. The government had no problem with it. Ten years ago, the passport section of my local post office would take the photo (it had a special two-lens camera that, in effect, took both passport photos at once). ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-photo/800892/27 "2017-11-06T20:20:53Z")
Don’t trust the post office website. I had to hike to Walgreens in 20 degree weather because the post office didn’t have a passport photographer available like their website had mentioned. My passport picture is awful, since I was extremely angry at having to go to Walgreens. I could have gotten the pic done easily at a Walgreens across the street from me, but I stupidly relied on the USPS website. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-photo/800892/28 "2017-11-06T21:09:15Z")
Quality isn’t really important as long as it is within the size tolerance. Once you get the photos, make sure your head fits within the outlines in the template. Don’t let them argue that it’s close enough; make them retake it. I learned from experience that the photo will be rejected if it isn’t exact. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-photo/800892/29 "2017-11-06T21:15:28Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > I’ve always taken my own. Touch it up with Photoshop a little so I’m not completely hideous, and attach it to my application after printing on photo paper. This. Taken in my basement. Simple. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-photo/800892/30 "2017-11-06T21:25:36Z")
Post office. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-photo/800892/31 "2017-11-06T23:53:56Z")
We did everything including photos at the post office. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-photo/800892/32 "2017-11-07T00:27:28Z")
Wow! 30-some posts in & no one else has said AAA yet. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-photo/800892/33 "2017-11-07T00:35:39Z")
Perhaps because no one who has posted got their passport photos at AAA? I know it’s hard to believe, but it might actually be true. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-photo/800892/34 "2017-11-07T00:41:04Z")
FedEx, and it worked fine. The lines at the Post Office are too long for me to even want to see if they do it. And you should all thank technology, since getting a passport photo is a lot easier than it used to be. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-photo/800892/35 "2017-11-07T01:04:24Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > I’ve always taken my own. Touch it up with Photoshop a little so I’m not completely hideous I take my own passport photos too. I wanted to do some light “airbrushing” of a blemish on my face. I read the guidelines and saw that it’s not permitted to do any retouching except for removing red-eye. From [U.S. State Department passport photo FAQ](https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/photos.html): > [@](#): > > **Can I remove the red-eye from my photo?** > > Yes, you may remove red-eye. However, other digital alterations or editing is not allowed. ---
**Author:** ![FightMyIgnorance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71e660/32.png) [@FightMyIgnorance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FightMyIgnorance)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-photo/800892/36 "2017-11-07T05:27:53Z")
As a Walgreen’s Photo Technician, it makes me very pleased to see the replies here. 🙂 Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337Z using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-photo/800892/37 "2017-11-07T06:24:13Z")
Local train station [photo booth](http://www.tokyometro.jp/station/search_shop/repair/result_shomeishashin.html) with specific feature for taking passport photos. About US$7.00 for a set of 5 pics in two different sizes. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-photo/800892/38 "2017-11-07T08:18:03Z")
Industrial Light and Magic. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-photo/800892/39 "2017-11-07T11:07:00Z")
South Africa can’t be the only place where the photo is taken by, you know, the people actually giving you the passport, themselves, straight into their computer system, can it? The notion of having to bring along a teeny envelope with your own photos is at least …10 … years out of date 🙂 We still need them for driver’s licences _application forms_, though (the licence photo, itself, is taken by them like the passport one) - and there’s a kiosk at most every driver’s licence place where they take them, so that’s where I go. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-photo/800892/40 "2017-11-07T12:36:04Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > South Africa can’t be the only place where the photo is taken by, you know, the people actually giving you the passport, themselves, straight into their computer system, can it? The notion of having to bring along a teeny envelope with your own photos is at least …10 … years out of date 🙂 This would be hampered in the USA by our…decentralized attitude toward stuff like identification. The vast majority of passports are issued to people the State Department has not ever interacted with directly, so they _can’t_ take the picture. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-photo/800892.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passport-photo/800892.md?page=3)