Set up a white or off-white background for the photo. Set up a triangular lighting scheme--one light on each side of the subject and one above—to help avoid shadows from falling across the subject's face.
Position the subject standing against the background. Check that there are no distracting shadows or objects in the photo frame.
Center the subject. A correctly formatted passport photo measures 2 inches square, with the subject's head—from the top of the hair to below the chin—measuring 1 to 1 3/8 inches. The subject's nose should be in the center of the frame, with the head taking up at least half of the vertical length of the frame.
Take the photo and verify that the proportions are correct.
Develop or upload the photo. If you are using 35mm film, tell the developer that the photo must be created to meet passport requirements. Otherwise, the default ratios used by most developers will leave the photo too large to use for passports. For digital pictures, maintain the aspect ratio of the original, set the vertical length at 2 inches, then crop the photo horizontally—keeping the subject centered—to measure 2 inches as well.
