Locate a white or off-white wall or tape a white sheet of easel paper to a wall to serve as the background for your passport photo.
Position your subject about 1 foot away from the background, with his back to the wall, facing you head-on with eyes open and mouth closed (no teeth showing---just a natural expression on the face). If he's wearing glasses, make sure they don't hide his eyes---no sunglasses allowed.
Stand 4 to 6 feet away from your subject. Using the camera viewfinder, ensure that you'll capture her from the middle of the chest to above the hair, leaving room above the head so you can crop the photo later. There should be no shadows that will fall onto the background or your subject's face.
Take the passport photo.
Upload the photo to your computer if you're using a photo-editing program to crop the photo. Otherwise, print out two copies of the passport photo. (Photos must be printed on photo paper on a photo printer. If you don't have a good-quality photo printer, you can have it printed at a drugstore or online at a photo site such as www.snapfish.com.)
Measure your passport photo to ensure it meets U.S. size requirements. Do this manually with a ruler if you printed out your photo already, or use a photo-editing program on your computer---in which case you should be able to save the photo to the correct size before printing. You also can use a free passport photo template that will do the measuring and cropping for you. These templates are available on www.epassportphoto.com and similar sites.
Passport photos must meet the following requirements:
• The photo, when cropped, must be 2-inches-by-2-inches.
• The height of the head in the photo, from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head, including hair, must be 1 inch to 1 3/8 inches.
• The subject's eyes must be between 1 1/8 to 1 3/8 inches from the bottom of the photo.
If the photograph does not meet the sizing requirements, you will need to retake it.
Print out two copies of the same photo, in color, if you have not already done so.
Trim the passport photo to the correct 2-inch-by-2-inch size using a paper cutter or trimmer. These are preferable to scissors because they cut cleaner lines.
