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Why are Passport or ID photos always atrocious?

atlanticza

atlanticza

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 18, 2008
561
2
Cape Town
Ever experienced that B&W refugee look? No matter where one is in the world, the inevitable photos for official documents seem to morph us from a pleasant looking Dr Jekyll into a hideous Mr Hyde. Even police mug shots seem to be more appealing. What tricks are available to stop that camera from lying? (Or is it just me?) :eek:
 
Because they aren't supposed to make you look good, they're supposed to show all the features an agent of the government needs to compare your face to the photo. But ... yeah, they are atrocious....
 
Zh2 said:
Hi!

Its just you. My passport photograph makes me look like George Clooney!!!

:)

Regards.

Z
Click to expand...

My passport photo makes me look like Adam Levine.

Whoever took the OP's passport photo isn't doing their job.
 
snberk103 said:
Because they aren't supposed to make you look good, they're supposed to show all the features an agent of the government needs to compare your face to the photo. But ... yeah, they are atrocious....
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+1. These are not glamour headshots, they are for purposes of identification.
 
Sad news for you but....

Most people are atrocious looking - that's why not everyone can be movie stars and super models. It takes a lot of work to make the average person look good. :D
 
It's because they don't try to make you look good. The most important part of a portrait shot is the lighting. Some photographers take hours setting up thousands of dollars worth of lighting equipment. When they take your passport/license photo, the lighting is head on. This has a few effects on the photo: It makes you look flat and unappealing, but it also makes it easier to recognize someone from the photo.
 
Rather than trying to set up a lighting system, I suppose you could try to use a slower shutter speed to get a brighter, more even image.

You passport photo will be so small that any slight blurriness from the slow shutter will be rendered invisible.

Or I could have absolutely no idea as to what I'm talking about.


On a related note I just took my German passport photos in the machine that they had at the consulte's office and dear-god they look awful. Any way to get a good-looking neutral face?
 
My Passport somewhat looks like me, and a half decent respectable member of society. My Drivers license makes me look like an Eastern European Neo-Nazi. My Military ID makes me look like a Ghost. (A bad combination of me being deathly pale after being roused at 5AM by an angry drill instructor, and a flash way too bright on the cam)
 
G5Unit said:
Rather than trying to set up a lighting system, I suppose you could try to use a slower shutter speed to get a brighter, more even image.

You passport photo will be so small that any slight blurriness from the slow shutter will be rendered invisible.

Or I could have absolutely no idea as to what I'm talking about.
....
Click to expand...

Don't take this this the wrong way, please... but don't quit your daytime job to become a photographer, eh? :)

Slowing the shutter speed will do nothing to for a "... more even image." And depending on how slow the shutter speed, the blurriness could be very visible.

Best way to duplicate the lighting needed for a passport photo is to sit facing a bright window that does not have direct sun light. So either facing away from the sun or on a cloudy day.
 
snberk103 said:
Don't take this this the wrong way, please... but don't quit your daytime job to become a photographer, eh? :)

Slowing the shutter speed will do nothing to for a "... more even image." And depending on how slow the shutter speed, the blurriness could be very visible.

Best way to duplicate the lighting needed for a passport photo is to sit facing a bright window that does not have direct sun light. So either facing away from the sun or on a cloudy day.
Click to expand...

I guess what I was trying to get at was that the longer you expose an image sensor to light, the brighter the image will become. Over time, the differences in light taken in from the darker areas of the subject will have less of a relative difference in brightness to the normal or brightly lit areas of the subject. The problem is that if shutter is left open for too long, you'll end up with a washed out photo. The over exposure can sometimes be overcome a bit by narrowing the aperture.

Have I redeemed myself?:eek: maybe?

And I take pictures a lot better than I describe how I take them, my flickr isn't too bad!
 
G5Unit said:
....
Have I redeemed myself?:eek: maybe?

And I take pictures a lot better than I describe how I take them, my flickr isn't too bad!
Click to expand...

Sorry, but not really. If you lived on the BC coast I would offer you a very interesting studio lighting course though. For the most part, the best way to get even lighting is to .... evenly light the subject. There is very little a camera can do to change the lighting.

Or Photoshop/Lightroom it. Lightroom has a graduated filter that may be able to even out uneven lighting.
 
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