Getting Evan's passport

A few weeks ago we applied for a U.S. passport for Evan, so that we can travel to Australia this December as a family.  What we quickly learned was that obtaining a passport quality photo of an infant was not going to be easy.

First of all, it had to have a plain white background, without any shadows or wrinkles.  Thus, we laid him on top of a white bed sheet and took shots from directly overhead.  The other requirements are that he must be looking straight into the camera and his eyes must be open and his mouth closed or in a natural position.  Thus, he cannot be yawning or crying or asleep.  And finally, the size of the head has to be at a certain ratio within the 2 inch by 2 inch printed photo.  John used an online application that helped him crop the photo to meet those ratio guidelines, but we also had to be sure to take the photo at an appropriate distance to allow the cropping tool to work right.

When we first laid him down for photos we tried doing it on his changing table, but we were getting too many shadows from the curvature of the changing pad.  Then we tried in his crib, but there were also still some shadows from not having bright enough and direct overhead lighting.  Thus, we ended up laying the sheet on the floor in our den (with southern sun exposure) as it was the brightest room at the time, helping us avoid the noticeable shadows.  We still had to use a flash though to have a light source directly above him.

The next hard part was getting him to look directly up at the camera.  He typically wanted to lay his head to one side or the other, and rarely looked straight up.  We shook rattles and clapped and did anything we could to direct his attention straight up.  We took so many shots, and did manage to get a few in which he looked into the camera.  His facial expression was a "deer-in-the-headlights" kind of mug shot look most of the time, especially when we were shaking the rattle.

We finally got this last shot that we felt was a winner.  [John actually exclaimed, "Winner!" after we took it]  Though his mouth is partially open, we hoped it was a natural enough expression that the passport office would accept it.  No matter what, he will not look like he does in this photo for the full five years that the passport will be valid.  Thus, we figure that they have to be a bit more lenient with baby passport photos as they must also realize that getting the perfect photo of a baby is nearly impossible!

This is the final shot that made the cut and was sent in for his passport photo. 

Since Evan is a minor, both parents must appear at a passport acceptance facility to apply for the passport (otherwise non-minors can apply solely through the mail).  We booked our appointment for October 5.  At the appointment, the agent checked our photo identification versus the names on Evan's birth certificate, and then took the application, passport photo,  Evan's birth certificate (which was returned to us with his passport), copies of our photo IDs, and our money (of course!) and said it'd be 4-6 weeks.  We just received his passport in the mail this past week!  It was processed in just two weeks, without hassle, so the photo must have been good enough!  Now we just need to book our tickets and hope that Evan is a good traveler! :)