When changing the method of shooting documents from analogue to digital photography, photo studios did not immediately learn how to correctly cope with the display of the white color of clothing in the resulting photographs. In pursuit of additional photo processing capabilities, white clothes lost their appearance - they merged with the background, the structure of the fabric disappeared, and much more. More and more often in photo studios one could see a warning that people should not take photographs in white clothes. This led to a fairly strong belief that you can’t be photographed in white! Is this really true?


If you are assured of the above, I would advise you to at least think about the professionalism of the photographer, the quality of the services provided, and look for another photograph. It is possible and even necessary in some cases to be photographed in white clothes. I will not describe the technical side of working with the original image, I will only emphasize that the structure of the fabric should remain unchanged, and be sure to be slightly darker than the background of the photo. This is the photographer's task. A photograph with combined clothing elements will always look worthy.

Hairstyle and photo for documents

A lush, voluminous hairstyle may not look bad in photographs where there are no clear mandatory requirements. For example 3x4, 4x6 or 3.5x4.5, without additional requirements. If we are faced with the task of taking a photo for a Russian passport or visa, where the production rules are strictly regulated by instructions, then it is better to refuse this.
Hair should be styled so that the hairstyle is not affected by the edges of the final photo. As a rule, the size of the face in these cases should be within 70-80% of the total area of ​​the photograph - that is, a close-up of the face (from the top of the head to the chin 32-36 millimeters). It’s funny and absurd when all the beauty looks like a rectangle filled with hair. It is also necessary to take into account that the modern method of making photographs for documents involves the complete removal of the background, which may also not correctly affect the hairstyle.

Tie and photo for documents

Just as in the case of a voluminous hairstyle, a men's tie will not be appropriate in all cases. In most cases, according to the requirements of visa centers and the migration service, we are again faced with the 3.5x4.5 format, with a large person - 70-80% required. On passports and visas, the tie is “cut” in half near the knot - not very nice. And in photographs for a foreign passport application form, service IDs, certificates and driver’s licenses, a tie will serve as a good addition and emphasize the respectability of the bearer of the photograph.

Glasses and photo for documents

If a person constantly wears glasses, he cannot imagine his image in a photograph without them. This is an important accessory that can significantly change your appearance. How to take pictures with or without glasses? Here the choice is yours. But don’t forget that if you are wearing glasses in a photo, and then change your frames or suddenly forget them at home, lose them or break them, you are a completely different person in the eyes of others. By taking a photo without glasses, you get an undeniable advantage - taking off and putting on any glasses is easier than changing the photo in the document.

Photo jewelry and perfumes

Jewelry that will highlight your individuality and well-being is best left for meetings with friends. They are clearly useless, and sometimes simply inappropriate when photographing for documents. The photograph in the document is primarily intended to identify you. A customs control officer or traffic police inspector is unlikely to appreciate this beauty, and when making a photograph, this can complicate the work and increase the preparation time for printing. Excessive use of your favorite perfume in front of the mirror, immediately before shooting, does not affect the quality of the photograph, but can seriously disrupt the coordination of the photographer’s movement and make him temporarily incapacitated (Joke) - smells in a photo studio do not dissipate for a long time.

The first thing you need to pay special attention to is having a good mood - the most important factor and the key to a successful photo. If you don’t like yourself, this will only aggravate the negative result of being photographed and this moment will remain in your memory for a long time and on the main page of your passport or other document. You should not take photos on the last day of submitting documents. With us you can always take a photo for free in advance and later, use the archive.
The best option when choosing a wardrobe for ID photos is clothing that contrasts with the background. The presence of both dark elements and elements of light colors. The women's shoulders are covered with clothing or at least fragments of their hairstyle. The hair is styled, the makeup is thought out in advance (you should not use foundation on the face to even out the color if the neck remains unchanged - it will be easier for the photographer to work with color in combination and the result will be much better). The face is as open as possible. Minimum decorations.
What is required of the photographer is acceptable, truly necessary retouching. Easy hairstyle correction and shoulder alignment, retouching temporary skin imperfections. It is better to use a hairdresser to style your hair and take care of your hair. Photo Shop (Adobe Photoshop) is a graphic editor, it has other goals and objectives.
The time allotted for taking photographs for documents usually ranges from 5 to 10 minutes. If you are in a hurry and ask to take photographs as soon as possible, constantly asking about readiness, it is better to immediately agree with the master that you absolutely do not care what you look like and this will greatly simplify the task. The principle of “fast and good” does not work here.
As a result, you received the coveted set of photographs, but this is not exactly what you wanted to see - it means today is not the best day for photography or you made the wrong choice of photographer. You have the right not to pay for the service and ask for a refund. Please note that Photographers who value their reputation will never take money in advance and treat this with understanding. Based on all of the above, the most important thing can be highlighted: Naturalness is the main trump card of any photo..

From the author, off topic

It’s not respectable for men to ask a photographer to make him more beautiful and shave his three-day stubble. Dress in a jacket and tie or uniform, remove the third chin... Photography employees should not discredit the profession of photography by providing dubious and low-quality services. Recently, it has become more and more common to go to a photographer “from the plow” and in a blouse, if you want to see yourself in a photograph - as a noble prince.

A passport is the main document identifying a citizen. That is why the requirements for Russian passport photos are as strict and clear as possible. As a rule, serious companies providing passport photo services clearly know what the image should look like from a technical point of view. However, people need to prepare for this process in more detail, clarify information and possible details. After all, if the photo is unsuccessful and after receiving the document, it will be too late to wonder about changing the photo.

Basic requirements for photographs

The legislation of the Russian Federation defines clear requirements for a facial photograph in a passport. They are simple, but mandatory:

  • format – color images or black and white are allowed, so the citizen decides independently how to take a passport photo;
  • the face in the photograph must be positioned strictly from the front - any tilts or turns are prohibited;
  • hairstyle - should correspond to an everyday look, so for those who decide what hairstyle to take a passport photo with, all options should come down to one thing - simple styling for women, so that the curls do not obscure parts of the face and do not fall into the eyes; for men – neatly cut hair or styled at a certain length;
  • Make-up should be discreet, decent and consistent with your normal appearance. You shouldn’t pay a lot of attention and decide how to put on makeup for a passport photo - there shouldn’t be any bright or provocative makeup;
  • glasses are allowed, or rather, photos with glasses are recommended if the citizen wears them all the time. Consequently, for people who use prescription glasses in everyday life, the answer to the question of whether it is possible to be photographed with glasses on a passport is obvious: it is not possible, but necessary.

A passport is issued to a citizen at the age of 14 and then must be replaced 2 times in his life - at 20 and 45 years. Therefore, it makes no sense to ask questions about how to change the photo in your passport. The answer is no. You can only change your passport. The process of changing a document is simple - upon reaching the required age, a person needs to visit the passport office with the appropriate application and photographs, and after a few days receive a new document. The entire procedure is carried out at the place of permanent registration, so it usually does not raise questions and is known to everyone, and the procedure is no different from any other document replacement.

Additional nuances

In addition to personally providing documents to obtain a passport, you can use the State Services portal. In this case, the application and photo are submitted in electronic format. The technical requirements are similar to those for regular photographs, and the characteristics of the image file are as follows:

  • size – cannot exceed 300 KB;
  • format – JPG;
  • resolution – from 600 pixels wide.

Modern opportunities allow you to take an online passport photo, which eliminates the need to visit a photographer. For this, special programs or applications are used. The only requirement is high quality shooting. A high-quality passport photo is the main condition for the photograph, since the image will remain unchanged in the document for many years.

Photos for documents according to all the rules: Video

What size should the photo be?

The photo parameters must correspond to the following values:

  • height – 45 mm;
  • width – 35 mm;
  • the head should be located in the middle within 18-25 mm in width and 32-36 in height, and also occupy at least 80% of the total space.

How much does a passport photo cost? The main question when changing a document. The cost will depend on the specific photographer’s rates and the number of photographs. The minimum number of photographs is 2, but it is recommended to take 3 or 4. One is for exceptional cases (loss, damage, etc.), and the second is for yourself. Many people leave an additional photo either as a keepsake or for other documents that do not have certain requirements (personal file at work, a photo for a medical record and other documents).

How many passport photos you need depends on the situation. If it is an initial receipt, 2 will be enough, and if the document is being restored, one additional image will be needed. Also, an additional photograph may be useful over the next 5-7 years if there is a need to change a document (damage, loss, change of surname).

In most cases, questions arise about this, since all responsibility rests with the citizen. There are no problems when changing the document, but you will have to pay a fine. However, if a document is stolen by attackers, administrative liability is not provided.

What to take pictures in

There are no specific requirements for clothing, but it is recommended to use solid-colored elements in clothing. For men, this is a dark jacket, tie and light shirt. For women - a light or dark blouse. The main principle is the uniformity of the color scheme of clothing.

What clothes are best to wear for passport photos is a personal matter for everyone.

Some people have a habit of using an outfit for a passport photo that either doesn’t suit them or completely changes their appearance (blouse with bows, jewelry and accessories; bright jacket). At the same time, the appearance also changes, and when checking documents, there may be no resemblance between the photograph and the person in reality. When choosing how to dress for a passport photo, you need to remember about minimalism in colors and the necessary similarity between the photo and the owner of the document.

About the presence of headdress

Headgear is prohibited when used in the photo. The exception is people who, due to religious beliefs, do not have the right to go out without a headdress. In this case, the passport photo of Muslim women includes a national piece of clothing on the head.

Is it time to change your passport photo? Then carefully read what kind of makeup you should do for a passport photo so that the result pleases you. After all, this important document will serve you for decades! And every time they ask you to show your passport, you will be in a great mood!

  • Use only mattifying foundations. Shiny components will be too visible under the influence of a bright flash. The skin will look oily.
  • Forget about bright colored eye shadows. Use neutral shades: beige, milky, gray, black. You can add a little beige and dark brown.

  • Do contouring, taking into account the features of the face. Darken the area of ​​the cheekbones and the sides of the chin. If your nose is naturally too wide, you should correct it with dark powder.
  • Can do more expressive makeup for document photography than you are used to using in everyday life. The spotlight will “eat” part of the makeup!

Correct makeup for a passport photo step by step

  • Apply a good quality foundation. Experts use foundations labeled HD, which are specifically recommended for photography and videography. Don't skip any areas of your face, apply foundation to your neck as well. Blend the product well at the hairline, near the ears, so that the boundaries of the foundation are not visible.

Read also: Proper makeup lessons for brown eyes and red hair

  • Cover dark circles under the eyes, redness, and unevenness with concealer. With a bright flash, all skin imperfections will be much more noticeable, keep this in mind. If you take a photo in a good salon, the specialist will remove a pimple that accidentally appears without a reminder. But take care of the ideal skin color yourself.
  • Apply matte powder to the brush. Treat the entire face without missing a millimeter, including the neck area. This will remove excess oil from the skin, which can unexpectedly “shine” in the photo. Do not apply too much powder so that your face does not turn into a mask.

  • Face contouring will help visually improve your face shape. Professionals do this by darkening the cheekbones and sides of the chin.
  • Draw eyebrows with a pencil or shadows. This step is very important to achieve clarity in the photo. Use a color close to your natural brow shade. Don't overdo it with highlighting, otherwise your face will look unnatural.
  • As a base, apply beige or light milky shadows to the upper eyelid. Then use brown to highlight the folds of the eyelids. Avoid purple, lilac, green, blue shadows, even if they suit you very well. And no mother of pearl!
  • Draw a thin black line along the edge of the eyelashes. using a pencil. Make the upper eyelid more expressive and highlight the lower one a little. But it is not recommended to go beyond the outer corner, so as not to achieve the effect of narrow eyes.

Are you already 14 years old? It's time to get your passport! To do this, you will need a recent photo that matches your age. If you want to look good in a photo, you'll have to do a little preparation before the photo shoot. The validity period of a Russian civil passport depends on your age, since it is supposed to be changed at the age of 20 and 45. In any case, this is an impressive period of time, so be prepared for the fact that the photo in your passport will be with you for quite a long time.

Steps

Part 1

Preparing for photography

    Style your hair. Especially for photography, don't do anything with your hair that you wouldn't normally do. The photo in your passport should give an objective idea of ​​what you look like in everyday life, so that you are not detained to find out your identity.

    Apply your usual daily makeup to your face. If you usually wear makeup, apply your usual makeup to your face. If you never wear makeup, you don't need to do this for your passport photo either. If you don't look like yourself, someday you may be detained until your identity is clarified.

    Dress appropriately. Remember that you will need your passport in many situations in life, not just for long trips around the country (for example, it may be checked on you when you have a job interview). Try to wear solid, muted colors.

    Make a neutral expression! A neutral or serious facial expression (no open-mouthed smile) is allowed in a passport photograph. Try to make your facial expressions attractive, but listen carefully to the photographer in case he says you look unnatural.

    Take part in the selection of the best personnel. A good photographer will review the footage with you and recommend the one that, in his professional opinion, came out best. If you don't agree with the photographer, be persistent and choose the shot you like best, but make sure it meets all the requirements.

Part 3

Preliminary preparation procedures

    Decide where you will be photographed. There are many different options you can take advantage of, and each has its own benefits. Choose the one that is more convenient for you in terms of location and financial capabilities. You can get good photos without spending a hefty amount of money on them, but having your photos taken by a professional photographer will give you the best quality photos. In some cases, a visit to a photography studio will require you to make an appointment, so plan ahead. Where can you take a passport photo:

    • through photo salons specializing in photographs for documents;
    • through small photographic stores and color photo printing;
      • This is probably one of the cheapest options. However, the photos may not be of the highest quality.
    • through a photo booth with the function of printing photos on documents;
    • in a professional photo studio;
    • at the passport office (but not everywhere, but only if such technical possibility exists);
    • in the MFC;
    • at home (just be sure to follow strict photography requirements).
  1. Get your hair cut 1-2 weeks in advance. Give your hair some time to recover from a fresh cut by scheduling it ahead of time (if you need one). After one to two weeks (by the time of photography), the hair will still look neat and well-groomed. Of course, if you want to be photographed with a fresh haircut and trust that your hairdresser will not make any mistakes, you can postpone the haircut until the last moment.

Few of us can boast of a good passport photo. Most often, people try to hide this document away so that none of their acquaintances will see this gloomy expression on the face of indeterminate age. After all, we don’t look like ourselves in this photo.

What is the reason for the unsuccessful photo?

As a rule, it is our own fault that the passport photo turned out to be unsuccessful. Of course, you may come across a bad photographer, but most often the point is not his lack of professionalism, but the fact that his capabilities are very limited, since he can only photograph us from the front. With this angle, he simply will not be able to hide all the shortcomings of our face and emphasize its advantages.

Usually there is a large flow of people in a photo studio, and the photographer can spend only a few minutes taking our photo, and it all depends on us what kind of photo it will be. In addition, we often treat this process with negligence. Just think, a photo in a passport.

We won’t show it to everyone, so there’s no need to worry about how we look in this photo. But meanwhile, there are quite a lot of cases in life when you need to show your passport. And then we have to blush and feel embarrassed when someone, looking at this document, begins to doubt that it is us in the picture.

We do not attach importance to the fact that the photo is pasted into the passport not for one year, but for decades, and it is very important how we look in this photo, because the opportunity to change it will not appear soon.

That is why you must take this process seriously, and it is best to prepare for it in advance, so that there is no such situation when you rush to decide what you will be photographed in, and quickly apply makeup, and then reap the benefits in the form a terrible photo that is embarrassing to show to anyone.

To prevent this from happening, you just need to follow a few rules that will help you look good in your passport photo.

Rules for successful photography

  1. Good makeup. Since 70% of the photo will be taken up by your face, and a bright flash will definitely reveal all your flaws, it is very important that your makeup helps hide them and emphasizes all your advantages. To do this, it is not at all necessary to resort to the services of a makeup artist. You can handle this yourself. Moreover, the main requirement for appearance is naturalness. No need to wear evening makeup for a passport photo.

So, here are a few secrets of proper makeup:

  • Even complexion. To prevent dark circles under your eyes, you need to get a good night's sleep, and it is advisable not to drink too much liquid, otherwise you will wake up with a puffy face and bags under your eyes. You can also make a face mask that suits your skin type the day before taking photos. It is better to do peelings and other cosmetic procedures a few days before filming, as redness may not go away in time. In order to remove any skin imperfections, you need to use a corrector and foundation.
  • Relief. As you know, lighting directed directly at your face and a bright flash make your face look flat in the photo. To add definition to your facial features, you can use cosmetics such as concealer or bronzer. With their help you can highlight your cheekbones and nose. And in order to highlight the convex parts of the face, and thus add volume to them, you need to use a highlighter, after which you should set everything with powder.
  • Expressive eyes. The first thing you pay attention to when looking at a passport photograph is the eyes, since during the shooting you are looking directly into the camera lens. Therefore, you need to try to highlight them, but without excesses. There is no need to do too bright, provocative makeup. It is enough to draw small, classic arrows and apply mascara to your eyelashes. Also, don’t forget about eyebrows, as they frame the eyes and help make them more expressive.
  • Natural lip color. In document photographs, you should look as natural as possible, and bright lipstick or gloss will not help you with this. It is better not to paint your lips at all, or you can highlight them slightly with a lipstick that is close in color to the natural color of your lips. You can also use a balm to moisturize them.
  1. Neat hairstyle. Hairstyle plays an important role in a successful photo. Just one unruly curl can ruin the whole photo, even if your makeup is perfect. Therefore, you need to make sure that your hair is also flawless. You don't have to have a complicated hairstyle to do this. Simply wash your hair and style it with a hair dryer and hairspray. It is also advisable to get a haircut before taking photographs, but this must be done at least a week before the shoot so that the hair takes the desired shape, since a fresh hairstyle will look unnatural. The main requirement for hair in a passport photograph is that it should not cover the face. But you shouldn’t go to extremes either. Smoothly combed back hair in a bun just looks terrible in pictures, especially if there are no bangs.
  2. Neat clothes. Many people think that it doesn’t matter at all what clothes they wear when they take a passport photo. After all, only the neck and shoulders will still be visible. But this is not entirely true. What you wear also affects the quality of the photo. For official ID photos, it is best to choose a plain blouse or T-shirt with a V-neck of any color, but you should avoid light shades, as you risk blending into the general background in the photo. Clothes of variegated colors with many decorative elements are also not suitable.
  3. Correct facial expression. If you don't want to look sullen and angry in your passport photo, then special attention should be paid to your facial expression and the pose in which you will be photographed. Practice at home and remember how you look best in the mirror, so that you can then correctly recreate it in the picture. Don't be too serious or funny. The requirements for a passport photograph state that the facial expression must be neutral, the mouth must be closed, and only a hint of a smile in the form of slightly raised corners of the lips is allowed. As for the pose, with its help you can correct some of the shortcomings of your appearance. So, in order to reduce a large nose or enlarge small eyes, you need to tilt your head back a little. If you don't want to have a double chin, then don't hang your head down. To make your face look proportional with a large chin, you need to tilt your head forward, and then the upper part of your face will appear larger. This will help balance it out.

We hope that our tips will help you and you will be proud to show off your passport with a good photo.