Passport photos

Everyone dreads getting passport photos taken, right? They're usually unflattering and often make the bearer look like a terrorist or an imbecile. Things got a bit better with those digital photo booths where you could see the photo before hitting Print, but even those usually just gave you two or three attempts before forcing a printout.

Since I have to get a new passport anyway, I decided to take matters into my own hand and make my own photos using my digital camera, Photoshop, and the services of Photobox. They offer a set of 8 passport sized prints for 99p, which is very good value.

Irish passport requirements say that the photo can have a light grey or cream background instead of white, so I was able to set up my makeshift studio in the living room. All that magnolia paint has its uses, although strangely enough it turned out grey in the photo anyway. Having taken a few snaps and made sure the pose fit the requirements (neutral expression, face forward, all edges of face clearly visible), the next thing was to fix a few minor imperfections like hairs sticking up, the start of a few tiny wrinkles, etc. I should still have this passport when I am 42, so I want to look as youthful and fresh-faced as possible!

I'm still not absolutely thrilled with the end result, but that's mainly because I look so dour. Since smiling is forbidden, I don't know what else can be done with that - it's all very well to say "smile with your eyes" but I don't seem to quite have that knack!

The passport people prefer black-and-white pictures, so I am getting those printed, but I thought I'd show off the colour version as well so you, my loyal readers, can compare and contrast. All that remains after that is to see if it gets rejected for some frivolous reason like the length of my face being 36.5mm rather than the specified maximum of 36mm. I did measure and it is fine on my machine, so I just hope Photobox print it exactly as sent. I'll keep you posted.