Lighting with no shadows is the one of the most important factor to take into consideration when shooting for the passport photo. If the submitting passport photo does not fit these two important elements then it is no good for the submission. And you need to shoot a retake. So, it is better you reconsider these helpful tips thoroughly. Lighting and appropriate focusing on the portrait is important for the accurate detail of entrant’s visage. It is little hard to manage a perfect lighting and focus which doesn’t cast any shadows on the background, face or any body part seen in the photo. Shadows, reflections or refractions due to poor lighting are totally not acceptable. So it is all about training your eyes to weight the correct amount of lighting and focus needed for your passport photo.
1. Daylight time
Professional photographers know that the perfect time for any type of portrait oriented passport sized photo is the day time when there is enough natural lighting and focus to discard shadows too. After all it is better than all other artificial light sources, studio lighting or indoor lighting such as window light at homes. The photographer must be adapting to deal with variety of lighting sources. It is best suited to take your passport photo indoors with adequate lighting and focus over the entrant’s face so that there are no any obscurities.
2.Avoid excess and poor lighting
However excessive amount of lighting is also harmful for the passport photo because it produces overexposed photos with unusual facial obscurities. Bright and direct light from the sun is also not applicable for passport photos because it gives unflattering and dark shadows onto the face of the entrant obscuring the facial clarity. So a passport photo must be taken into consideration of avoiding excessive lighting and direct sunlight. Poor lighting is also equally bad for these passport photos because it produces under exposed photos. If the light is not enough for the face to be clearly visible then it is not being accepted so the best thing to do is illuminate your entrant from the front with enough artificial lighting in late night and position the camera along the sunlight during the daytime. This way you get lighting ahead of you as photographer and the person is also evenly lit so that you can manage your way to find a perfect shot.
3.Camera to person distance
There is a more technical and compositional tip to photographers about the camera distance from the person to be photographed. In average and complying with most of the countries photographers’ rule book, the correct distance between the camera lens and the person is around 3-4 feet away. Maintaining this distance for the photograph is best for the right zoom and close up shot as required for the passport photos for almost all of the nations around the globe. If you are getting shadows then it is recommended to try managing some paralleled distance to eliminate it.
