How to Take a Baby Passport Photo

We’ve made the brave (or stupid) decision to take Theo on holiday soon and so he needed a baby passport and that means a baby passport photo!

The very sound of taking a baby passport photo is daunting, it’s bad enough getting one taken for myself! It was actually more stressful for me to think about taking him to Timpson’s or one of the other many places that take passport photos for babies. What if he was crying? What if he needed feeding and they wouldn’t wait? Admittedly the rules on what is and isn’t acceptable for a baby passport photo aren’t as strict as for adults, for example, the baby doesn’t have to be looking at the camera or even awake! Still, I didn’t like the thought of having it done professionally and I definitely didn’t want to pay a tenner for the privilege!

So I decided to DIY it and it was really, really easy (and cheap)!

First I completed the passport application online, once completed it gives you about eight pages to print out – these consist of the application itself, details for the counter signature and guidelines for the baby passport photo.

Theo is happiest in the morning so that was the best time, he’s very laidback and doesn’t mind too much messing about or being put down in his cot for a bit. I dressed him and tried to tame his hair and then laid him in his cot on a white sheet – the rules say the photo needs a cream or light grey background, in a photo a white background will appear light grey unless it’s retouched in post production so there’s no need for a grey sheet.

I chatted away to him and got him to look at the camera until I’d snapped a photo on my iPhone that I was happy with. Unfortunately he’s got a bit of a rash on his face as it was before I’d gone dairy free but you can’t really tell in the passport itself.

I emailed myself the photo and then used the ID Photo 4 U website to line up the picture to UK guidelines. It then creates a 6×4 image with a grid of your baby passport photo. I saved the photo and emailed it back to myself so that I could save it on my iPhone. This website isn’t just for baby passport photos, you can use it for adult ones too.

Then I headed to my local Boots, they have a kiosk for printing photos that just lets you plug your phone in, select the size of your printout and Bob’s your uncle! This cost just 42p!

I found someone to countersign the application and the photo and then I popped them in an envelope along with his birth certificate and down to the post office to be sent off by recorded delivery.

The beauty of making an online application meant I could track the progress of things but I didn’t really need to, the birth certificate was returned and the passport was delivered within 2 week of being posted off!

I was going to post a picture of the finished photo inside the passport and redact the numbers but my husband said I wasn’t allowed just in case of identity theft!

Now all that’s left is to decide where we should take him?! If you have any baby friendly holiday recommendations let me know!