# Lens recomendation for infant passport photo



## DARSON (Jul 21, 2013)

Hello to all
I want to take a passport photo for my new born son. I will not say how difficult it is to catch a moment when baby has eyes open , mouth closed and does not move head even if it its restricted by some towel or cloth.
I could use some suggestions on lens that i could use. 
I want to use 5d mkII with one of these
I have 50mm f1.4- 
100mm f2.8L IS - 
70-200mm f2. 8 IS II -


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## Jim Saunders (Jul 21, 2013)

I have little experience to draw from, but I'm curious to hear what others have to say about this.

Jim


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## Harry Muff (Jul 21, 2013)

Dear Darson



Please don't take your baby on a plane.




Yours, the rest of the plane.


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## adhocphotographer (Jul 21, 2013)

70-200 @ f/8, against a white wall with soft light from both sides of the subject....


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## DARSON (Jul 21, 2013)

No worries I will not take him to a plane at least not within next 6 months. I need this to issue residency visa for him


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## photonius (Jul 21, 2013)

DARSON said:


> Hello to all
> I want to take a passport photo for my new born son. I will not say how difficult it is to catch a moment when baby has eyes open , mouth closed and does not move head even if it its restricted by some towel or cloth.
> I could use some suggestions on lens that i could use.
> I want to use 5d mkII with one of these
> ...



Well, in a way it doesn't really matter, does it. You take the one that works for you in the working space you have, the zoom gives you the best flexibility. And as to aperture, I'm sure the officials don't care about ultrathin DOF, they need everything sharp, so you better stop down to f16 (played a bit with dofmaster), and/or stay towards the wider angle side for better DOF (or even move back and crop to increase dof).


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## elflord (Jul 21, 2013)

DARSON said:


> Hello to all
> I want to take a passport photo for my new born son. I will not say how difficult it is to catch a moment when baby has eyes open , mouth closed and does not move head even if it its restricted by some towel or cloth.
> I could use some suggestions on lens that i could use.
> I want to use 5d mkII with one of these
> ...



I took a self-portrait for a passport photo recently with the 135. It worked fairly well given the guidelines (on how far the camera should be from the subject) -- they really want a telephoto shot. 50mm is too short. The 70-200mm is by far your best choice. 

It would be ideal to have three lights (front left, front right and background) but as that was not practical for me, I used window light on my right, and had bounce-flash from the left. There was a faint shadow in the background but I was able to get rid of it by cranking up exposure in post (if you look at the examples in the official guidelines, they really want the brightness turned up) 

You will at the very least want a way to get decent light sources from front-left and front-right (so you don't get shadows on the face) 

I agree with others who suggest stopping down a bit (e.g. f/8)


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## DARSON (Jul 21, 2013)

Deep down I was thinking about 70-200  as primary choice. 
I have strong light through my window in a living room and I could bounce 2 flashes against nearby walls. 
I saw on one website suggestion to put baby in a car sit and put some white sheet underneath. Since car sit is profiled to baby shape it gives nice support to head. Only one ...two things remains to do. Wait until he will keep his eyes open and mouth shut long enough to take shot


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## mrsfotografie (Jul 21, 2013)

Harry Muff said:


> Dear Darson
> 
> 
> 
> ...



LOL, I've suffered many a flight with 'the token baby'. However, not all babies are the same and I've been amazed at times how well they can behave...


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## pierlux (Jul 21, 2013)

Harry Muff said:


> Dear Darson
> Please don't take your baby on a plane.
> Yours, the rest of the plane.



Dear Harry,
are you planning to hijack one soon? Should I prefer an ocean-going liner?
Thanks! ;D ;D ;D
Yours,
Pierlux

OK, seriously... either the 100 or the 70-200 @ f/5.6 - 8.

Darson, congrats to you and best wishes to your baby!!!


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## Rudeofus (Jul 21, 2013)

Your baby won't sit upright for another six months, so be prepared to lay him/her on some white linen or whatever. You will have to hold your camera above your baby's head, and given the size of a baby's head you will need to either get quite close (--> macro lens) or just crop (---> your 50). Sharpness is a non issue as even the bottom of a Coke bottle suffices the requirements of a passport photo. 

The biggest challenge will be to get the lighting right, as the background will be right at the back of your baby's head. While flash won't hurt your baby if used reasonably, they don't like it much so you may have only a few tries before the session needs a long break.


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## AJ (Jul 21, 2013)

A passport photo is 2x3 inches. The lens doesn't matter. However correct pose and lighting are paramount - if they are wrong the photo will be rejected.


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## Harry Muff (Jul 21, 2013)

Come on, you must have a scanner in the house..? ;D


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## curtisnull (Jul 21, 2013)

I lay them on a white sheet on their back and stand over them. Works perfect.


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## DARSON (Jul 22, 2013)

Rudeofus said:


> Your baby won't sit upright for another six months, so be prepared to lay him/her on some white linen or whatever. You will have to hold your camera above your baby's head, and given the size of a baby's head you will need to either get quite close (--> macro lens) or just crop (---> your 50). Sharpness is a non issue as even the bottom of a Coke bottle suffices the requirements of a passport photo.
> 
> The biggest challenge will be to get the lighting right, as the background will be right at the back of your baby's head. While flash won't hurt your baby if used reasonably, they don't like it much so you may have only a few tries before the session needs a long break.



I'm looking forward to see him sitting after six months or bit sooner
I do not know if you have children but If you saw car seat for a baby up to 1 year old you could see that is more semi lying/semi sitting position 
As for background In my country they allow some discrepancy in compare to other countries. Meaning it does not have to be nice and straight. Main condition is that has to be a sort of "whitish" color


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## DARSON (Jul 22, 2013)

AJ said:


> A passport photo is 2x3 inches. The lens doesn't matter. However correct pose and lighting are paramount - if they are wrong the photo will be rejected.


size is different for me and were not using inches (3.5cmx4.5cm=1.4x1.8 inch)
I will take your advices into consideration
Thanks to all for your kind advises.


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## Narcolepsy (Jul 22, 2013)

adhocphotographer said:


> 70-200 @ f/8, against a white wall with soft light from both sides of the subject....


When I was taking my baby's photo for his passport at 1 month old, I found the minimum focal distance of the 70-200 too great. A ring flash was great for even illumination.
I used the 100L + MR-14EX flash, with the baby lying on a white towel on the floor. f9 and 1/100th. The mistake I made with the first couple were not leaving enough space to allow cropping to size with the eyes on the right line. It actually worked better when I took in landscape rather than portrait, and cropped to portrait.
Attached is the photo we used. Not a great photo, but meets the exacting requirements for an Irish Passport.
(ps my baby has been on a Ferry, but not on a plane.....)


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## Joellll (Jul 22, 2013)

Since you're photographing a small human, I'd say go for the macro.


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## akraj (Jul 22, 2013)

I've had better luck with the infant on the floor with a white cloth on the floor/carpet shooting from above. you of course need someone else to hold their hands down as well. 

good luck..


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## dickgrafixstop (Jul 22, 2013)

Lens doesn't matter, camera doesn't matter - probably 80% + of all passport photos are taken with a 
special purpose polaroid at your corner drug or office supply store. The only thing that does matter is
that is a clear, well exposed head shot that fits within the size parameters determined by the state
department (or whatever department in whatever country you're in that controls passports). The photo
should be "recognizable" and not shroud or disfigure the facial recognition in anyway. The thing is for
identification not entering in a portrait contest. In this case, at least, size does matter!


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## mrsfotografie (Jul 22, 2013)

Joellll said:


> Since you're photographing a small human, I'd say go for the macro.



LOL ;D


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## Canon1 (Jul 22, 2013)

Just use your phone. Crop it to the right ratio.... you don't need anything special here...


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## Lloyd (Jul 22, 2013)

Just photocopy the sonogram. If you need anymore photos, just go to the NSA as they have neatly compiled and indexed all of the ones attached to the emails sent between your relatives.


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## Rudeofus (Jul 22, 2013)

DARSON said:


> I'm looking forward to see him sitting after six months or bit sooner
> I do not know if you have children but If you saw car seat for a baby up to 1 year old you could see that is more semi lying/semi sitting position


I can assure you that I have three kids, and the first two sat nicely by the time they were six months old. My youngest one is four months old and holds his head nicely for many minutes straight, so shooting in an upright portrait position is trivial now. My main point was, though, that properly lighting a background that touches a Baby's back head is quite a challenge and worth much more thought than the lens you use.


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## DARSON (Aug 11, 2013)

I finally got it but it was quite a challenge to catch the best shot. 
I was shooting with all 3 lenses but at the end 70-200mm F2.8 IS L USM was the winner.
Thank to all for input


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## mrsfotografie (Aug 11, 2013)

DARSON said:


> I finally got it but it was quite a challenge to catch the best shot.
> I was shooting with all 3 lenses but at the end 70-200mm F2.8 IS L USM was the winner.
> Thank to all for input



Cool! We're curious about the result


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