Taking Passport Photos for Infants and Toddlers - An Easy(Carting) Guide

Keeping an eye on your toddler or baby is a task in itself – however, try taking a perfect passport photo and getting your little one to sit still, and you’re in another world completely!

Luckily, if you’re in Melbourne/surrounding suburbs, with EasyCarting’s home passport service you can sit back and relax while one of our professionals deals with all the hastle.

Our professional photographers are trained in taking passport photos for infants/babies, and will come to your home/office to take them – no more queueing, no more juggling kids and a million other things to get down the street for your photos.

With EasyCarting, your passport/ID photos will be taken and printed in one simple session, meeting any photo specifications you require (including international passports), with four photos per set, plus a digital version of your photos sent to your email. Additional sets can also be printed, with value packages available for more than one set – see our pricing guide here.

How to take a passport photo for your infant/toddler:

Before even beginning, pick the right time. Ensure your baby/toddler/child is well fed, well rested, and is not agitated – we cannot stress how much of a difference this can make.

As another sidenote, it is often easier to take a passport photo for a child with the help of another person, who can aid in distracting the child, holding them still, or checking the photo meets the requirements for your country/purpose. However, if this option is not available for you, one person will do the trick!

Now, into the nitty gritty:

1. Understand the country specific guidelines you must follow – for an Australian passport, use our guide for taking Australian passport photos (scroll to the bottom of this page for a list of other countries, and their guides) – pay attention to the dimension of the photo you must take, as well as the necessary background colour for the passport photo you intend to take (this will become important later!).
2. Dress your infant/toddler in an outfit that contrasts with the background (e.g. avoid a white top on a white background).
3. Ask “can my infant/toddler sit and stay upright, or will it be best for them to lie down for the photo?” – this will inform which method you choose.
4. If upright, seat them on something with a solid back – a plain wall, or a couch with a piece of plain fabric/sheet (colour depending on the background colour required in your passport photo).
5. If lying down, ensure the surface is not too soft, this may create hard to light areas and creases in your background once you place your baby/infant down – some couches and duvets are too soft for this purpose – we recommend either a soft mat, or directly on a bed with no duvet. Place your baby/toddler on top of a plain piece of fabric/sheet that matches the colour required for your background.
6. For all passport photos, the following rules apply:
   1. Your photo must be evenly lit, with no shadows on the backdrop or obstructing the face – natural lighting gives a great advantage here.
   2. No toys, objects, or hands should be visible in the frame.
   3. Your child’s head must be straight, tilted neither left/right nor up/down.
   4. Your child’s eyes must be looking into the camera, and their mouth must be closed (some countries are more strict on mouths being closed than others, in general a small opening is acceptable, but aim to have it closed).
   5. No items of clothing/objects/hair covering the outline of the face (e.g. remove your baby’s jacket if the collar crosses above their chin, sweep your child’s hair off of their face as much as possible, or tie it back if need be).
   6. The photo must be clear and in focus – no blurs.
7. Sometimes it is useful to distract the baby with a set of keys/their favourite toy.
8. Once the photo has been taken, crop it to the correct dimensions (keep in mind, this includes country-specific dimensions for the head height in the photo).

Once this process is finished, the photo can be printed! This must be done on a high quality printer on photo quality paper.

If you require printing in Melbourne, or the surrounding suburbs of Melbourne, feel free to contact us and we will hand deliver prints to your door. At the same price, you can have a professional come to your door to take the photo, editing it to meet the required standards, and then printing it on the spot – and delivery is free – how good is convenience!

For more information, see our reviews here, and our booking page here.

All the best,

EasyCarting Team.