I'd been warned by the husband of one of my local friends that the Passport Service have got very pernickety about how the photo for an online application should look. I was however confident that I could produce an acceptable shot first time. But not so. My best effort got only a 'Fair', meaning that it might do, but wasn't without flaws that could lead to a rejection later in the process.
Hmm! I think they wanted me to take my glasses off, which makes sense if they need to carry out a biometric scan of the Melford facial features, which are of course noble, and redolent of garnered wisdom and faded classic beauty, and must impress all foreigners. I'd better oblige, and have another go at getting the perfect picture tomorrow.
After all, I don't want this first attempt bounced back. True, I haven't had an outright rejection, but they're giving me a pretty strong hint that I'm wasting my time taking the application onward with this picture - iconic though it may be.
Never mind. At least I've recreated the method, which is to hang a cream fleece blanket (my 'plain light-coloured background') from a wardrobe in my bedroom, using weighty books. Then, using the little Leica fixed to a tripod, to take a shot with the self-timer on a ten-second delay. I've been sitting down, quite close to the blanket, but they recommend that I stand up, and be rather further in front of the background than I was. I can't see why standing up will make a better photo, as my girth hides the chair, but I'll give it a go.
I'd actually started in my study, using two different setups there. The first - used for my Railcard photo in 2016 - against the main bookcase. But the light from the front window off to my left put the right side of my face in shadow. For any other purpose, a decent enough shot; but for this there must be even lighting, and no obscuring shadows, however characterful.
So I switched to the bookcase that faced the main window. That produced a better result, but this time light from the small side window off to my right ensured that my hair was lit unevenly:
Not good enough. I now hung the fleece blanket between the bookcases, at a 45 degree angle, hoping that this would cancel out side-lighting effects. It did - but a shadow now appeared on my fleece background. That wouldn't pass muster!
So I next took my setup into my bedroom next door, which is a room with only the one big window, and light would come in from just one direction.
This was the best of the three photos I now took - the one half-rejected as only 'fair':
I do see that the reflection in the left-eye lens of my glasses is a flaw. And there's a pale patch on the front of my scrawny neck - my windpipe presumably - that has caught the light. Tsk.
By now, after nearly an hour spent on getting the perfect photo, I couldn't keep a straight face any longer, and I was ready to fool around. So here is my collection of Alternative Passport Photos. Each one (of course) recording a facet of my true personality.
Getting a passport is one of life's trials. You've got to find ways of squeezing some fun out of the process!
