I don’t think you’d be able to make it through an airport, there’s a lot of words and numbers involved, much harder than taking a photo of yourself against a white background.

>Tripod
>Set focus point with a broom or some shit
>Put a quarter on the ground where the focus point was
>set timer
>stand on quarter
>click
ezpz

>>4312896
I don't think you're allowed to. I had to go to the post office to get mine done and all that dude did was place me against a blank wall and use a piece of shit point and shoot nikon, so I'm sure if you wanted to fake it, it wouldn't be that hard. You definitely need to get another light source though, I don't think shadows are allowed

>>4313233
>I don't think shadows are allowed
>Soulless bureaucrats supressing art
Doesn't surprise me

>>4312896
You COULD technically take your own photo, but the government doesn't want every idiot with a shitty phone camera sending in wrong sized, formatted, lighting photos. So they've regulated it a bit to have approved vendors who follow the specifics to do it. It's also another step in the accountability department, another level of security that can be traced.

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>>4312896
Super easy, taken ~500ish passport photos over the years. Just do direct / on-camera flash with a white wall several feet behind you. Use a template like picrel to size appropriately.
It can be rejected for harsh shadows on the face or background (like OP), hair obstructing the face (longer hair tuck behind ears), weird exposure/processing. There are plenty examples online of what will / wont be rejected.

>>4313233
>>4313302
US doesn't care at all provided it meets the criteria above. Doesn't matter who took them, who printed, and there's not even date verification either. It used to be a decent side hustle for some people given how easy it is. There was a brief time where you could do it all online too, even easier to submit a digital file than than the 2x2 prints.
Canada was second most common for me, and those required a stamp (with our store), date and initials (we certify the image).

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>>4313233
Nigga my national ID pic was a phone selfie in front of a white wall until I had to renew it and they forced me to take a new photo.

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>>4313233
i've shot a bunch of foreigners, all you need is a flash and a wall

>>4313233
>I don't think you're allowed to.
If you're in UK then yes you can. I took both my and my wife's - passports issued with no issues. I used a sheet for a neutral light background, a DSLR on a tripod and an IR remote release. Then I down loaded an app on my iPad that cropped the image correctly, uploaded it to a cloud storage and gave me a reference number I could use on the application.

>>4313357
>>4313320
I guess it depends where you live. It seems to be all different.

>>4313330
If you're foreign, shoot without a warning, call me paparazzi.

>>4313395
That has potential to be a great bar. Work it out and put it on a moonman rap

>>4313415
It's part of a Mr. Bond original: "Supa Nazi".
Catchy as hell.

>>4312896
Use at least 50mm lens (around 80mm is best) or you'll look like shit. If shooting with a phone, zoom in 2-3x since the normal lens is usually equivalent to 24 to 35mm range.
If you don't have lights, do it if a cloudy day to get diffuse light. Sit or stand dead on towards light source (eg. window). Try around noon. Don't even think about shooting with artificial lights that are not studio lights or flashes (like household bulbs, especially CFLs or LEDs), it will look like shit.
Or just don't be a cheap shit and pay $15 to a teenager at CVS to have it done semi-completely.

How is this such a burning question that warrants so much debate? Find a white or very light wall. Try to position a light source so that there isn’t a big shadow behind you.
Take a selfie.
If you need to make changes to dimensions or erase shadow or lighten up the wall to white, most basic photo editing software can do this easy.
I haven’t done a US passport renewal yet, but most countries have switched or have digital forms with photo upload options, so you don’t even need to special print the photos anymore.