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[UncleUB]

Hi all,

When I am trying to take some passport photos against a plain white background I am always getting a shadow around the head.Is there a way to correct this?

Just to add the shadow is only on one side(the right as looking at the subject)

[HPsauce]

Change the lighting would be the normal solution. Multiple or diffuse sources.

[UncleUB]

Change the lighting would be the normal solution. Multiple or diffuse sources.

Lay mans terms please........this is me your dealing with......

[tuftedduck]

What software are you using, unkyUb ?

Are you using flash ?

[UncleUB]

What software are you using, unkyUb ?

Are you using flash ?

Yes using the flash/I just put the compact flash card directly in the printer.As for software I only have Google Picasa 3

I set the flash to 'slow sync' and this seemed to make the shadow quite a bit lighter and not as obtrusive.

[tuftedduck]

Two ways to soften the flash-caused shadows...

1) sit the model further from the background ( if the background is big enough) which lets the flash and shadows dissipate before they arrive at the background.

2) if above not possible, use some tissue paper, even a paper kitchen towel, stuck over the flash source on the camera to diffuse the flash which will soften the shadows out.

3) slow sync may make things worse if the model moves during exposure....the flash may "follow" the movement.

edit.........tissue paper etc over flash must be white or you will get colour casts

[roseway]

If you're actually intending to produce photos for passports, are you sure that you have an adequate printer? The last time I looked at this, passport photos had to have a very high resolution, way beyond normal domestic printers.

[UncleUB]

@ Eric,Its for mine and Sue's driving licence photocard renewal,and tbh the picture is shrunk that small and then franked over I'm sure one from a good photoprinter will suffice.

Example.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/DriverLicensing/NeedANewOrUpdatedLicence/DG_078070

@TD,Thanks for the advice,so do you mean actually cover the front of the flash with paper,so it lessens the brightness ?

[tuftedduck]

 Yes, putting tissue over the flash "lens".

 Covering the flash with a suitable item such as thin tissue or the like will not lessen the brightness.....it will diffuse it....."spread" it a little, or soften it so that neither the light nor the shadows are so harsh.............hopefully softening the shadows enough to make them disappear.

[oldfogy]

My camera is nothing special and my driving licence photo was printed with my Epson R300.

TBH, when I took my picture for my DL I thought the picture was pretty lousy (even after re-touching it somewhat) but it was still excepted.
Actually I think I re-touched it because I also had a shadow around one side.

[sevenlayermuddle]

Uncle,

The reason for the shadow is that the camera's flash bulb is not in precisely line with the camera lens, it's offset an inch or so to one side.  So the flash, which acts just like an intense spotlight, illuminates the scene from a slightly different angle compared to that seen by the camera lens, the result being the shadow that you describe.

Another thing that might help, instead or as well as those suggested, is to rotate the camera to somewhere halfway between vertical and horizontal, so that built-in flash is vertically directly 'above' the lens rather than to the side.  There will still be a shadow, but it may be less noticeable, as it's a downward shadow rather than a sideways one, so it only shows below the hair and ears in a typical portrait type shot.  Of course, you must rotate the image back again to level it out for printing.

- 7LM

[UncleUB]

Thanks 7LM,

I/we were taking the photos in portrtait position.I did wonder whether it was the position of the flash as it was only on the right side of the photo.We were holding the camera with the pop up flash on the left.Tbh I never thought of trying it the other way round(with the flash to the right of the lens.

[sevenlayermuddle]

I'm actually suggesting a position halfway between vertical and horizontal, so the flash is exactly above the lens. But I'm assuming you'd be editing it on a PC, as you'd need to rotate the .jpg file back to normal again for printing.

As far as I recall, my old cameras from childhood and teenage years did have the flash mounting directly above the lens, and maybe the designers took care to put it there.  But with the introduction in the 1980s of compact cameras with built-in flash and, of course, today's digital compacts, the flash seems to have migrated to the top left corner which, in my opinion, sometimes makes shadows more noticeable - at least for photos that are taken 'landcsape'.

[UncleUB]

But I'm assuming you'd be editing it on a PC, as you'd need to rotate the .jpg file back to normal again for printing.

Hi 7LM,

No I just stuck the compact flash card directly in the printer and printed the photos directly from there.(A bit lazy I know)

I only have Google Picasa 3 for editing my photos.

Oh and my camera is a Sony A200 DSLR 

[tuftedduck]

>>> Oh and my camera is a Sony A200 DSLR <<<

So the flash is in line with the lens..............I thought you would be using the Sony. The fact that the shadow is appearing on one side only is possibly because the camera was not quite square onto the subject/background. The other possibility is that if you are shooting in portrait orientation, then the light from the flash is being blocked to a degree from one side of the subject by the lens protruding into the light path.

In your situation, unkyUb, rotating the photo prior to printing is not on............so altering the camera-subject-background and a bit of diffusion is the way to go ( we're back to the beginning)..............unless you went the expensive way and printed onto a 6x4 sheet and then cut the image out square......not really a goer.

Next time you are watching the news and there is a whole scrum of press photographers surrounding somebody and all clicking away with their flashes going, have a look at their camera flash guns. A lot of them will have a square, grey/white dome over the flash head........a diffuser used to soften the light and to soften the shadows.
You cannot get such a dome to fit over the inbuilt flash in the Sony......but a sheet of white tissue paper stuck over the flash will do the same thing.