Everyone always talks about how bad their driver's license picture is. I'm going to take my test on friday (so nervous!) Any tips on how to take a good license picture?

Awww... Having a bad picture is so much more fun than having a good one! I had a really, truly awful one done three years ago, and I loved pulling it out to show people so we could all laugh about it. Honestly, no one who's going to need to see your ID cares what your picture looks like, and if you're looking forward to showing it off to your friends, chances are you're all going to be in the same boat as far as having really bad pictures that you can all laugh about. So relax and enjoy your terrible picture, because it's all part of the fun of getting your license!

The short answer is "you can't." The people taking these photos are not trained portrait photographers and do hundreds of them in a day. Sometimes you get lucky and the photo is actually pretty good. Other days the photo looks like one you could see on the walls of the Post Office.

In addition to untrained and minimum wage staff doing the photos, there are other problems. You usually are far too close to the camera for a flattering portrait. Good portrait photographers use a moderate telephoto lens which gives a better perspective on one's face. The extreme example of this can be demonstrated by using any digital camera, placing it on "wide angle" and then filling the frame with just your face. Under these circumstances your photo will be "all nose."

Next is the lighting. The motor vehicle departments of the country use simple cameras with on-flash lighting...absolutely the worst lighting possible.

To paraphrase Erma Bombeck..."When you look like your passport photo, it's time to come home." Drivers licenses aren't much better. That said, I actually did have a fairly decent driver's license photo about 10 years ago...one of the better photos of me. LOL.

Jon

I've totally had good licence pictures! I don't believe that "you can't" just that it's hard to do. It sounds weird, but if I sweat in my face at all it ruins my picutre because I'm red, splotchy, and shiney. So, shower and hair, makeup super fresh clean clothes and then I can't exert myself. Even a slight shine will be picked up. So, I would recommend giving yourself plenty of time so that you don't have to power walk across the parking lot.

I dont wanna sound like I am bragging but mine is pretty good. Not that it really matters, but my last one was terrible.

Short story: The province had suspended my licence for unpaid tickets without telling me, so I was driving illegally and got pulled over. The ticket I got was so expensive I had to cancel the trip I was supposed to make to the Bahamas. They then forced me to have another picture taken for my new driver's licence. I wasn't too happy and had been sobbing for a while. I seriously looked like a criminal on that picture. More mug shot than driver's licence. It was always funny when I showed my picture to my friends.

needless to say that it was not hard for me to get a better picture when I renewed my licence.

Some tips (that work for every picture): Watch for your posture. Don't lean on the backdrop. Smile even before they tell you and keep it until they say they are done. they tend to take the picture at the most random moments! don't wear a coat or something like that. take it off before the picture and voila!

Wear a modest top, my birthday is in the summer and I once wore a little cami type top that was light pink. Due to the way they crop the picture and the awful lighting I had a picture where I looked like I waltzed in there naked. I don't know why I didn't think of it before I went, duh. The lighting is always so awful, my current one has this weird pink hue to it.

If you have a horrible looking photo, and you ever get pulled over for being high/drunk...at least you will look normal! JK

Ok so, here are some tips that helped me get a good looking photo.

1.Don't wear foundation that has any type of sunblock in it. It will make you looks shiney and white.

2. Wear your hair down. I wore mine up the first time, and I looked bald!

3. I would avoid wearing something super low cut. I did the first time around, and I looked naked.

So, basically the first time I took my photo, I looked like a naked bald woman, with a super white face.

If you can, wear your hair down. My friends who didn't have their hair down thought their picture looked really boyish. Personally I didn't/don't care that much. Though I was kind of annoyed that when I got a new one they didn't retake my picture. Grrr, I don't look 16 anymore!

It's totally possible to have a good picture! It's not going to be amazing, but you absolutely don't have to resign yourself to looking like the "faces of meth" shots. I recommend hair down, because as YumYumDonut said, you'll probably end up looking bald. Go for a bit of makeup, just enough to bring out your features. But don't over-do it! Nothing looks worse under bright, flat light than caked on makeup. If the camera is slightly above you, tilt your whole head up to look at it, otherwise you'll look crazy! This is super important. Good luck!

Have you all gotten new pictures every time you've renewed your license? I'm 23 and I've had the same picture since I got my permit when I was 16. I've had the permit, my original license, the replacement for when my mom lost it (she took it to get the number for the insurance company, it was located months later in her sock drawer lol), and my over 21 one with the same picture from when I was 16. I didn't have to go in to get the over 21 one, I just had to submit an eye doctor report in the mail. That said, I like my picture and everyone says I look older in it then I do in real life lol. I'm not due for a renewal until 2017 either. Assuming I stay officially as a NY resident (currently residing in VA/DC for school) I could have the same pic for 13 years and be 29 with a pic from when I'm 16!

^ My upgrade from Instructional Permit (with a good photo) to Driver's License (also a good photo) required a change in photo. Then, I changed states for the next renewal, so that required a new photo. I've yet to renew a valid license in the same state.

I had to get a new photo when I upgraded from school permit to our 16 year old license, then another upgrading to full license at 17, then another upgrading to over 21, then another photo when I moved states.

I've had the same picture for 6 years or so anyway. Black hair, big white parka. It's hot. LOLZ...

It's not hard to get a good picture. Push your face into the camera, give a nice smile. It won't be great because they're not equipped for it, but you can do alright by it.

My mom had to get a new license so she went on her lunch and they took so long to take the picture that by the time they did she had gotten bored and started to clean the left over lunch out of her back teeth....

Needless to say she now has a pic with her tongue stuck in her cheek! Ever so flattering!

The lesson learned here is stand there and dont move for the whole time, even if you have to wait for a bit!

Am I the only one that lives in a state where you can't smile with your teeth showing for your DL photo? That's a big part of why I've just resigned myself to having bad pics on my license. My close-lipped smile is not my most flattering facial expression.

I was so sad when the license people took my old one before giving me a new one...the picture was funny and I wanted to save it in a scrapbook, haha. I was dressed up as an emo kid so I've got hair in my face and lots of black eyeliner. The new picture is just boring since I was half asleep and it was pouring rain, so walking into the building sucked!

But yeah...I never really tried for a "good" picture on a license or ID. Sometimes I tried to amusing, like the emo thing, but not much else.

In Iowa, you also can't have your teeth showing...at all. My mom's looks like a mug shot. Therefore, no good license photos can be taken in our state anymore.

UberGoober wrote:

In Iowa, you also can't have your teeth showing...at all. My mom's looks like a mug shot. Therefore, no good license photos can be taken in our state anymore.

Really, since when? I had a big goofy smile in all of mine. I got to keep mine when I moved to Florida too, they just cut off the corner.

If you don't like your photo, you might get a do-over. When my dd got her license 2 years ago, the clerk asked her if she was satisfied with the photo and offered to take another if she wasn't. I'm not sure if this is normal policy or whether she just happened to get an unusually nice person. Good luck with the test!

I know passport photos aren't supposed to show teeth, I have seen some that did though. I never heard of it from drivers licenses. And either way, I wonder why?

^ Could it be a possible facial recognition software issue?
Another theory is that if you are arrested and you get a mugshot, I assume they would want it to match the license photo.
Plus no one walks around smiling with all their teeth showing, on a daily basis.
I think this is also why they don't want you wearing glasses in photos.

I am having fun with my theories....;)

Jonelle wrote:

Am I the only one that lives in a state where you can't smile with your teeth showing for your DL photo? That's a big part of why I've just resigned myself to having bad pics on my license. My close-lipped smile is not my most flattering facial expression.

My tip is think of something really cheeky/kinky/inappropriate just before the photo is taken. It lifts your cheekbones and stops you getting that dead look in your eyes.

Helen

Jonelle wrote:

Am I the only one that lives in a state where you can't smile with your teeth showing for your DL photo? That's a big part of why I've just resigned myself to having bad pics on my license. My close-lipped smile is not my most flattering facial expression.

Not only can we not show our teeth in Alberta (not sure if it is all of Canada or not), but we can not even smile! Talk about a bad picture

Really, since when? I had a big goofy smile in all of mine. I got to keep mine when I moved to Florida too, they just cut off the corner.

Last year so it probably didn't affect you. I still have my old license (from when I was 17!..I think...) and am smiling in it. They changed this at the same time when they started mailing licenses instead of handing them out over the counter.

They are also now made out of a more flimsy material...not the stiff plastic anymore. Which is probably good because mine is basically snapped in half. Couple that with a deep scratch on the back, picture as a 17 year old, and a vertical driver's license and you can imagine why I have had difficulty getting into bars!

www.kcautv.com . . .

In my state you can have your teeth showing; however you're supposed to look straight ahead at the camera. For many people that's an unfortunate angle from which to photograph their face. I try for a quiet smile so I look happy but not like a grinning idiot. Aside from being well-groomed and wearing a good color, that's about all you can do.