[DIY] How to Take a Job-Hunting ID Photo with Your Smartphone
You suddenly need an ID photo, but you don't have time to book a studio and there's no photo booth nearby. What do you do?
In a pinch like this, the camera you already have in your pocket can save you: your smartphone.
In this article, we'll explain how to take an ID photo with your smartphone when you're in a hurry!
Contents
For smartphone ID photos, we recommend using an app or a dedicated website!
When you take your own ID photo, printing is the biggest headache.
The photo has to be printed at the size required for a rirekisho (a Japanese-style resume form), and adjusting it to that size by hand is quite a hassle. Using an ID photo app or website that crops your photo to the size you need saves you the trouble.
Apps
・Bizi ID - Convenience Store ID Photos (コンビニ証明写真)
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/jp/app/id1041275116
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.biz_card.biziid
・Rirekisho Camera (履歴書カメラ, "Resume Camera")
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/jp/app/id919409463
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.co.recruit.rirekisyocamera.android
Website
・Pic-chan (ピクチャン)
How to take an ID photo with your smartphone
Here is how to take an ID photo using your smartphone.
① Prepare the background
First, set up your background.
Ideally, shoot in front of a plain white wall. If you don't have one, you can tape white paper or cloth to a wall and use it as your background.
If you'll be sitting in a chair, choose one with a low back or no back at all if possible. With a tall-backed chair, the chair back is very likely to show up behind you!
That isn't suitable for an ID photo, so be careful.
② Use drawing paper as a reflector
A reflector (a white board that bounces light back onto your face) is essential for photos. Most people don't have one at home, so a sheet of white drawing paper about A3 size (roughly 11.7 × 16.5 in), larger than your face, makes a perfect substitute. If you don't have drawing paper, a few sheets of A4 copy paper stacked together will also work.
Place it as close to your face as you can to soften the darkness that phone-shot ID photos tend to have. Just make sure it doesn't appear in the frame.
A ring light shines strong light from a single direction, which tends to cast shadows, so we recommend avoiding it for ID photos. Using your room's ceiling light makes harsh shadows less likely.
③ Adjust your phone's position and shoot
Now it's time to shoot. To keep the camera steady, a smartphone stand is ideal.
You can even find them at 100-yen shops (the Japanese equivalent of a dollar store).
They're also handy for video interviews, which more and more companies now use, so it's worth having one.
If you use a selfie stick, the angle is the key. Keep the camera at about the same height as your face when you shoot.
Once you've taken the photo, the next step is printing. If your app can send the image to a multifunction copier at a convenience store, just go to the store and print it there!
The downside is that print quality and remaining ink can differ from store to store, so you can't be sure the colors will come out the way you want…
Leave everything to the studio!
As you can see, it's possible to take an ID photo with your own phone, but honestly, you may not be confident in how it turns out.
On top of that, setting up the background, arranging the lighting, and adjusting the photo size yourself ends up being a lot of work.
At a studio, there's no work for you to do at all!
Because professionals take care of everything, the quality is guaranteed. For an important occasion like job hunting, we recommend having your ID photo taken at a studio ahead of time.
- I love writing and I'm currently studying copywriting. I turn the questions our guests often ask and the things I notice in the studio into easy-to-read articles about job-hunting and ID photos, so that even first-timers can understand them.
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