How to get a secondaries picture?

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Gauss44

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I didn't even know that "secondaries pictures" existed until a couple weeks ago and I just submitted AMCAS. I live in Boston. What are my options for getting this done? What should I tell the photographer I want? I doubt they would understand if I just said a photo for an MD application, or would they - is there a better way to ask? What criteria need to be met?

Thanks in advance! Please excuse my ignorance.
 
Gauss44 said:
I didn't even know that "secondaries pictures" existed until a couple weeks ago and I just submitted AMCAS. I live in Boston. What are my options for getting this done? What should I tell the photographer I want? I doubt they would understand if I just said a photo for an MD application, or would they - is there a better way to ask? What criteria need to be met?

Thanks in advance! Please excuse my ignorance.
Click to expand...

Don't hire a photographer. Put on a suit and go to CVS for a passport photo and have them put it on a disk. Go ahead and smile and wear your glasses if you have them (the cvs person might tell you otherwise, as those are not allowed on a passport, but just say it's for med school).


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
You get a camera phone and another warm body to hold said phone and take your photo.

C'mon, don't put too much thought into something this early on; save that brainpower for the more difficult stuff later.
 
I set up a tripod in my garage, hung up a bed sheet as a background, and put a 50mm lens on F1.8. I wore a jacket and tie with whatever gym shorts I was lounging around in. Spent 10 minutes in lightroom to adjust the lighting and edit out any dog hair that snuck onto the jacket. I also brightened my eyes a little because i'm a narcissist, but that's optional.
 
Get a phone camera, a friend, a chair and a neutral background. From the waist up wear whatever you'd wear for an interview. Sit in the chair and have your friend positioned to your right or left. now twist from the waist and turn your head in the same direction. If you need more light that you are getting naturally, hold a large piece of white posterboard in your lap. This will reflect light up toward your face. This is a much more flattering way of getting a head shot than doing a straight on mug shot/passport picture and it's free!
 
LizzyM said:
Get a phone camera, a friend, a chair and a neutral background. From the waist up wear whatever you'd wear for an interview. Sit in the chair and have your friend positioned to your right or left. now twist from the waist and turn your head in the same direction. If you need more light that you are getting naturally, hold a large piece of white posterboard in your lap. This will reflect light up toward your face. This is a much more flattering way of getting a head shot than doing a straight on mug shot/passport picture and it's free!
Click to expand...

Hmm... seems like you've done this before
 
LizzyM said:
Get a phone camera, a friend, a chair and a neutral background. From the waist up wear whatever you'd wear for an interview. Sit in the chair and have your friend positioned to your right or left. now twist from the waist and turn your head in the same direction. If you need more light that you are getting naturally, hold a large piece of white posterboard in your lap. This will reflect light up toward your face. This is a much more flattering way of getting a head shot than doing a straight on mug shot/passport picture and it's free!
Click to expand...

Spot on.


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Gauss44 said:
I didn't even know that "secondaries pictures" existed until a couple weeks ago and I just submitted AMCAS. I live in Boston. What are my options for getting this done? What should I tell the photographer I want? I doubt they would understand if I just said a photo for an MD application, or would they - is there a better way to ask? What criteria need to be met?

Thanks in advance! Please excuse my ignorance.
Click to expand...
I just took a good picture of myself and figured out how many pixels I'd have to size it to for a passport-sized photo.
 
What exactly do we need? For example, do we just take a passport-sized photo and physically tape it or fix it to the application and mail the application back? Or do we need a digital photo to upload? Or something else?
 
Gauss44 said:
What exactly do we need? For example, do we just take a passport-sized photo and physically tape it or fix it to the application and mail the application back? Or do we need a digital photo to upload? Or something else?
Click to expand...

Passport size photo to upload. Lmao don't sent in a hard copy. You can either take the pic yourself and edit it to the dimensions of a passport photo, or have a passport photo taken at a drug store and placed on a disk.


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Cigar said:
Passport size photo to upload. Lmao don't sent in a hard copy. You can either take the pic yourself and edit it to the dimensions of a passport photo, or have a passport photo taken at a drug store and placed on a disk.


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Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll have to bring a flash drive. I went to Walgreens last night and they said they were incapable of sending a digital passport photo to my email. All they could do is provide up to two physical photos. Once they took them, even worse... The pictures had shadows from my glasses, forehead, and nose - probably because no camera flash. I was disappointed.
 
Gauss44 said:
Thanks, I'll have to bring a flash drive. I went to Walgreens last night and they said they were incapable of sending a digital passport photo to my email. All they could do is provide up to two physical photos. Once they took them, even worse... The pictures had shadows from my glasses, forehead, and nose - probably because no camera flash. I was disappointed.
Click to expand...

don't you know anyone who has a camera phone? That's all you need. Have someone take a picture of you with a camera phone and email the photo to you.
 
LizzyM said:
don't you know anyone who has a camera phone? That's all you need. Have someone take a picture of you with a camera phone and email the photo to you.
Click to expand...

Even better, get a selfie stick so you can take as many pictures as you want without your friends thinking that you're strange 😛 Seriously, all you need is a nice-ish phone camera (iPhone cameras are pretty good, even my ancient 5S) and a blank wall. The selfie stick allows you to take pictures without it actually looking like you're taking selfies. This is how I took my passport photos as well!
 
I'm going to send in mine with an autograph on it
 
On some very clear advice I got in a previous iteration of this type of thread, I developed my devious plan:

I gave my younger brother my phone, put on my suit, stood against the wall of the bathroom and yelled at him until he managed to take a good shot.

I'm an evil genius, I know.
 
kopftonmd said:
On some very clear advice I got in a previous iteration of this type of thread, I developed my devious plan:

I gave my younger brother my phone, put on my suit, stood against the wall of the bathroom and yelled at him until he managed to take a good shot.

I'm an evil genius, I know.
Click to expand...
I hope it wasn't one of the many "shower curtain" shots I'll get this year...
 
The camera phone is the easiest idea, but if you have a fairly nice camera, an additional flash, and extra time:

A moderately long lens is the most flattering - think 85mm range. Large aperture (1.4 to 2.8). Try 1/100s for shutter and change the ISO accordingly. Put the flash on the camera on a tripod. Turn the flash so it's pointed in a diagonal direction pointed behind the camera (you're going to light up the wall you are looking at). Set it on a timer and take a few until you get one you like. Try to get a decent separation between you and the background.
 
DBC03 said:
The camera phone is the easiest idea, but if you have a fairly nice camera, an additional flash, and extra time:

A moderately long lens is the most flattering - think 85mm range. Large aperture (1.4 to 2.8). Try 1/100s for shutter and change the ISO accordingly. Put the flash on the camera on a tripod. Turn the flash so it's pointed in a diagonal direction pointed behind the camera (you're going to light up the wall you are looking at). Set it on a timer and take a few until you get one you like. Try to get a decent separation between you and the background.
Click to expand...
Unless its a cropped sensor, then go with a 50mm
 
gyngyn said:
I hope it wasn't one of the many "shower curtain" shots I'll get this year...
Click to expand...

Oh no, I just used the bathroom because the I felt like the wall color complimented my eyes. Fully clothed, don't you worry!
 
gyngyn said:
I hope it wasn't one of the many "shower curtain" shots I'll get this year...
Click to expand...

What, like this?

garden_lg.jpg
 
Is it important to wear a suit (female)? I am out of town on a trip and have dressy clothes with me, just not a suit.
 
BachDoc said:
Is it important to wear a suit (female)? I am out of town on a trip and have dressy clothes with me, just not a suit.
Click to expand...

As a woman you have more leeway. A blouse and jacket or blouse and sweater will be fine. Even just a blouse can be okay.

I just had an idea! Go to a shopping mall, try on some clothes (blouse and suit jacket) in the dressing room and have someone snap your picture against a blank wall in the dressing room.
 
I was the best man at my friend's wedding in a nice suit, vest, and tie and had my other friend snap a photo of me in front of a neutral wall. Anything simple while wearing a suit and tie will work for a guy.
 
LizzyM said:
As a woman you have more leeway. A blouse and jacket or blouse and sweater will be fine. Even just a blouse can be okay.

I just had an idea! Go to a shopping mall, try on some clothes (blouse and suit jacket) in the dressing room and have someone snap your picture against a blank wall in the dressing room.
Click to expand...
That's an awesome idea, you're the best! Thanks!!!
 
Gauss44 said:
In terms of how to dress (mens), how about a shirt like this without a tie (or should I really wear a suit and tie?), Men's Nick Dunn Modern-Fit Patterned Easy-Care Spread-Collar Dress Shirt & Tie Set I'm not a suit and tie kind of person, but could make that work.. I also lost a bunch of wait so I need to get a new suit jacket...
Click to expand...

I cringe a bit at a gingham shirt... maybe a bit too casual.
Go with a solid, light colored shirt. White or pale blue might be best. Solid tie or one with a small print or a stripe, optional in my book, gyngyn is more conservative and wants to see a tie. Tie: Not plaid!
Dark (navy or gray) suit jacket optional. Again, gyngyn will want to see you wearing a suit jacket.

Here's the look you might aim toward:
Men's Van Heusen Flex Slim-Fit Suit Separates
 
I'm a little nervous for my pictures, I ended up with 2 options: one with a 100% smile with teeth showing "hi i'm a bubbly primary care physician with a bleeding heart" and the second with a more mature closed-mouth smile showing "I'm a badass CEO". Should I send different ones to different schools? Am I putting too much thought into this? Help -_-
 
You guys think to much about this. Just put on a nice shirt, suit coat and snap a pic against a solid colored wall in your house with your iPhone. Just don't look like Ted Bundy with your smile and you will be fine.
 
Gauss44 said:
I didn't even know that "secondaries pictures" existed until a couple weeks ago and I just submitted AMCAS. I live in Boston. What are my options for getting this done? What should I tell the photographer I want? I doubt they would understand if I just said a photo for an MD application, or would they - is there a better way to ask? What criteria need to be met?

Thanks in advance! Please excuse my ignorance.
Click to expand...

Lol I used a selfie stick and my phone. Looks better than a drugstore passport photo.
 
I got mine at JCPenney - they have photo studios. You can make an appointment online and just show up without calling or talking to anyone beforehand, which is wonderful for people like me that prefer to talk on the phone as little as possible. My photographer did three different backgrounds, with 7-10 pics on each background in different positions. In less than 15 minutes, I had nearly 30 professional photos to look through. $49 for the rights to one of them, $79 for three, $99 for the whole lot of pics to choose from.

I bought the rights to three - one on each background - but I've used the same one for all of my secondaries. Hell of a lot cheaper and faster than many professional photographers. I had the link to download them three hours after the pictures were taken.
 
I wore a plain grey t-shirt in my photo. No shirts, ties or suit. Did very well at the schools that wanted a photo. I honestly don't think it matters.
 
AnatomyGrey12 said:
You guys think to much about this. Just put on a nice shirt, suit coat and snap a pic against a solid colored wall in your house with your iPhone. Just don't look like Ted Bundy with your smile and you will be fine.
Click to expand...
I wore a collared golf shirt and an under armour training jacket. Don't overthink this.
 
md-2020 said:
I wore a collared golf shirt and an under armour training jacket. Don't overthink this.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure I even wore a plain T-shirt. I highly doubt anyone ever gets dinged for their picture unless you look homeless.
 
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