I think this is a great idea, and it would make sense to make it standard practice, especially since there are a some posters who undermine people who have made clear growth by saying it's just lighting, angle, etc. 

In my rural area we don't have these, though. The closest  we have is a photo booth of the type used in the film 'Amelie' in a bowling alley! However, I'm considering making a periodic visit....

How do they do this for scientific purposes? I've always imagined some kind of fixed device which holds the head in place and can retain "settings" for different heights, head sizes etc. Sort of like the thing you rest your head on at the opticians while they do  retina inspection. 

How do they do this for scientific purposes? I've always imagined some kind of fixed device which holds the head in place and can retain "settings" for different heights, head sizes etc. Sort of like the thing you rest your head on at the opticians while they do  retina inspection. 

But yeah, passport photo booths seem like a good compromise. As long as you can recreate the same head posture for all the photos. 

@elevee I don't think anyone wants to truly undermine the accomplishments of others, but rather see objective results. If you want objectivity then you would have to perform comparisons which have the exact same conditions otherwise you're comparing completely different frames of reference.

The internet is already full of misinformation and its so hard to get truth in this massive sea of pseudoscience and placebo. In my opinion if you're not going to make an effort to document your case properly, that's fine, but don't expect it to be taken as a serious result.

The main focus of this is to ensure continuity across your own progress pictures, so you can see any changes.

I want to be able to accurately track my own progress, while limiting variables (angle, lighting, background etc) that increase the chance of producing a false positive

For me, taking a passport/ID photograph once a year is the best way to do this

Tracking progress with photos can be a game changer because pictures reveal subtle changes that numbers on a scale often miss — lighting and angles matter, but consistency tells a real story over weeks. Pairing visual logs with notes about how you felt that day gives you deeper insight into what’s working. And if you ever organize or share your progress reports, https://comfax.com/resources/fax-cover-sheets/ has a surprisingly handy set of fax cover sheet templates that help make your documentation clean and professional without extra fuss.