DMV Picture

Updated on November 23, 2011
T.N. asks from Saratoga Springs, NY
34 answers

K, so my birthday is Sunday and my license expires. I am going to DMV today to renew. I've put it off too long because I really HATE having my picture taken, and the pix on my license is nearly 20 years old. So it's time, you know?

So my question is I guess, is the picture on your driver's license dated? Does it even LOOK like you? Is There ANYONE in the WORLD with a GOOD DMV pix on their license?!

Have a great day Ladies, wish me luck!

:)

What can I do next?

  • Add yourAnswer own comment
  • Ask your own question Add Question
  • Join the Mamapedia community Mamapedia
  • as inappropriate
  • this with your friends

Featured Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

D.B.

answers from Charlotte on

I fixed my hair as if I were going to a party. Does that count? I also put on lipstick. How's that? Maybe that makes me look older...

Good luck - hope you don't have to take a test!

Dawn

3 moms found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

B.

answers from Augusta on

mine is good.
I smiled :) , didn't blink, and my hair was just in a pony tail. Any other way and it can get dated.

2 moms found this helpful

R.B.

answers from La Crosse on

Mine is actually a good one! I was SO suprised! I liked it so much that when I went in last week to renew mine I told them I lost my old one lol

I actually look young in it and my hair was partially over my shoulder and it was to my chest... I keep using it as a reminder as to not cut my hair and let it grow until its that length again.

Plus it makes me feel good that when she went to put my weight down... she said 130ish? I smiled and said yes... even though it was really 30lbs over that lol

So pretty much I kept my old license as a visual goal reminder... everything on there is what I would like to be at... well I guess I would like the 5'1 to be a little higher but I don't think I can much about that!

1 mom found this helpful

More Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.L.

answers from Las Vegas on

my last one was good.. BUT.. my name is hyphenated so instead of doing that, they made it into one LARGE name.... imagine combining a Swedish and Italian name ... so of course , no one could ever figure out how to say it and too, since it was wrong, I had to go back.. thing is, I wanted to keep the pic but they mispelled my name THREE times so I finally dropped the maiden name ... otherwise, DMV was never going to get it right..

as for you.. CELEBRATE who you are today.. :) get that pic... and most of all, have a GREAT birthday!!!

2 moms found this helpful

R.D.

answers from Richmond on

Oh man, my last one was really good (luck, pure luck!!)... I got compliments on it all the time. I was so pissed when I had to re-take it!!... this new one's not horrible, but I have this awful scowl on my face because you don't know it, but I was holding a screaming wiggly baby at the time, LOL!!

2 moms found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

✩.!.

answers from Los Angeles on

I actually love my current pic. I was at my thinnest - had a great hairdo. I was rockin! hahaha.

Good luck and Happy Birthday (on Sunday)

PS - I have to renew in December and am not looking forward to it.

2 moms found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

J.F.

answers from Boston on

Funny, my picture is actually really good! My bday is in August so when I have to renew mine (NH requires every 4 years the month of your bday) I always have a good tan! LOL I had even just had my little one (he was 2 months old) so I guess I looked damn good post partum!

1 mom found this helpful

J.H.

answers from San Antonio on

I say do your hair, do your makeup and do whatever you can to make yourself look as beautiful as possible. Put on some sexy underwear (I'm telling you, sexy underwear can make any woman feel va-va-vavoom!) Then go in there and rock that DMV photo!

**To answer your other question, no my DMV photo doesn't look like me. I've since had LASIK, lost some weight...gained even more, lol! I've changed my hair color and cut.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.V.

answers from Washington DC on

I used to have a good one, but they wouldn't let me smile in this one. My passport photo is awful but I just wanted it done and over with.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.C.

answers from Dallas on

I have a wonderful picture on my license, although it looks a little dated these days. But I'm keeping it until they force me to get another one!

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

B..

answers from Dallas on

My picture was from when I was 19. They keep letting me renew without getting a picture. It's a decade old. I pretty much look exactly the same. I guess I understand why people think I'm so much younger now...sigh. It's strange how I see my self differently in the mirror, then in a picture. I think I look much older, until I see a picture of me younger, and I look the same.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.S.

answers from Boca Raton on

I actually like my picture (a rarity for me!) and dread having it replaced in 2013!

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

G.T.

answers from Rochester on

My picture is pretty good. The only problem is it's 15 years old and next year they will make me get a new one. The last picture was taken by a friend of mine that worked for the DMV and she was very picky with it and made sure she got a good one. She no longer works there so who knows what the next picture will look like.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

☆.A.

answers from Pittsburgh on

LOL Theresa! That's why I like you--another Scorp!

There is non such thing as a "good" DMV photo! It is an elusive, mythological creature.

1 mom found this helpful

A.C.

answers from Jacksonville on

I just had to renew mine and I was glad to because the pic was HORRIBLE! It didn't even look like me. Oh well, it wasn't so bad I wasn't willing to carry it around for 8yrs. :) My picture is better this time, I'm hoping I can keep this one for awhile.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

T.K.

answers from Honolulu on

I just did mine back in June- This is the first picture I LOVE. Mine has the date I took it. You'll be ok just smile. Hope this is the picture you LOVE

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

D.P.

answers from Minneapolis on

I delivered my first son 1 week after I had my picture taken and look like someone pumped me up with air :) Due this year for a new one so better believe I'll be getting a new picture, but definitely saving the old one for the memory!

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

N.W.

answers from Eugene on

Mine looks good. They let us smile here in Oregon. If they didn't, I'd smile a little anyway, I look terrible when I'm serious!

I agree with the other posters to spend a little extra time to put on make up, fix your hair so it shows (a ponytail picture would make me look bald) and wear a cute top that makes your neck look longer. Practice in the mirror and ask them to please count to 3 before shooting. At our DMV, they do the bright flash when they shoot the picture, so a little bronzer and darker makeup around the eyes can keep you from looking washed out. It sounds silly, but you will be stuck looking at this picture for several years so you might as well make the most of it.

1 mom found this helpful

M..

answers from Detroit on

Mine is horrible!! I had the day off which I spent cleaning, and my husband kept bugging me to go get my name changed on my liscense, I thought, what the heck, I will just run up there and do it real quick.
Didnt know that for a name change you had to get a new picture.
No makeup, ponytail, and a crappy sweatshirt!!!
I think it expires this January. I am going to be ready this time!

Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.T.

answers from New York on

No, my picture and I do not look alike. My picture is 8 years old. It was taken a few months after I finished chemo. I didn't have much hair, looks like a buzz cut. I hate the picture.

1 mom found this helpful

E.S.

answers from Dayton on

When I got my 21 license, I took a cute picture.
That was the only one.
My current pic is so bad, the few times I've had to get it out I keep waiting for someone to say "Is this you?".
But it never happens. Lol. And waaaah!
I get a new one next year. Fingers crossed.
;)
Happy (early) Birthday! And heaps of GL!!! :)

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

C.J.

answers from Dallas on

My current one is pretty good. when people see it they know it is me, but my hair is super short, now long, and everyone says I should cut it again - "Well thank you random department store guy who had to see my license." LOL
I've been in TX 10 years and have had to renew, but no new picture. . .yet.
In MO we had to do it every 3 years, but I got a new one at age 21 - YUCK! it was the worst ever and i was using that thing all over town -haha!
Smile and enjoy your b-day!

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

J.S.

answers from Tampa on

OMG!! My pic is awful! I had to go renew it on the very last day because I had been sooo sick. I had bronchial phenumonia, (spelling?), and a fever of like 102.4!! My eyes are all red and glassy, and I am white as a ghost, which is really bad because I am a redhead, so I am usually white anyway! My hair is kind of a mess from being sick. No make up. I just didn't care being so sick. WORST PICTURE EVER!! LOL!

1 mom found this helpful

J.P.

answers from Lakeland on

I have only had one good DMV picture and that was on my first license. Since then they are all terrible. Most of the time it is raining or really hot out (I have a summer b-day). I think my current picture looks distorted, like they were playing a game and stretching the picture out for fun.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

S.P.

answers from New York on

Happy birthday!
My photo was so old that even though I really liked it I went in and had it replaced because I was afraid people would think it was a picture of my daughter.
My photos tend to be nice because I prepare for them: Nice clothes, hair, makeup, etc, and then, most importantly, I smile! I smile and smile for what seems hours waiting for the photographer to get ready--but I'm always ready, never surprised. It is embarrassing for those few minutes, but so worth it for the next decade you're stuck with that photo!

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.R.

answers from New York on

first.. Happy Birthday... 2nd.. how the heck is your picture THAT old?? Here in CT - we have to renew ours every 5 yrs...

I don't think anyone LIKES their DMV picture... and honestly - how often is it REALLY looked at??

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

K.L.

answers from Savannah on

I had to take a picture when I was 7 months pregnant and my picture came out so great! I definitely had that pregnancy glow going on and it was about a month before the photos where my face looks huge. I am disappointed that I have to get a renew my license in my new state of residence and will have to take a new picture. I know I will never get a good dmv picture again. And my old license will be confiscated if I don't want to take a test :(

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

K.N.

answers from Cleveland on

I was very pregnant and about 50 pounds heavier than normal when I had to renew mine. I swear once I have this last baby (i'm pregnant again and my son is just about to turn one) that I will go get a new one just for a better picture. It's really that bad.

1 mom found this helpful

⊱.H.

answers from Spokane on

Mine looks like a mug shot.

Happy early Birthday!! I'm sure your pic will turn out great :)

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

K.G.

answers from Fort Wayne on

OMG mine looks like a mug shot. Here in Indiana you can NOT smile, have bangs, wear your glasses, have anything in your hair. Its a nightmare. Happy Birthday by the way.

1 mom found this helpful

B.C.

answers from Dallas on

Oh, I HATE my DMV pic!! It was taken when I was 21. I'm 29 next month and didn't get a new pic when I renewed since I did it online. I almost took a day off just so that I could update it but alas, another 8 or so years with the aweful pic...

1 mom found this helpful

J.E.

answers from Erie on

Yeeeeaaahhhh...NO. LOL I look like a manly linebacker in mine :( So not cool. I was rushed the day of the pic and didnt do my hair, just pulled it back and no make up.I cant wait to get a new one. For the next one...New hair, make up and pretty clothes..here I come!

:)

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

T.P.

answers from Indianapolis on

Happy Birthday!!
My picture is horrible. I just got back from vacation when it was taken and I look drunk. I said if I'm pulled over by a cop they will check me for alcohol because of my picture.

1 mom found this helpful

D.F.

answers from San Antonio on

Funny you asked. I have renewed my license on-line and not had to take a new picture. My picture is from 10 yrs ago and about 40 lbs lighter!
I love that picture! I look GREAT!
What makes it really funny is last week I went to Wurstfest here in New Braunfels. I German festival celebrating sausage and beer! It was a great time. But I lost my license! It was in between my money and I guess when I paid for the beer I dropped it. I retraced my steps but never found it. I was reserved to have to renew it again ON-LINE!
So the next day I am home late in the afternoon and I get a knock at the door. It was a cop. He brought my license back to me. He said it got turned in to him at Wurstfest. I was so thankful. Told him how nice it was of him to personally bring my license to my house!
It wasn't until after he left that I realized why he brought my license back to me! I LOOK HOT IN THAT PICTURE! I couldn't stop laughing!! Poor guy what a shock to expect a cute thin girl to greet him and what he got was a heavy set momma!!
Thinking I should update that picture and not disappoint anyone else!!!
God Bless!
D.

1 mom found this helpful
For Updates and Special Promotions
Follow Us

Related Questions