OP here. Thank you for all the serious replies, I am going to look into them.

There's a photographer in silver spring in the little mall where there's a noodles and co., a marshalls, etc. He offers a digital pic, retouched, for like $15, and the pics are pretty decent. Worth a try. Nice guy. 100 times better than sears, which is always a mess, photographers are running late, etc., etc.

Anonymous wrote:I had a good quality personal photo that I cropped to my face (clear, straight-on, relatively bland background) and made black and white. Works fine.

+1

I cropped my sister in law out of the picture I use and made it black and white. Done.

I had a good quality personal photo that I cropped to my face (clear, straight-on, relatively bland background) and made black and white. Works fine.

You can also suggest that you try certain poses & angles for the high school-looking kid taking the photos...

A headshot taken with a good camera looks significantly better than a point-and-shoot at home. I used Picture People and paid about $100 for a whole disc of headshots.

When the high school-looking kid was taking them, I thought for sure I'd be screwed, but they turned out quite nice.

Observe headshots that you like, the poses they are in, what kind of clothes and colors they are wearing... then plan your outfit, hair and makeup carefully. I went heavy on the makeup and made sure my hair was styled nicely, and it doesn't look overdone in the actual photo.

Anonymous wrote:Your husband could totally take this photo. It is really not a big deal.

seriously! One day before you go to work stand in front of a neutral background and smile.

Your husband could totally take this photo. It is really not a big deal.

Check or post on Craigslist

Anonymous wrote:Go to Sears - I don't remember how much it cost, but it was a lot less than 200 a year ago.

+1. Just make an appointment.

Find any photo of you sober.

Use it.

Send me $200

Go to Sears - I don't remember how much it cost, but it was a lot less than 200 a year ago.

It is not that serious.

I want something better than the picture DH can take of me, but not spend $200 plus on a professional photographer. Any suggestions for someone that would use professional lighting and give me a digital image? TIA.