We took our own. Mrs. K wasn't fond of her old passport picture so I suggested we try to take our own. Found a blank wall in the house and set up my Nikon DSLR on my tripod and shot away. Probably took half a dozen each and then sorted them out on the computer. Only took a little adjustment of the background to lighten it up a bit and we were good to go. Used the on-line photo adjustment program on the State Department site which worked pretty slick.

As for carrying them we do put them in RFID blocking passport wallets. Supposedly not really needed but we were getting new ones anyhow so paid a few bucks more for the blocking version. I've never tested them so can't comment on whether or not it works.