The main requirements for a passport photo, in terms of photographic qualities, are that your face be evenly lit (no shadows) and that your whole face be in focus.

For even lighting, assuming you don't have studio lights, taking the photo outside, in the shadow of a building, in the daytime works well, as does taking it in a room with bare white walls and big windows with the shades open to let in as much daylight as possible. You just need your face to be lit from all directions with diffuse lighting. Do not try to take a dramatic photo with parts of your face in shadow: it will be rejected by the government.

To get your whole face (including the ears) in focus, you'll want to use a small enough aperture. Probably around f/8 or f/11 would be enough, if you don't use a very long lens. You'll be using a plain white background, so you don't have to worry about having the background be distractingly in focus.

You also need to take the photo from far enough away that your ears are visible. If you take it from too close up, your ears will be hidden behind the curve of your head, just like a ship hidden behind the curve of the earth. (In this analogy, increasing the distance from the camera to the subject is a little like climbing a tower to see the ship again.) A distance of 10-15 feet should be sufficient. If your lens isn't long enough to fill the frame with your head and shoulders at this distance, don't worry: you can just crop the photo. Your camera has enough resolution that you can crop a lot and still be left with plenty of resolution for the purpose of a tiny passport photo.