eyes wide shut

In order to fly to Canada in August, Julia needs a passport (new regulations as of the beginning of this year). Yesterday, we finally received her birth certificate in the mail and decided it was time to go and get her passport photo taken. As many of you know, there are clear guidelines on how passport photos must look, even for infants.

Most importantly, eyes MUST be open in the photo. Little did we realize what kind of challenge that would pose for us. Our first attempt was around 6 pm. Our mistake was going after she had just been fed so she was fast asleep - like a baby. Jack made several attempts to wake her up while we were at CVS: blew on her face, mock dropped her, legs and arms under running cold water, cold air from the cooler, etc. (Note: this was all done while ensuring her safety). And NONE of it worked. We gave up after half an hour and decided to try again later in the evening.

Around 9 pm, we went back. This time, we were able to wake her up - because she was hungry. Unfortunately, we couldn't get her to stop crying, which didn't help in our efforts to get a photo with her eyes open. The manager of the store finally suggested that we take some photos of her at home and bring them in. It would work as long as we followed simple rules: no shadows, white background, eyes open, straight on shot (2nd toughest challenge), likeness of person, etc. Then there are also dimension rules to follow according to the passport application.

This morning, Julia had her photo shoot while she was awake. Over 50 photos were taken - see link. There was only one, however, that really stood out as the winning photo. The staff at CVS were amazed that she even looks like she is smiling for the camera. If they only knew what went into getting the shot.