Have passport, will travel By Kathryn Jones

Have passport, will travel

By Kathryn Jones

The plan to take our new baby overseas to meet the Welsh side of his family seemed easy enough. We booked our flight, we checked that newborns can travel on planes, we filled in some forms. We found out that babies can't go on their parents' passports any more so Tom would need his own travel documents and paper ticket.

It took us a bit longer to find out how hard it is to get a passport photo taken of a baby.

The passport agency would like the photo to be face-on with the baby's eyes open. With a closed mouth. And both ears visible. And the baby can't be crying or asleep. Anyone who knows anything about babies knows this provides a very small window of opportunity.

Four Australia Post outlets in Canberra refused to even try taking a picture of our little bundle, and the one that was game enough to have a go had a tough time of it.

"Eyes open, mouth shut, both ears visible" became our mantra. The bloke in the post office got us to hold Tom's head up like a glove puppet against a white screen that rolled down from the ceiling. He told us that the passport people are very particular about the photos they accept. The baby has to be alone on the background with no part of you in the picture. Tom immediately fell asleep, head lolling as he hovered in front of the screen. We woke him up again. He started crying. We had the bright idea that he might be happier after a feed so headed out to the car for a top-up. Ten minutes later we returned with a happy, alert baby.

 
And then it happened. The moment we'd been praying for. My son, propped up by his dad's appropriately invisible hand, stared directly into the camera - eyes open, mouth shut, both ears visible. The lovely kind man pointed and clicked. Tom frowned and blinked, offended by the flash, but remained focused on the camera. To be on the safe side, the chap took another photo. And then Tom fell asleep again. But it didn't matter - we knew we had at least two acceptable shots.

After 10 minutes or so, the photos were ready to be peeled open. We all leaned in excitedly. The picture was a giant splash of white with two coal-black eyes staring wonkily up from one corner. Hmmm. The other shot was equally bleached out and contained half of Tom's head. One ear was clearly visible, but apparently that's not enough. The guy apologised and confessed he'd never taken a passport photo of a baby before. Still, we appreciated him giving it the old school try. He suggested we ring around to find a professional photographer who might have more luck. Or try doing it ourselves at home.

In the end, a lovely lady at a photo place in Belconnen mall reckoned she could help us out. She was very patient and helpful, and lay our son on his back on a white muslin. He stared up at the camera. Success. Unfortunately it was an impromptu visit and Tom was wearing white, which on the required white background added up to a weird floating head. Still, at least the ears were in shot, his eyes were open and his mouth was ... well, a little bit closed. In the open sense of the word. Anyway.

The photo, while (mostly) meeting all the official requirements, looked nothing like Tom. But since babies change so quickly I don't suppose it matters, even though this passport has to last him five years. More importantly, it was accepted by the passport people and we were in business.

How exhausting... and there's a plane journey to get through yet.

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