Cate in NZ Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 Not out to blow my own trumpet or anything, but overall I'm a nice person, you know, help old ladies across the road, care for small children and animals, weep at soppy movies, you get the picture. No saint, but generally try my best to be friendly and helpful. So why oh why does my brand new passport photo make me look like an out and out criminal Presented with that image at immigration control any sane minded immigration officer would haul me in for further questioning I really take a dreadful photo, and when you're not allowed to smile like in passport pics I end up looking like a brunette version of Myra Hindley.......... on a bad day. And now I'm going to be stuck with that for the next years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeckyBoo Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 I think there's actually a little man in the photo booth, or in the developers who smudges all the pictures for passports to make them look terrible. You have my sympathy, all ours are awful too! Mrs B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 Him Indoors looks as it he has been taken out of his coffin to pose for his. It would frighten anyone of a nervous disposition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoid Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 my passport photo is one of the best pictures that have ever been taken of me.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 I end up looking like a brunette version of Myra Hindley.......... on a bad day. Will they let you into NZ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabergé Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 What makes me laugh is when babies or very young children have to have passport photos. By the time the passport expires, they'll obviously be totally different! Gloria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenzin Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 My kids all had theres done as babies and now you'd hardly recognise them I too look like a criminal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubereglu Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 What I find really stupid now is that with passport photos is that if you wear glasses you can't wear them in your photo. That's especially stupid for me as I wear glasses all the time, so no one ever sees me normally without them on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joojoo Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 My passport was actually quite nice - I even managed to look quite attractive on it. However, my ex husband looked like Carlos the Jackal on his. Everytime we went anywhere, as soon as they looked at his passport, he got hauled to one side by armed Immigration Officials. With hindsight, it was very very funny but when you have just arrived somewhere after a long flight it did start to get quite tedious. I remember flying into Gerona in Northern Spain once, and as we walked through customs they had photographs on all the walls of the most wanted Basque Separatists. He could have passed quite easily for any number of them BUT he didn't look anything like that in the flesh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popcorn Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 Is that right Liz? Well, I guess different glasses can change your appearance, especially if they are tinted. You'll always look like your photo once you've removed them. We got ours done recently for something...oh, yes...drivers licence. We saw a sign in one of the local shops for passpot photo's and as it was right next door to the post office we went in. We didn't realise that it was an actual photographer that took the photo's. We had to stand infront of a white board and look really serious. I thought the picture might come out much better than a booth, but no, we too look like death warmed up. Dark circles under the eyes, unkempt hair, blotchy skin, double chins, and just plain miserable. I would look twice at me if I presented my passport to an official. Glad we're not alone though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cate in NZ Posted October 21, 2007 Author Share Posted October 21, 2007 Is that right Liz? Well, I guess different glasses can change your appearance, especially if they are tinted. You'll always look like your photo once you've removed them. And of course the benefit is that once you've taken them off you can no longer see that dreadful pic of you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popcorn Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 I wrote that in my original post Kate, then deleted it. It read like I was saying Liz looked awful!! We know what you mean though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cate in NZ Posted October 21, 2007 Author Share Posted October 21, 2007 I wrote that in my original post Kate, then deleted it. It read like I was saying Liz looked awful!! We know what you mean though Ooops, sorry, I didn't mean it that way Liz I'm sure you don't look awful at all, just young, fresh faced and gorgeous............. it's the photos (mine in particular ) that I'm having a dig at Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One Man Banned Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 Joe just had to send his passport renewal off, with new photo. It took three goes to get a decent pic and when it did come out he complained that a spot we didn't see on his face looked like Mt. Everest My pic isn't two bad, but I change my hair and specs all the time so it looks very at odds to my current appearance! I think you can still wear specs on your photo, providing there is no glare or reflection on the lens. I'll let you know if Joe's passport is rejected as he had his specs on And if it is he's in BIG trouble...I'm taking him to Brussels in a few weeks and I'm not doing Eurostar without him A xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 I don't mind my passport photo as I made Carl take about 10 photos against a cream painted wall - I chose one I could live with and cut it to size. Carl though - like Egluntine's OH - looks like he's been dragged from a grave in his passport photo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happymama Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 What makes me laugh is when babies or very young children have to have passport photos.By the time the passport expires, they'll obviously be totally different! Gloria This is why you have to renew a kid's passport every five years, then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 Even 5 years is a bit late - my boys got theirs 2 years ago at ages 1 and 3. Already, they bear no resemblance to them now, especially the younger one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Looney Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 I was so pleased to renew my passport when I turned 26 as the picture on the old one was taken when I was 15. You could see my school shirt and tie and I had a cropped hair-style that was growing out but looked particularly awful as I had been caught in a rain shower on the way to school that day......... ....imagine my delight to get my new passport and find that I look like (in my opinion) a South-American drug smuggler Oh well, only another six and a half years until I can change it again, or maybe if I get married in the meantime Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popcorn Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 It took three goes to get a decent pic And you get four the same!!!!! What happened to the days when you could have four different photo's. The fun has gone out of photo booths! I have some lovely photo's of me and my Dad when I was very young, in photo booths. They told a funny story of the first photo being the worst, with our heads in the wrong place or not smiling at the flash, and by the forth it was almost!) a perfect picture Do I hear Wedding Bells Lorna.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubereglu Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Is that right Liz? Well, I guess different glasses can change your appearance, especially if they are tinted. You'll always look like your photo once you've removed them. True. It seems to be right as my sister's passport when she was getting it renewed was sent back to her because she was wearing glasses in her photo. Also someone she works with has a ginger haired daughter with pale skin and freckles and the passport agency sent the photo back to her as they said she didn't look human! Not a surprise with all that dull lighting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popcorn Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 ginger haired daughter with pale skin and freckles! You could be describing me there!! Although, I've never been unlucky enough to be described as inhuman...poor girl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cate in NZ Posted October 23, 2007 Author Share Posted October 23, 2007 ginger haired daughter with pale skin and freckles! You could be describing me there!! Although, I've never been unlucky enough to be described as inhuman...poor girl That didn't exactly sound like a tactful response from the Passport Office. I can't quite imagine anyone being that rude........ how shocking Oh dear, I've been waiting to send off son's passport as he's 16 in November so if we delay a little bit longer he can have an adult 10yr one, but we then need it issuing quickly for our NZ visas to be done. But these days he's more hedgehog than boy (spiky hair and a tendency to hibernate ) so now I'm worried they'll send his back marked as inhuman-? woodland creature Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Mine is not too bad and looks like me, which is a marcle seeing that my hair is always different. Rosie's looks like her and was taken just before the smiling ban, her first one was dreadful though - she'd been crying and was all red eyes, 'snot and marmite' Phil's is funny - being pale, bald and no distinguishing features, he looks like an egg! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 These posts have given me a right giggle, thanks everyone My own and my husband's passport pics are fine, but I remember when I was little trying to see my mum and dad's ID pictures and my mum always quickly putting them away, until the day she said she was so happy cause they had new passports and the pictures were alright. She said she had been so embarrassed for years every time she had to show hers and dad's ID, cause, in her words 'she looked like a total lunatic and he looked like he had just escaped from jail'... she then showed me the pic and she was totally right... never saw such a lunatic and such a dark, somber criminal expression before!!! Am still laughing now just remembering those pictures (There are workmen busy working on the conservatory, wondering why I'm laughing so much just typing on the laptop... oh dear, maybe lunacy is hereditary) My daughters all had their passport photos taken when they were 2 days old... we travel a lot and had to make sure we had their passports sorted quickly each time... they're sweet pictures, but after a few weeks at the most, not really 'a true likeness' of any of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Looney Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Do I hear Wedding Bells Lorna.... Not unless I get desperate for an excuse to change my passport photo!! One organisation we work with sends out my passport photo to projects in advance before I visit them so that vulnerable project participants don't feel threatened by me....the photo is enough to scare anyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
