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Once we remembered about getting a passport for our newborn son, filling in the forms was the easy bit. Getting the required photographs was a different story. Trying to get out of the house to a photo-booth or professional photographer with a toddler and baby Jamie was a complete nightmare. When one was having a nap, the other was awake or it clashed with feed times.
I went online and did a search for passport pictures hoping to find a photographer close by or at least somewhere that had a photo-booth, as we had nowhere local. What came up in the search was www.paspic.com.
I couldn't quite believe my luck. The site explained how to take a photo of your baby or child at home using a digital camera that would meet Passport Office guidelines. All you then had to do was upload the picture to the site and they'd take care of the rest.
Following the site instructions on how to take a good picture, I waited until my toddler was distracted and Jamie content. I lay Jamie on a white sheet on the bed and took a few pictures.
In less than five minutes, I had chosen the picture I thought was best and had uploaded it to the paspic.com site.
According to the site, they would format the picture into a passport size and would check that the strict Passport Office guidelines were met. All pictures are guaranteed to be accepted. After making the online payment of £3.50, that was it.
The very next day my four passport pictures arrived. There are not many occasions when I am well and truly gobsmacked by slick service, but this time I really was. It had taken me less than five minutes to complete the whole process with absolutely no fuss at all. And all for the same price I would have paid in a photo-booth.
I cannot recommend the site highly enough. It is a massive time- and stress-saver for parents.
passpic.com offers the service for children and adult photos which are suitable for UK, EU, AU and US passports.