So go over there!

[pbmods]

A couple comes in to my photo lab and wants ID pictures taken. No problem.

Dialogue runs more or less like this:
SC - How much will it be?
Me - We do a pair for $7.99.
SC - Are they the right size?
Me - Yup. 2"x2", face between 1" and 1-3/8", (etc., rattling off the specifications for passport photos... i.e., "STFU I know how to take passport photos. We wouldn't offer the service if they were the wrong size, now would we?").
SC - Isn't there another type?
Me - I'm sorry?
SC - At the other *same store name* they had two types of ID pictures. It was 4 for $4.99. I need pictures for a green card.
Me - Our equipment is only set up to do passport pictures. If you have the exact size of the picture that you need, we can cut it down for you.
SC - How come you don't have the other type of picture here? You have it at the other *same store name*.
Me - They may be running a promotion right now, but our equipment is only set up for passport pictures.

This goes on for a few more minutes. Finally...

SC - (for the thousandth time) But they do it at the other *same store name*.
Me - (Dur...) Then go over there!
SC - They said there would be a 45-minute wait, so they sent us over here.
Me - *shrugs and gets back to work*

You know, it takes 6-8 weeks for passports and other governmental IDs to go through, so what's another 45 minutes? I don't understand why people are in such a freaking hurry to get their passport pictures taken. Seriously, 4 out of every 5 customers can't even wait 15 minutes....

[One-Fang]

I guess because a passport photo is not something you think "oh, I must pick up one of those" while shopping. You go out specifically to get it. If that's all you're getting, that 15 minute wait becomes a drag because you can't just go and get the other things you came out for while you wait.

Now, having said that, it takes 10 minutes to get a prescription. When I go to get one filled, I'm only going for that. I hand it over, they say "10 minutes" and I go window shopping.

But then, I'm a reasonable, thinking adult.

[Onte]

What is it with people and their passport photos? I've never traveled out of the country so I don't even have a passport so maybe I just can't relate or see their point of view. But, an old friend of mine worked at a portrait studio and really the only time she ever vented about work was in regards to people and their stupid freaking passport photos.

[Silvercat]

What is it with people and their passport photos? I've never traveled out of the country so I don't even have a passport so maybe I just can't relate or see their point of view. But, an old friend of mine worked at a portrait studio and really the only time she ever vented about work was in regards to people and their stupid freaking passport photos.

I've never been a photographer and don't have to deal with it, but from what everyone's been saying I'd say the problem is that passport photos have to be just right for them to be accepted and people don't understand that. It's not a photo that's supposed to make a person look wonderful but people won't accept that they need to shut up and let the photographer make sure it's acceptable.

[protege]

I've never been able to figure that out either. Since the only foreign country I've been to (unless you count certain areas of West Virginia ) was Canada, some years ago, I don't have a passport. From what I remember, I didn't need one for Canada--I simply showed my ID, paid the toll at the bridge, and walked across However, I'm not sure you can still do that now.

[Rapscallion]

I think you can. I'm pretty sure GK only had to show driving licence at the Niagara Falls border, though they went to town on me. Must have been the beard. I could have hidden a bomb in that thing - I'd grown it much longer for the trip.

Rapscallion

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Had one very short sighted individual show up for a passport photo at Kinko's wearing a t shirt with a leaf of good old Mary Jane on the front.

I don't think you could see it in the actual photo, but still.....

[Reyneth]

I've never been a photographer and don't have to deal with it, but from what everyone's been saying I'd say the problem is that passport photos have to be just right for them to be accepted and people don't understand that. It's not a photo that's supposed to make a person look wonderful but people won't accept that they need to shut up and let the photographer make sure it's acceptable.

OR people understand too well that passport photos have specific requirements - and try to tell us such on and on and on. Dude, we take 2-10 of those PER DAY. We have not had any come back to be redone. We know what we are doing - please let us do it and deal with it.

And I understand wanting to look good in your photo, that doesn't excuse the other lady a week or so ago who had us take like 10 and print out 4 or 5 until she found one that was "acceptable" - they were all nearly identical, and all looked fine. She complained the entire time about the new regulation that smiles can't show teeth. That's not our fault, so shut up about it, would ya? She didn't seem to understand that no matter how good your photo looks, once it's had hot plastic slapped over it, it's still gonna look strange anyway. *oy*

[Mixed Bag]

once it's had hot plastic slapped over it, it's still gonna look strange anyway

I hope the laminators are paying you well for feeding the imaginations of fetishists

[Dips]

Years ago, when I started working the hospital, I showed up at security to get my employee ID photo and badge.

The guy in front of me must have been "difficult" because when I approached the room I heard the person taking the pictures tartly say, "This is not a glamour photo shoot and you are not a model. This is your picture. NEXT!"

I made sure to behave myself.

[PuckishOne]

I didn't need one for Canada--I simply showed my ID, paid the toll at the bridge, and walked across However, I'm not sure you can still do that now.

For now, yes, you can. The rules will change after December 31, 2006, however, and a valid passport will be required for US citizens travelling into/out of Canada (as well as other places, like the Bahamas, that currently let us in with just IDs and birth certificates).

But, hey, doesn't That Other Store have a deal on passport photos - 4 for $4.99 or something? You could get that all taken care of in, what, 15 minutes or so?

[Spiffy McMoron]

But, an old friend of mine worked at a portrait studio and really the only time she ever vented about work was in regards to people and their stupid freaking passport photos.

But it's not just the people getting thier pictures taken, either. The (Canadian) government is very picky about passport photos, in regards to the way that the person has their face, to the background colour, to the darkness or lightness of the photo. (Perhaps because alot of undesirables try to get a Canadian passport, thinking that it's better than a British or American one. Maybe.)

My sister recently went to Europe, and she had to get a new passport. She went down to the local insurance place, where you can get pictures for drivers licences, photo ID, and passports. She had to make four trips back there, only to have all of her pictures rejected. She finally had to go to an official immigration office (2 and a half hours away) and get her pictures taken there before she got one accectable enough to go overseas with.

[AFpheonix]

I had to get a new passport last year, and now they print the photo directly onto the paper.
I look like a burn victim. Lovely.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

I've never been able to figure that out either. Since the only foreign country I've been to (unless you count certain areas of West Virginia ) was Canada, some years ago, I don't have a passport. From what I remember, I didn't need one for Canada--I simply showed my ID, paid the toll at the bridge, and walked across However, I'm not sure you can still do that now.

Does this mean I need to ask my b/f if I need a passport then? He's been threatening to take me to meet the other part of his family and they're in WV.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Exactly why I don't get another passport photo taken even tho it was taken when I was 14. I saw customs men looking very hard at it last time I crossed the Channel... probably cuz I'm scowling in it and it looks like a mug shot.