Getting Visa Pictures

So much like our passports require a certain type of photo, so do our Visas for our German residency. Having put it off as long as I could, I took the kids to the local Rathaus (isn't it funny enough that the government buildings are called "rat"hauses) to get our pictures taken per Andrew's instructions. There they have a photo booth. There are specific requirements for a proper photo; such as don't smile, don't tilt your head, it has to be an upclose shot, eyes forward, etc. So mine when fine, though I think I look like a criminal. Well then it came time to get Mason's pictures done. It also shows that it is not allowed for a parent's arm or hand to be shown in a picture and that the children are not supposed to smile either. This of course was problem #1 for a child who was trained by his camera trigger happy mother to "look at the cameral and smile!" Then there was the issue of a tiny little booth with both myself and Mason in there and I couldn't be in the shot! Trying to center him in the mirror for an upclose picture was hard enough. When I finally thought I had him all lined up and looking ahead, the camera would count 3-2-1 for the picture, of course this distracted Mason and as soon as he got lined up, it would count and he would start to look for where the voice was coming from. Six attempts and 12 Euro later, we did not get an acceptable picture. If it was this bad for Mason, I couldn't even imagine trying to hold up Tristan and not get in the picture, especially on a machine where there was no zoom in. So I gave up and called Andrew in frustration.

He convieniently remembered that we could get our pictures taken in person by another shop even closer to our apartment! How nice that would have been to know the first time :) So off we went to the photographer. She of course didn't speak much English but it was clear what we needed when she saw the horrible proofs of our failed attempts. Within 5 mintues she had both kids marvelously photographed, zoomed and cropped into the perfect Visa photos. Double the cost of the photobooth but well worth it!

So just another day in the life of becoming a German (temporary) citizen.