“We don’t do that here”
As happens a few times every week, the other day someone came into our studio and asked if we do passport photos. As we have for the last several years, we explained that we don’t do them primarily because places like CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, and even the drivers license bureau do them much cheaper than we could — most of those places will give you two photos for under $10 — a price our professional studio simply can’t compete with.
But this time, our client shook his head. “You don’t understand — all those places do pictures that meet the US Passport specifications, but many other countries have different requirements, and won’t accept US-spec photos for their passports or visas.”
“Ah” we said. “We completely understand. You should go to Stuyvesant Photo — it’s only about 20 minutes from here, and they do a great job making passport photos for any country’s requirements.”
“That won’t work either” he said. “First of all, they’re no longer in business — they closed in May 2010. Second of all, I’m a graduate student here at RPI without a car, so I really need to get these done here in Troy.”
Many other countries don’t accept US-spec Passport photos
Wow — we never thought of that. If the passport photos won’t work for your country’s requirements, it doesn’t matter how cheap they are — because they won’t be accepted.
Our RPI student really was in a jam — he needed the photos right away, and there was nowhere we could send him that wouldn’t cost him a fortune in cab fare and time. So you guessed it, we took his pictures and made sure they met the needs of the Australian passport office, and even printed out the specifications from the Australian consulate and gave them to him, so he could see for himself that we had done exactly what they require.
Come to Upstate Photographers for all your Passport and Visa Photo needs!
And so we decided at that moment that as a service to all the international travelers who live, work, or study in Troy and the Capital Region, we would shoot and make their passport photos, carefully meeting the specific standards of their country, on a same day basis in our studio at 353 Broadway in downtown Troy.
We offer six pictures, professionally lit and processed, guaranteed to meet the requirements of any country you specify from Albania to Zanzibar, for $25 + NYS tax. If you are looking for US Passport photos, we can do them too as a convenience for you, but we remind you that there are many cheaper options for US Passport photos, like the CVS Pharmacy just across the street from us. We have to charge more than they do because a full-time professional photographer will photograph you in an actual photo studio with professional background, lighting, and camera, and the photos are edited by a professional graphics artist and printed by hand. In short, we are a boutique passport photo provider, able to meet the most demanding and esoteric requirements!
So if you need a specialty Passport or Visa photo — we are the place in the Capital Region to come to. We check the country’s consulate web site and make sure your photos exactly meet their current official requirements, including the new biometric specifications demanded by an increasing number of countries.
Typically, passport photos are available on a walk-in basis from 9:30am to 5:00pm on weekdays, with pickup of the finished photos available within an hour. As always though, we recommend that you call ahead to make sure we are available.
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