another passport problem>

[studio237]

having had no rejections for the last 18months or so it was strange to get  3 rejections from our local post office in the last few days, even more unusual as all 3 photographs were ok. A visit to the post ofice explaind all. The new management had installed a kiosk and two of our 3 rejected customers had been directed to the kiosk for a "correct picture"  What is also annoying is that we spend £1000.00 a year advertising in their post office, on which I am sure they get commission!  We have been averaging 100+ passports a week.  Any ideas on how to combat this extremely unfair competition?  

[nash]

i had a similar problem with my local post office

and what i did was got hold of the local manager and then threatened with a court action if he refused one of my passport picture.

Now i don`t get a single rejection

[AJLA]

Guess we are lucky, our PO recommends us even though they have a booth.  It great if you like the blue pallour to your hair n skin, does make me laugh when people go there because it's cheaper And then have to come to us later!

[Mr Noritsu]

We have had that issue here with a couple of post offices, and after I call them and explain that there is nothing wrong with our photo, I tell them I am ringing the area manager to get the problem resolved. I use the argument that I do not want to upset my customers by giving them incorrect photos.

In both instances, the area manager has called me back to apologise and to advise there was a "misunderstanding" and that our photos were fine.

we also have a postoffice 4 doors from us, and they send ALL their passports to us even though  they have a polaroid camera in store. They simply cannot be bothered doing passport photos.

[ji11y]

We had a passport photo rejected by the PO because the ladies eye was in the wrong place!!!!!. Jobsworths. The passport office exepted it no problem.

[Denis]

We have seen a marked increase in returns from the Post Office. They are all because the persons hair is covering their EYE BROWS.

I know this is not in the current rules.

I understand the Post Offices sending wrong pics to Passport Office are now being fined for every one sent. So ours are being over cautious.

Even a phone call to Passport Office confirms hair over eye-brows may get rejected.

I am going to insist a rejection letter from the passport office is to be presented to us before we do anymore for free.

ENOUGH MOANING BY ME. we still get a good profit out of it.

I may contact Nigel @ PMA over the ongoing issues we have with passports.

[Tony.T]

I think if you take care and produce them as they say in their guide to photographers (if you haven't get a copy, download it, print it and leave it on your counter to show customers) then you won't have a problem.

Our local PO has a photo-me booth installed (not theirs, it's a franchise I think) And they send people in to us all the time.

[studio237]

pleased to say that Nigel of PMA has given us great support and we have not had any more rejections at the moment after he had a word with the passport office who must have then contacted the post office concerned. I am still bothered about the guide lines as it only says no hair across the eyes but must agree with dennis that we are now being careful to leave a small gap between eye brows and hair which causes  arguements with our female customers. we also had a rejection for a smile on a 5 year olds face even though the smile was no more than the picture the passport office shows as acceptable. If any of you are not PMA members join now  their help is worth many times more than the annual subscriptions

[Colopt]

I have recently upgraded my passport camera to a digital slr, as the compact camera I was using died. Now I wish I had done this years ago, as the photos are perfect every time.

I have a mini studio set up with a large softbox and a smaller slave flash to eliminate any shadows, and the results are awesome, and so much easier.

The only thing I don't like is how the entry level DSLR's dont come with a flash sync plug, it's really annoying to have to use the hot shoe adapter, and the wireless triggers ( pocket wizards ect.) are way too expensive (cost more than the cameras). There was a time when every film SLR had a sync plug. Also I found the on camera flash cant be used to trigger a slave flash, you have to use the optional flash unit, which also costs nearly as much as the camera.

Surely some amateur photographers like to use studio flash units, why to the camera manufactuers make it so hard?

[Big Dave]

Colopt,

There are Cheaper/smaller hot shoe adapters than the pocket wizards !

Adorama has teeny tiny little ones that are around $40 bucks.  it does the job and very affordable.

http://www.adorama.com/FPRRS.html - plugs into your monolight, studio light, whatever.

if you have multiple lights, get multiple receivers.... http://www.adorama.com/FPRRR.html

We inherited a bunch of Quantum radio slaves, and they're good, but a bit bulky, and way too much for our small studio, but they work - when they go bad, if they go bad, we're getting a couple of the Adorama units.

I prefer radio over infrared.

[Big Dave]

also, you CAN use your on-camera flash IF your slave has a built in slave sensor to "see" the flash....

Here's a cheap slave flash that'll work too.  Make / buy some barn doors and you're good to go with your on-camera flash.

$19 - http://www.adorama.com/LTACS.html

[Colopt]

Thanks for the links Big Dave. I hadn't  heard of those cheaper hot shoe adapters, might see if I can find some locally. I have three studio flash units all of them have built in slave function, but none of them work with the on camera flash (Pentax KM), they get triggered too early. According to the manual you need to use the Pentax accesory flash to trigger slave flashes, which is a similar cost to the camera. Its to do with digital cameras having a preflash so the slave gets triggered too early. I think newer flash units can accomodate this but all my studio stuff is old.

[cliveanton]

Colopt,

Reference your sync plug problem I would suggest a look on Ebay for a S/hand Konica/Minolta A2 camera for around £100 mark in UK - no idea of price in Australia.

An excellent SLR looking model but with fixed 28-200 zoom AND a sync plug. I used one for a couple of years before selling my shop and found it a good, solid workhorse that worked well with my old studio flashes.

[Trevor brown]

We Use a Finepix V10 compact and have no more than 1% rejection prior to that we used an Olympus compact.

No need to buy new SLR's  if you follow the guidelines  your Ok

[Colopt]

Colopt,

Reference your sync plug problem I would suggest a look on Ebay for a S/hand Konica/Minolta A2 camera for around £100 mark in UK - no idea of price in Australia.

An excellent SLR looking model but with fixed 28-200 zoom AND a sync plug. I used one for a couple of years before selling my shop and found it a good, solid workhorse that worked well with my old studio flashes.

I only recently got a Pentax KM, it works fine with hot shoe adapter sync plug, just annoys me that they don't incorporate a sync plug into the camera!