Glitch. We have sent in our visa applications for Myanmar. Usually when we apply for visas two passport photos are required. I have taken and photoshopped stock photos of Debbie and me. I print a couple of these and send them along. These photos have our kitchen wall as a backdrop and although the walls are a grayish tone it is not easy to tell the background is not the white requested. There has never been an issue……until now.
A week ago we received a phone call from, our call display said, “The Embassy”. Debbie answered and the very nice lady on the other end said they had received our apps but the photos did not have a white background. When scanned, the images reproduced were so dark they were not much use. I guess sooner or later we would get called out and my system of saving a few bucks would not work. We did try to find an appropriate backdrop in our house but we do not have a pure white walls.
Wanting to ensure our visas got processed fast we both trundled off to the AMA and had proper passport photos taken. While there, I noted how the photo was shot without having a shadow on the wall behind created from the flash. As a background there is a double walled white cloth box with a synced flash between the walls. When the picture is taken, both the flash on the camera and the flash between the walls act together. The camera flash illuminates the face and the back flash illuminates the white cloth background. No shadow, no work on photo shop.
When we last checked a couple of days ago our photos had been received and the visas are in the works.
I don’t know when we will next require a visa but I am going to work on photos that will accommodate the needs of the embassies. The expense is not great but to have the photos taken by someone else is 24 bucks a crack. I would rather spend my time photoshopping and use that cash to extend our trip to the intended destination.