Originally Posted by
west49th
$12 - $15 is nothing. I was renewing my Aussie passport in London and was told that the photo I'd had done had a line through it (which I couldn't see no matter how hard I looked). I was given a list of the closest approved passport photo places near the consulate, that is, those that knew the requirements for Aussie passports, which I understand are ever so slightly different to that of UK passports.
I had my photo taken and had to pay £15 (approx US$23) for the privilege! I didn't have a choice, it would have cost far more in train fares to come back on another day. I was really p*ssed off, especially as the same photographers only charge £10 for photos for British passports and I didn't have the time to tackle them on the price difference.
Anyone in London, avoid Snappy Snaps in Fleet Street if you don't want to get ripped off!
Quite a few Mail Boxes Etc. stores around town have a machine that does it automatically for any country. I used the one in Surbiton - it was £6 for 4 photos for an Indian visa IIRC. What was cool was that the man took the photo with what looked like a normal camera, plugged it into a small white machine, selected what it was for (visa) and the country (India) and the machine then analysed the photo to see that it complied. Three ticks meant that it printed, with guides for cutting to the required size. Very efficient and quick.