I’m currently getting a lot of requests for corporate headshot photo sessions. Here, I explain the key choices you’ll need to make when you decide to renew the photographs of your team members.
With everyone back in the office (at least some of the time) after two years of Covid disruption, companies are realising that their teams have changed a lot. There are many new faces, some of the old ones have new hairstyles, and the ‘Our Team’ page on the website is in serious need of updating. For many, this provides an opportunity to achieve a degree of consistency among the portraits. A variety of styles and backgrounds is not a good way to demonstrate the team’s coordination and clarity of mission. In such cases, it may be best to organise a shoot for all team members.
How will the headshots be used?
The first thing to consider is the range of applications for which you need team portraits. There’s the corporate website, of course. But you may also need portrait photos for LinkedIn, press articles, speaker’s bios, presentations, email signatures, profile pictures for video-conferencing, among other uses. If you are commissioning one set of headshots, it is probably worth asking the photographer to shoot a second and even a third set during the same session, each adapted to a different purpose.
Framing
Framing refers to the way that the subject fits within the borders of the portrait, and it ranges from a close-up of the face to a full-body (sitting or standing) portrait. Head and shoulders, bust, and half-body are the three most common choices. You may want to ask the photographer for two or more different framings of each person.
Background
Next, what kind of background or backgrounds should the portraits have? Many organisations choose a neutral background. Typically, these are either brilliant white, off-white, grey or black, but a muted colour (perhaps picking up on a key colour of the corporate graphic charter) can also work well. Others go for an ‘environmental’ style which places the subject in a professional setting. The set above was shot in a conference room, with a range of light, blurred out backgrounds that provide some atmospheric context without distracting from the subjects.
Aspect ratio
Do you want to present the portraits in a square frame, in the classical ‘portrait’ (vertical, either 2:3 or 3:4) orientation, or in the more cinematic ‘landscape’ (horizontal) format, like this set?
Colour treatment
Most organisations opt for a natural colour treatment, while others prefer monochrome, either black and white or tinted (sepia, for example). The young start-up that commissioned this set wanted the portraits to reflect the company’s dynamic, energetic personality, and went for a contemporary, high-contrast, high-saturation colour treatment.
Dress code
Think carefully about the guidance that you will give your team about what they should wear for the photoshoot. Some companies impose quite strict rules, while others make a virtue of diversity. Once again, the aim should be to reflect the personality of the organisation, placing it somewhere on the formal-to-informal spectrum. Of course, most will wish to appear both professional and approachable, but a dress code can provide a strong signal to potential clients and partners about the kind of relationship that the company offers.
Discuss with the photographer
Finally, don’t hesitate to draw on your photographer’s experience to help you shape your decisions on these points. Talk them through, and seek the photographer’s advice. Ask for their opinion about your existing team portraits, and for their suggestions about how to get the most out of the planned photo session. If you do this well in advance, so that the key decisions have been made at latest a few days before the shoot, the photographer will come fully prepared, with all the right equipment, and will be able to deliver the best possible value for money.