How To Plan A Corporate Headshot Shoot
Many businesses today are discovering the value of having headshots of their employees on their website. It adds a human element to their brand that builds trust and confidence of their potential clients and customers. Humans identify with other humans much more so than logos, slogans and other typical corporate branding elements. With that additional trust and human connection you can expect to get more leads and get more clients. So how should you go about getting a photographer to come in and do headshots? What should you look for? What should you expect? How long will it take?.
Who in your Organization Should get headshots?
While C suite executive come top of mind - directors, VPs and other client or customer facing employees are also good candidates to have their headshots taken. Anyone who is customer and client facing is important to have photographed. This might include your sales team, the VPs who frequently interface with potential clients or during the client contract. But it can also include general on-site employees such as on-site project and program managers who in many cases are the day to day face of your company. Other employees to consider are HR staff that frequently interact with potential employees. Having a human element and connection on your hiring side is very important for attracting the human capital necessary in the current competitive environment.
Hi!
My name is Lilith. I am project manager that is ready to keep your project on time and on budget.
Hi!
My name is Anita. I am Sales & Marketing professional with the ability to drive sales and build relationships in hospitality management.
Hi!
My name is Lauren. I am an IT security manager who keeps critical IT data and assets safe both on premise and in the cloud.
What Style of Headshots?
Environmental Headshots are typically a bit wider and show off your office space and location a bit. These can look and work great when executed well and if the look and feel really fits your brand and industry. They do have their risks though since they do tend to be a bit more weather and lighting condition dependent. A good headshots photographer should be able to discuss those risks with you and provide some mitigation strategies to you.
A studio look which usually just a plain gray, black or white background can be great for consistency, ease and for creating a very clean professional look that fits very well for certain industries - like IT consulting and services.
Editorial Portraits can be great for smaller firms that do high end work for high end customers such as boutique law firms, PR firms, Advertising agencies and Lobbying and advocacy groups. Editorial portraits tend to be more involved and are designed to have the magazine look and quality. This might involve props, dramatic lighting or high end painted canvas backdrops or even on location like a rooftop. This of course will depend on your industry and brand. Instead of deciding this for yourself it may be good to ask your potential headshots photographer for a consultation to discuss which might suit you best and discuss the costs and risks associated with each.
How much time to plan for?
How long to plan for will depend a lot on how many people, how many shots and looks per person and whether you are doing environmental shots or a studio look on location or editorial shots. In general I recommend budgeting an hour of time for the photographer to setup and do test shots, and 30 minutes to tear down. For each person in the organization plan on about 10 minutes time per person - per look. So if you are doing two looks- ie lighting, background changes or outfit changes - plan for 20 minutes per person. Not everyone will need the full time but some people can take longer to get a satisfactory headshot. While 10 minutes per person per look is ideal headshots certainly can be completed in faster timeframe but largely depends if you highest priority is quantity over quality. Sometimes you just need 50 people in a 2-3 hour window and that certainly can be done with good results - but some people may be less happy with their headshots than others.
Work with a photographer and plan.
How successful a headshot shoot is will largely depend on how much preparation, planning goes into it. Having the end in mind and pre-visualizing what successful headshot shots look like will increase the success of your corporate headshot shoot. Pre-visualizing and conceptualizing the shoot can be as simple as knowing you want ‘Bright. Happy. Inviting’ images or ‘Serious. Strong. Leader’ images. Search pinterest or google images to search for example headshots to provide your photographer and tell them what qualities of the image you like. Don’t be afraid to ask a photographer to talk on the phone and discuss ideas, concerns and challenges. Doing these things before the shoot can help the photographer, plan and prepare and provide you a more accurate quote for the job at hand.
Hi!
My Name is Jared Wolfe. I am a Professional Headshot Photographer in Alexandria VA. Let me help you have a successful corporate headshot shoot. Fill out the form below and I will be in touch. Or if you prefer email me at jcwolfe@byjaredwolfe.com
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