How to organize a team headshot day

01

How long it actually takes

I work fast. Most teams are done in one to two hours. A group of ten to fifteen usually takes about an hour, and a team of thirty runs closer to two.

Per person it is about three to five minutes once the lighting is set. That is enough time to get you standing right, try a few expressions, and make the small adjustments that change a photo: chin forward slightly, shoulders turned, weight on the back foot.

You will look at the camera for most of it, and I will talk you through the rest. Nobody has to know what to do with their hands. That is my job.

02

No booking slots needed, just send people over

There is no running order. People come over when they are free and I take whoever is next in line. It moves quicker than a schedule does, because nobody is waiting on a slot and nobody is holding one up.

All you really need is a note to the team saying roughly when I will be there and where to find me. If somebody is on a call, they come down after. If somebody wants a second go at the end, that is usually fine too.

03

What the space needs, and what it does not

I bring the lighting and the backdrop, so the room does not need to be a studio. What it does need is space: roughly ten feet by twelve as an absolute minimum, so the subject can sit far enough from the backdrop to avoid casting shadows on it.

A quiet room matters more than a pretty one. People relax faster when their colleagues are not watching, and a relaxed face is the whole difference between a headshot that works and one that does not.

A conference room with the table pushed aside is the standard answer and works fine. So does a lobby corner, an empty office, or outdoors if the weather is doing what it should.

• Minimum ten by twelve feet of clear floor
• A door that closes, or a corner out of the main traffic
• One power outlet within reach
• A mirror somewhere nearby for last checks
• Somewhere for people to leave bags and jackets

04

Tell people what to wear, a week ahead

The single highest-leverage thing you can do is send one short message a week before with clear wardrobe guidance. Not a policy document, three or four lines.

Company shirts and branded polos are welcome. For a team page they often work better than plain clothes, because the logo ties the set together and reinforces the brand on every profile.

If you are not doing branded shirts, aim for consistency without a uniform: the same general formality and a color family rather than one identical color.

05

Decide the crop and the background before the day

Two decisions worth making in advance, because changing your mind afterwards means reshooting: how tight the crop is, and what is behind people.

Tight head-and-shoulders is the safe default for a staff directory and looks consistent at small sizes. A slightly wider crop with some environment reads warmer and suits a company that wants to look approachable rather than corporate. Black backdrop, white backdrop, or your own space are all fine, but pick one and hold it across the whole team.

06

Do not forget the group photo

If you want one, schedule it explicitly, immediately before or after the individual sessions while everyone is still in the building. Trying to reassemble thirty people at 4pm is its own small disaster.

A group photo is included in the Team + Individual package. In the standard Team Headshots package it is not, so it is worth being clear which one you have booked before the day arrives.

07

What it costs

Team pricing is per person and drops as the group grows: $175 each for 3 to 5 people, $150 for 6 to 10, and $125 for 11 or more. Everyone gets two fully retouched images, delivered in 7 to 10 business days.

The Team + Individual package adds dedicated one-to-one time for each person plus a group photo, at $225, $200 and $175 per person across the same brackets.