9 things to include in a brief for corporate headshot photography

So, the time has come to update your team’s headshots, and you need to get some quotes in.

For corporate headshot photographers to be able to a) give you an accurate quote and b) achieve the results you have in mind, they’ll need a clear brief. 

Here’s the information they’ll need:

1. What are you going to use your headshots for?

What’s the purpose of the headshots? It might simply be to update the ‘People’ page on your website, but there could be other uses. For example, one or two of your senior team may also need a wider range of portraits to accompany press releases, or for conference speaker profiles. The photographer will need to build in extra time for these people.

2. What kind of mood and style do you want for your headshots?

It should go without saying that the photos should reflect your brand. A high-end interior designer is likely to want to ooze creativity and sophistication, policy thinktank geeks will be keen to convey erudition, while management consultants no doubt will want to demonstrate solid people skills, and so on. This information will help inform decisions on…

3. Background and setting

Broadly speaking, these are the options - some of which will impact on cost.

Option 1: A plain background. This is often white, grey or black, but could be a colour. This is the simplest and quickest thing to do, especially if you already have a plain white wall that can be commandeered, but your photographer should have a range of portable backdrops to choose from.

Option 2: Your workplace as the backdrop. Having people standing in the middle of a working space can help create a nice sense of office buzz. Just bear in mind that some people may feel awkward having their photo taken in front of everyone else, especially if (as most people tell me) they hate having their photo taken! It can be harder to control lighting too, especially if you have harsh overhead lights that can’t be switched off.

Option 3: Outdoors. This can work really well if the setting helps you tell the story of your business. For example, an environmental charity can take advantage of a local park, or construction firm staff could be captured on a recent project. If you go for this, you and your photographer will need to be flexible about timing, thanks to our Great British Weather.

Option 4: Hiring a studio. If you don’t have any suitable office or outdoor space, London and other big cities have plenty of studios of a variety of styles to choose from. You’ll just need to ask your photographer to build studio hire into their quote.

Whatever you choose, think about whether you want different a backdrop for each person or not. For example, if you have a nice big boardroom with a few plants in it for example, people (and lights) can be moved around the room to create different set ups, while maintaining consistency in the overall look. This will take more time than using one backdrop for everyone, and that in turn will impact on the budget - but it can really help tell your company’s story.

4. Lighting preferences

If you’re not sure, that’s ok! You can still indicate your overall preferences - eg: bright and airy, or dramatic/edgy with more contrast, and the photographer can then work out what lighting set-up to use.

5. Poses 

How consistent do you want to be about poses and expressions? Do you want everyone to be looking at the camera, or is there room for individual expression and a more relaxed, candid look?

6. Composition

How much of each person do you want to include in your images: just their head and shoulders, or more? Where in the frame should they be: centred or off-centre? If the latter, should they be the right or left of the frame? Again, if you’re not sure, have a chat with the photographer about this.

And do you want any of the images to be ‘action’ shots eg sitting at a desk working, walking, talking etc?

7. Scheduling and logistics

Specify the practical aspects of the shoot:

  • Number of employees to be photographed, and how many edited images per person

  • Preferred dates and times

  • Location(s) for the shoot

  • Any time constraints or special considerations

8. Technical specs

Boring but important practicalities:

File size: Your web developers can tell you what they need for your website (I recommend no more than 500KB), and if you also need the photos for your printed annual report, then ask for a second set of around 2-3 MB each.

Portrait or landscape format: it’s usually best to have landscape photos so they can be used as web page banners and can easily be cropped to a portrait format.

Aspect ratio: Unless asked otherwise I supply images with a 3:4 aspect ratio. Again, they can always be cropped differently if necessary, but it’s good to specify this up front.

9. Deadlines

By when will you need your images? If you have a hard deadline, make sure the photographer knows about it and is able to meet it.

Why is this important?

The above information is important in making sure:

  • Any quote you receive for your headshots is accurate, so there are no nasty surprises for anyone

  • The process is stress-free, as all the variables have been thought through

  • You get results that exceed your expectations!

Here are a few of the corporate portraits I created for Glovers property lawyers recently. I worked their beautiful new boardroom to create a set of images that I hope you’ll agree show off the team’s personality, approachability and professionalism really well:

Get in touch

Don’t hesitate to drop me a line if you’d like a quote for your corporate headshots - either email me at julia@juliahawkins.com or just tell me what you’re looking for in this contact form and I’ll get right back to you.

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A personal branding shoot for interior designer Sarah Chambers

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A personal branding photography shoot at the Barbican