TL;DR
Team headshots give everyone in your business the same style of photo, with matching lighting, background and framing, so your website team page and LinkedIn profiles look professional and consistent. The easiest way to get them is to book one photographer for the whole team, either at their studio or on site at your office, and keep the same setup for new starters. At Milk Photography Studio, team headshots are priced on enquiry and we can photograph any size of team.
Key Takeaways
- Mismatched staff photos make a business look less established than it is.
- Matching headshots need the same photographer, lighting, background, framing and style brief.
- On-site sessions at your office save your team travel time and keep the day running smoothly.
- Record your setup so new starters can be photographed to match later.
- Add a few group photos while everyone is together, for your website and annual report.
Open your website’s team page and take an honest look. Is it a mix of holiday snaps, cropped party photos, a couple of old professional shots and a grey placeholder for the person who started last month? You are not alone. Most growing businesses end up with a patchwork of staff photos because people join at different times and everyone sends in whatever photo they have. The result makes a good business look a little disorganised.
In this post, you’ll learn why matching team headshots matter, how to organise a team photo day with as little disruption as possible, and how to keep new starters’ photos consistent with the rest of your team.
Why matching staff photos matter
Your team page is often one of the most visited pages on a business website. People want to know who they will be dealing with before they pick up the phone. When every photo has the same look, your team comes across as organised, professional and proud of where they work. When the photos are all different, the page feels unfinished, even if your business is anything but.
Matching headshots also make life easier across your marketing. The same images work on your website, staff LinkedIn profiles, email signatures, proposals, tenders, annual reports and media releases. Instead of chasing people for a usable photo every time you need one, you have a consistent set ready to go.
What makes team headshots look consistent
Consistency comes from keeping a handful of things the same for everyone:
- The same photographer. Every photographer has their own style of lighting and editing.
- The same background. A plain studio backdrop, or the same spot in your office.
- The same lighting. So nobody looks brighter, warmer or darker than the person next to them.
- The same framing. Head and shoulders, cropped the same way, so the photos line up neatly on your website.
- A shared dress guide. Not a uniform, just agreement on how smart or relaxed the photos should feel.
Get these right on the day and your team page will look like it was planned that way from the start.
Studio or on site at your office?
You have two good options. Your team can come to our bright, sunny studio in Kohimarama, which gives you clean, light-filled images and a calm space away from the office. This works well for smaller teams or for people who are happy to pop in individually.
For larger teams, an on-site session at your workplace is usually easier. We set up in a meeting room or a quiet corner, and people come through one at a time, so nobody is away from their desk for long. It also means you can include a few environmental shots, with your office, your signage or your workspace in the background, which help show what it is like to work with your business.
Either way, we take individual headshots first and then a series of group photos while everyone is together. We can photograph any size of team, from a small start-up to a large corporate team. You can see examples of our team and corporate work in our corporate portfolio.
How to organise your team photo day
A little preparation makes the day run smoothly and keeps everyone relaxed.
Start by picking a date when most of the team is in. Avoid busy deadlines, and give people at least a week’s notice so they can plan what to wear and book a haircut if they want one. Share a simple dress guide, such as “smart casual, solid colours, no big logos”. Our post on what to wear to a business photoshoot is an easy one to forward to your team.
Next, put together a short schedule. A few minutes per person is usually enough for a headshot, so a rough timetable helps everyone know when to turn up. Book a room with some space and, if possible, natural light. Finally, decide who on your team will be the point of contact on the day, so there is one person who knows where everyone is.
Before the session, let your photographer know where the photos will be used. A website team page, LinkedIn and an annual report may each need slightly different crops, and it is much easier to plan for that on the day than to fix it afterwards.
Keeping new starters consistent
The hardest part of team photos is not the first shoot. It is keeping things consistent when new people join. The answer is to record your setup. Note the background, the framing and the style of the original session, and use the same photographer where you can. A new starter can then be photographed to match the rest of the team, either at the studio or during a short follow-up visit, so the team page never slips back into a patchwork.
It is also worth planning a full refresh every so often, when your team has changed a lot or your branding has been updated.
Headshots for leaders and the business owner
While you are organising team headshots, think about whether your leaders need more than a single photo. Business owners and senior staff are often the face of the business, and they may need images for speaking, media features or the about page. A personal branding session gives them a wider set of images, while a professional headshot session covers the basics. Our post on choosing between a headshot and a personal branding shoot explains the difference.
Book team headshots in Auckland
If your team page needs a refresh, we would love to help. Team headshots at Milk Photography Studio are priced on enquiry, because every team is different. Call us on 0210 837 2306 or get in touch online to talk through your team, your timing and whether a studio or on-site session suits you best.
