3 steps towards orchestrating a flawless headshot session
You’ve got a session booked for you and your team to have their headshots taken. While everyone else is considering what to wear and how to part their hair, you have another worry:
How the hell am I supposed to coordinate headshots for my entire team?
Whether you have three employees or three hundred employees, Pretty Instant has put together some guidelines for how to facilitate the perfect headshot photoshoot.
Build a schedule
From our experience, Pretty Instant photographers comfortably capture beautiful portraits of eight to ten subjects an hour. For even larger teams, a few adjustments are made and we can then photograph twenty people an hour. Regardless of team size, we recommend putting together a doodle poll or something similar for your team in order to determine when folks are available to have their portrait taken.
Form groups of four to five people to have their pictures taken. Every 30 minutes, the photographer will be ready for another group.
This helps accommodate the schedules of multiple employees and also gives your groups some accountability. Sending employees over in teams will ideally prompt them to move as a group, and make sure no one is left behind.
Beyond this, subjects are often more comfortable working together in groups. From my experience, it helps add energy to the room and make the experience more enjoyable for everyone.
Find an appropriate space
The best spaces for company headshots typically feature enough room for the photographer to work with the subject, and then a spot for those queued up to sit and chat.
If the photographer has a ten by ten foot space to work in, and your team members have a spot nearby to kick it, that’s perfect. Everyone appreciates a bit of breathing room. The more space the better in this situation.
Can’t think of a good spot to use? We’ve partnered with Breather to provide the perfect space to make your team look good. Learn more here!
Consider making it a social event
This isn’t an afternoon of school pictures. Your headshot session has the potential to become an excellent team bonding social event. Consider planning your headshots for an early Friday afternoon. Order some food, pop some drinks in the cooler, and have a good time.
Putting your team together in a relaxed & fun environment for headshots will help to add a sense of looseness to your session. Though we hope you’ll still have a schedule in place to keep everything on track, building your session as more of a informal event often makes for the most successful images.
While you’re at it, have the photographer stick around and capture some candid photos. At that point, everything has been planned and executed flawlessly, you can relax. Enjoy yourself.
