Planning a corporate headshot session for hundreds of people can seem like a daunting task, but with the right preparation and strategy, it can be a smooth, efficient process. At Stories, we’ve had the privilege of working with large corporations like BP, where we photographed 700 people. These experiences have helped us develop best practices that ensure everything runs smoothly, from scheduling to execution. Below are some of the key steps we recommend for any organization planning a large headshot session.
1. Early planning and clear communication
During the quotation stage, decide how many days or sessions will be needed, based on the number of employees your organization has. For large organizations like BP, sessions can take place over several days, with multiple photographers working in shifts. You will also need to determine if the headshots will be taken on-site at your office or at our studio space. Our studio can fit approximately 30 to maximum 40 people, so for really large groups, it is best we set up a station at your office. We can bring an entire studio setup to our client’s offices, complete with our backdrop and lighting! If you need a makeup artist to be on standby to powder faces or fix stray hair, do decide ahead of time.
2. Staggered Scheduling
During the planning stage, we need to know how many people we have to photograph in a day. Then we will break down the time frame to a fixed number of minutes per person. We do not want employees to keep waiting for their headshot session, so a staggered schedule allows for a steady flow of people while ensuring the photography team has enough time to capture high-quality headshots. It’s important to list the names of every employee coming for the session in an excel sheet.
3. Creating a Uniform Look
When photographing employees at a large scale, it’s important to maintain a consistent aesthetic for all headshots. From the planning stage, we discussed a backdrop colour to reflect each company’s branding. We also decide ahead of time if the framing of the shots should be a close up, medium shot (till the waist line) or a full body shot. If you are the person in charge from that organization, it’s important that you provide clear instructions on what employees should wear so that everyone looks presentable. We are able to provide a visual guideline document that will be easy for employees to view, prepare and follow through.
4. Efficient Setup and Equipment
We can also set up multiple photography stations and keep the entire lighting consistent, allowing us to photograph more people in less time while maintaining the quality of each shot. During the shoot, each employee can hold a white board listing their name and date of the shoot for our reference. This is especially useful when we need to identify each person later on!
5. On-Site Support
This is crucial to the success of the shoot’s timeliness! We really appreciate having a dedicated point of contact who will available throughout the shoot to liaise with the photographers, coordinate the flow of employees, and update the excel sheet to know who came for the session.
6. Post-Production and Delivery
Once the headshots are captured, the next step is ensuring the final images are delivered quickly and efficiently. We usually deliver our images within 14-21 working days, after editing has been completed (unless prior arrangements have been made for a speed edit). Depending on your company’s needs, we can either deliver all images to the person in charge, or have them delivered to each individual privately.
At Stories, we take pride in helping our clients like BP, LinkedIn, Jobstreet, and Subsea7 capture their teams in the best light, ensuring a consistent, professional look across the board. Drop us a message if you would like to arrange a corporate headshot session for your large team.
