If your business headshot photographer gets even one of these 5 things wrong…

You will destroy your company’s branding.

When I began shooting business headshots for large corporations and professional firms, it seemed that most of them thought little if at all about the firm’s branding and image when it came to their headshots.

Even firms with the most exquisite offices and exalted reputations seemed to care very little how their people looked in the photos. Things have improved somewhat, but many firms still pay too little attention to that goal. 

At many organizations, people worked together over time to build a seamless brand image. Like most elaborate constructions, it’s easier to knock it down than to build it up. 

Three things you need to do.

When it comes to business headshots, it’s not about the photography. It’s about how the photography is done.

Good branding boils down to:

• A consistent look across the range of headshots on your website and in all other communications. 

• The look of individual shots reflects the style and standards of the organization. 

• The public facing image as shown by the individual shots is one of competence and professionalism—not in the photography but in the team members. They need to look like the kind of people you would want to do business with.

Here’s the problem you face. Most decent photographers try to get the photographic stuff right. Many will succeed. 

But few of them care about the elements of a strong professional image. Most don’t even know what they are. And that will cripple your branding if you let it. 

Often it comes down to taste. Subtle but important. Most photographers are technically oriented and gadget based. They love their technique and gadgets. But they don’t focus on the images themselves. And they don’t focus on what the images need to achieve for their clients. 

Read the first 5 photography articles you can find. I’ll bet money they are all about technique and equipment. They celebrate the tools and neglect the work.

What Helped Me Understand What We Need

For many years before shooting professional and executive portraits, I worked as a fashion photographer. On most shoots we had hair & make-up artists, and wardrobe stylists. These people worked with me as a team to produce the desired results.

Outside of fashion and beauty, most photographers don’t work or even think this way. They just shoot what they are paid to shoot. 

I was lucky to have had extensive experience for many years in fashion, and in public relations before that. I don’t see the assignments the same way they do.

Here Are 5 Things to Watch for When Reviewing a Photographer’s Samples:

Look at the executives and professionals in the photos. How do they look? Not the photos, but the people in the photos.

Attitude – Do the people look stupid, stodgy, aloof, or weak? Competence and trustworthy are the goals.

Body language – Do the people look comfortable rather than forced, unnatural, unprofessional? Professional looking posture is ideal.

Wardrobe – It should look well fitting, upscale, and appropriate to the position of the subject. Neither dated nor avant garde. Poorly tied ties and men’s jackets that don’t close are obvious give-aways.

Grooming – Hair that is natural but not messy, no nose, neck, or ear hair, neat facial hair, etc.

Friendliness – Welcoming, with a presence that reaches out to the viewer, not unapproachable or out-of-touch.

A quick way to get good at evaluating business portraits

Do a short experiment. Go to the headshot page of any big firm. Maybe a large insurance company or a big law firm. Usually the page is called something like Our Team and found next to or in a tab under the About Us page. With a large firm, you might see lots of headshots.

Evaluate them by the 5 checkpoints mentioned above. Look at the worst ones. Each photo on the page that fails these basic standards brings down the firm’s professional image.

Shooting a beautiful model will not automatically result in a beautiful shot. Shooting an exciting product, will not always yield an exciting image. Shooting an upscale executive will not necessarily give you an upscale portrait.

Once I was shooting members of a corporate board, both group and individual shots. Their stories were interesting as they talked among themselves. So after the shoot I Googled some of them. 

Their annual salaries from their main corporations were in the multi-millions. And they had lots of other corporate responsibilities. 

Here’s why I mention this. As upscale as they were, for some of them, their posing could only be described as weird. Strange poses I had never seen people assume.

It took a lot of wrangling during the shoot. In a few cases I had to fix things in post-production to take a person who bent his body in strange ways and make it look normal. This is an example of where you need a sense of taste and normalcy.

Producing Headshots with These Standards Can’t All Be Done During the Shoot

It would be a fantasy to expect everyone to come in for the shoot well-groomed and dressed in perfectly fitting clothing. Never happens. So it’s critical that the photographer has sufficient post-production skills to remedy the defects.

Ties are frequently not tied properly. Among men, jackets often don’t fit properly. This is usually because of muscular development in some and weight gain in others. The jackets won’t close, and this destroys the silhouette of the jacket.

No shirt cuffs are visible sometimes. The jacket is bunched up in the back under the neck. Your photo will not look upscale if your jacket doesn’t fit.

Clean-ups for the hair and facial hair are usually needed. Strong sunburn on the face needs to be subdued. Very squinty eyes might need a little opening. Yellow teeth some whitening.

Once in a while, extreme changes are called for. I finished the retouching for one young lawyer. He approved the changes and then asked my opinion on the results. 

I told him I didn’t like the look of the very light color suit he was wearing. I’ve shot over 10,000 lawyers and they rarely wear suits that light. It was a very light gray, glen plaid suit, and he had very dark skin. It didn’t work.

This was for his first job as a lawyer with a big firm. He asked if we had to re-shoot. Not necessary, I told him. I would give him a new proof the next day. I put him in a navy blue suit and we both loved the results. He looked superb!

A medium-size law firm, a regular client, called me the day after a shoot. They said they would pay me to do a re-shoot. The paralegals were not wearing suits like the lawyers as they were requested to do. Now they changed their minds and wanted them in suits also.

I said that I could handle that digitally and no re-shoot would be needed. When they saw the results, everyone was pleased. Saved money, time, and trouble without compromising the professional look.

Here’s How I Can Help

If you’re planning to shoot one of your people or a whole team, just contact me. I’ll give you my ideas. Or if you’re trying to repair branding mistakes in your existing images, I can still help.