Planning a corporate headshot day at your office: a checklist for HR teams
A team page should look like one company. Here is how to plan an office headshot day so everyone is photographed the same way, and nobody loses half a day to it.
Updating a team page usually starts with a problem: half the photos are from different years, different phones and different backgrounds. A headshot day fixes that in one go, if it is planned well. The aim is simple: everyone lit the same way, against the same background, without pulling people away from work for long.
This is the checklist we share with HR and internal communications teams before we set up a mobile studio at their office.
Start with where the photos will be used
Before anything else, list where the headshots will appear: the website team page, LinkedIn profiles, internal directories, ID cards, press releases or speaker profiles. Each of these crops differently. A website grid might use a square, LinkedIn shows a circle, and a press kit may need a vertical portrait with space around it.
Share the list with your photographer. We plan the framing and background around it and deliver files sized for each use, so nobody has to crop a wide photo into a circle later.
Get an accurate headcount
Ask each department for a confirmed list of names. Include new joiners and anyone who will be visiting the office that week. A clear list lets us plan the schedule properly and means nobody is missed on the day.
If some people work from other cities or are travelling, decide now whether they will join a second session or come to our studio separately. Mixing photos from different setups is exactly what this day is meant to avoid.
Book the right space
A mobile studio needs less room than most people expect, but a few things help:
- A meeting room or quiet corner that can be closed off for the day.
- Enough space for a backdrop, lights and a little distance between the camera and the person.
- A power socket nearby.
- Somewhere for people to check their hair and clothes before they step in.
We look at the space with you in advance, so the lights and background can be set up once and kept the same for everyone.
Build a schedule that respects people's time
Group people by team or floor, give each group a time slot, and share it a few days ahead. People come in, get a little direction and go back to work. Leaders and anyone needing more time, for example for a leadership portrait or an environmental portrait at their desk, can be given their own slot.
Leave a short buffer after the last slot for anyone who missed their slot.
Send wardrobe notes in advance
Most last-minute stress on a headshot day comes from clothes. A short note a few days ahead helps:
- Choose clean, well-fitted clothing that feels professional and true to you.
- Solid colours work better than busy patterns or small checks.
- Bring a couple of options so we can help choose what photographs best.
- If the company has a dress code or brand colours for the team page, mention it in the note.
On the day
We direct each person through the session so they look natural and confident rather than stiff. Most people are nervous in front of a camera; a little guidance makes a bigger difference than any lighting.
Because the setup stays fixed all day, the first photo and the last photo match. That consistency is what makes a team page look like one company.
After the shoot
Each person chooses their favourite frames from an online gallery. We then retouch the final selection and deliver the files, usually within 5 to 7 working days, in high resolution and in web sizes for LinkedIn, the website and anywhere else on your list.
Two habits keep the team page tidy afterwards. Name the files by the person's full name, so anyone in HR can find them. And book a short follow-up session every few months for new joiners, using the same background and lighting, so the page never drifts out of step again.
Planning a headshot day?
Corporate Portraits covers individual and team headshots, leadership portraits and group photographs, in our Pune studio or with a mobile studio at your office. Send us your headcount and preferred dates, and we will come back with a plan and an exact quote.
