Brooke Team headshot event: one session, one team directory

A team page, an email introduction and a company profile all benefit from portraits that belong together. This project shows what that looks like. Team members from the Brooke Team were photographed at a headshot event, with the aim of producing portraits that employees and the company can use on profiles and directories.

The goal of a session like this is a single cohesive set that still lets each person look like themselves. The three portraits at the top of the page are a quick sample: three people, three different looks, and one shared background that ties them together.

Several portraits are the most direct kind of headshot: a smile toward the camera, shoulders square, and nothing else asked of the pose. In a directory these are the workhorse pictures. An open expression carries even at a small size, so they work well in the places a small, friendly face is needed, such as a profile thumbnail or an email signature.

What makes the pictures feel natural is the expression. Direction during a session should encourage a real smile and not a held one, which is why a photographer talks with people throughout and takes more than one frame. The finished set then shows relaxed faces, and that is what a visitor remembers about a team page.

The remaining standing portraits keep the same background and a similar distance from the camera, with small differences in stance, such as a hand at the hip or hands together. Keeping the distance steady matters more than it seems, because it keeps each face about the same size across the page.

These uncropped vertical portraits are also flexible. Each can be cropped to a head-and-shoulders square for a small profile image or kept as a longer portrait where a page has the space, and the background is tall enough to allow either crop without losing the edges. Leaving room around the subject at capture is what makes that later choice possible.

A set like this can support a company team page, individual profile pages, LinkedIn and other professional profiles, email signatures, proposals, press materials and internal directories.

Uniform photos also make a company easier to read from the outside. When every team member appears in the same format, a visitor can compare people quickly, recognize who is who and get a sense of the size and personality of the team. A company that posts uneven pictures asks the visitor to adjust to each one.

The alternates add flexibility. A person who prefers a seated, relaxed portrait for a profile and a standing one for a team page can have both, and a team can decide later which picture belongs where without needing another session.

For a directory this large, the practical benefit is time. One session produces the whole set, and later additions can be matched to it, which is the subject of our article on matching new employee headshots with existing team photos.

A directory of consistent portraits treats the team as one brand. Teams can build on a portrait session with individual introductions, question-and-answer clips and explainer videos, so that each employee is also known as an individual.

The same prompts can be put to each person, such as what they do, who they help and what a customer should know before a first call, and each person answers in their own voice, with their own expertise and style. Short employee bio and introduction videos, recurring question-and-answer clips and social content can then give different customers a way to connect with the staff member who suits them.

Our article on team headshots and employee bio videos in one session explains how the two can share a single day, and our personal-brand video content plan lays out a four-week example.