How To Plan a Team Headshot Day
Maybe your boss just told you to "get this sorted" and you're not sure where to start. Maybe you've already got a photographer lined up and just need the logistics. Either way, here's the full process — plus a checklist of what to ask before you book.
Figure Out Who Actually Needs New Photos
Before anything else, get a headcount.
- Is this an update for the entire company, or just leadership, sales, or a specific department?
- Are you adding people who don't have a headshot yet, or refreshing everyone at once?
This sounds obvious, but it's the number that everything else — budget, timeline, in-studio vs. on-location — gets built around, so it's worth nailing down early.
Decide What You Actually Want Out of This
If your team already has headshots, take a look at what you're currently using.
- Is the existing look — background, lighting, style — still working? If so, you might just need a refresh in the same style, especially if you're adding a few new hires to an existing set.
- Or are you ready for something different — a new backdrop, a more modern feel, a different vibe entirely?
You don't need firm answers to these yet, but it's worth thinking about, because a good photographer will likely ask.
Starting From Scratch?
If your team doesn't have any headshots yet, you're not refreshing anything — you're setting the standard everyone else will match going forward, so it's worth putting a little more thought into what that standard should be.
- Is this tied to a rebrand, or is this a brand-new company building its visual identity for the first time?
- Do you have a style guide — brand colors, fonts, a general tone?
- Is a website in the works, with a palette or mood already locked in?
- Where will these photos actually live — team page, LinkedIn, a directory, print?
No designer on hand? Ask your photographer — they think visually for a living. Sharing the page or mockup the headshots will live on gives them something concrete to design toward.
Find a Photographer
This is where a lot of the risk in a team shoot actually lives. The single biggest thing to look for is consistency — can this person deliver a cohesive look across 5, 15, or 50 people, not just one great individual portrait?
- Look at their portfolio for team work specifically, not just individual headshots.
- Ask if they've worked with teams before, and ask to see a few examples.
- Check their reviews, specifically for mentions of group or corporate work.
Decide In-Studio or On-Location
Once you've got a photographer in mind, this is usually the next decision, and it's worth weighing a few angles beyond just convenience.
- Cost: in-studio is typically the more cost-efficient option, since there's no travel, setup, or teardown baked into the price.
- Consistency: a controlled studio makes it easier by default, but a skilled photographer should deliver it on-location too — worth asking directly.
- The experience itself: a studio setting tends to feel like a dedicated event, while on-location can get lost in a busy workday.
If you have team members across multiple cities, ask whether the photographer can travel. (This deserves its own post — more on studio vs. on-location soon.)
Build the Schedule
- Plan roughly 10–15 minutes per person — a quick warm-up, a few looks, and time to review shots on the spot.
- For teams of 40+, it's worth considering splitting across two days. Not a hard cutoff — 100 in a day is doable, even 200 is technically possible — but at that scale you're trading breathing room and flexibility to hit it. Just because it's possible doesn't mean it's the right call.
- Build in short buffer blocks every hour for no-shows, late arrivals, or anyone needing extra time.
Set Expectations With Your Team
Prep your team. A photographer who shoots teams regularly should have something ready to help — a simple "before we meet up" guide covering what to wear and what to expect.
Decide how photos get chosen:
- Each person picks their own photo on the spot, during the shoot.
- Everyone reviews a gallery after the shoot and selects from there.
- Someone else (HR, a manager) selects on behalf of the group.
Selecting on the spot is generally strongest — it speeds up delivery, and everyone actually likes their photo.
Confirm the Deliverables Up Front
Before the shoot, get clear, specific answers to:
- How many images does each person get, and can they purchase extras?
- What usage rights come with the images — decide internally first: personal use (LinkedIn) or internal only?
- What's the turnaround time from the shoot to final delivery?
- What file formats and sizes will you receive?
- Is retouching included, and what does it cover?
Assign an Owner for Rollout
New photos don't do much good sitting in a folder. Decide who's responsible for actually getting them live everywhere they need to go — LinkedIn, the website, email signatures, badges. If that job doesn't clearly belong to someone, it tends to belong to no one.
- Pick one person to own it — even if it's just chasing people down to update their own LinkedIn photo.
- Set a soft deadline. A week or two is usually enough; without one, it can drift for months.
- Start with whatever's most visible first, so the new photos are doing their job somewhere while the rest catches up.
Plan for the Future, Not Just Today
- Can new hires be added later in a matching style, lighting, and background?
- Is there a standing rate for one-off new-hire sessions, or does it require rebooking the full team?
- What happens if someone is a no-show? Know the plan before it happens.
Easy to overlook, but it saves a real headache when your headshot wall starts looking inconsistent.
The Checklist
Questions to ask a team headshot photographer- Have you shot team/group headshots before? Can I see examples?
- In-studio, on-location, or both — cost difference?
- How long does each person's session take?
- Do you have a prep guide you send beforehand?
- How are photos selected?
- How many images per person, cost for extras?
- What usage rights come with the images?
- Turnaround time for final images?
- What file formats will we receive?
- Is retouching included?
- How do you handle new hires or no-shows?
Planning a team headshot day for your company?
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