How do team portraits at the office work?
I bring everything to your office, people come in one at a time, and each person gets one retouched portrait. I can usually photograph about thirty people an hour.
Nobody has to drive to a studio. Folks step away from their desk for a few minutes and get back to work.
It also means the whole team ends up looking like one team. Everyone’s photographed in the same spot on the same day, so the people page on your website finally looks like it belongs to one company.
Where in the office do the portraits happen?
Somewhere that looks like your office. A lot of the time that’s the lobby, where the logo is and there’s some nice light. Other times it’s a big open window with an interesting space behind it, softly blurred.
I want the portraits to look like they were taken at your company. Send me a few phone photos of the lobby and anywhere with good windows, and I’ll pick the spot.
How do people sign up?
A shared sign-up sheet with time slots works best. At thirty an hour, I’d put five people in every ten minutes and leave a couple of open slots each hour for anyone who shows up without one.
Send it out about a week ahead, then once more the day before. People forget, and you’re paying for my time either way, so it’s worth filling every slot you can.
If you’ve got leadership or a few people who need extra care, put them early in the day while the schedule’s still on time.
What happens when it’s someone’s turn?
I offer standing or sitting, and a lot of people stand. Then I talk them through a couple of small adjustments, take a handful of photos, and they’re done before they’ve had time to get nervous. Most people tell me they hate having their picture taken.
That’s completely normal, and it’s my job to get a good one anyway. I’ll chat with them, tell them what to do with their hands and their chin, and keep it moving. Nobody needs to know how to pose before it’s their turn.
What should people wear?
Whatever they’d wear to meet an important client. Solid colors photograph better than busy patterns, and if they aren’t sure, a jacket or a second top is worth bringing.
I wrote a whole guide on what to wear for corporate portraits. Forward it with the sign-up sheet and you’ll get a lot fewer questions the morning of.
How long does the whole day take?
About two hours for sixty people, plus the time I need to set up before the first slot and pack up after the last one.
I get there early enough that I’m set up before anyone’s due, so nobody waits on me. If you’ve got a few hundred people, tell me early and I’ll help you spread them across the day so there’s never a line down the hallway.
What if people can’t make it?
Somebody always has a client call, a sick kid or a day off. Leave a few open slots at the end of the day for anyone who missed their time.
If a handful still miss it, tell me who they are and where they sit. A second visit is quoted on its own, and it’s usually a short one.
Can you come to more than one office?
Yes. Each location is its own visit, so each one’s quoted on its own.
I’m based in Loudoun and work all over the DC metro, from DC and Alexandria out to Reston, Herndon, Ashburn and Leesburg. If your team’s spread across a few offices, send me the list and roughly how many people are in each. I’ll come back with a number for every stop.
What does everyone get afterward?
One retouched portrait per person. It’s the photo they’ll use on LinkedIn, in their email signature, on your website and on their next conference badge.
When new people join, I can come back and photograph them the same way, so they match everyone else. That’s quoted like any other session.
What does it cost?
A full day on site is $5,200. Most office sessions are shorter than that, so they’re quoted from there, based on how long I’m on site.
Since you’re paying for my time, a full sign-up sheet is the best thing you can do for the budget. There’s more on how these sessions run on the portraits at your office page.
What should I send to get a quote?
Roughly how many people, which office, and two or three dates that work for you. That’s enough for me to send a real number back.
