How to Choose a Corporate Headshot Photographer in London
The biggest complaint that I’ve heard from customers (and not just once…) is when booking a corporate headshots session with a company rather than an individual and they’ve clearly (and glaringly so) got a different person from the one who shot all of the photos on the website.
It’s a huge risk if you’ve not seen the photos from the specific photographer that you’re going to have on the day, because as simple as a corporate headshot may seem, there are a million and one ways to do it and even if the photos produced aren’t bad, they may not be a style that you want.
So, tip one is…
Find out who’s actually going to be taking your photos
A lot of the bigger corporate headshots photographer companies in London have multiple photographers working under one brand. It’s certainly the case that with any photography website, you’re seeing a curated showcase of their best work, but with individuals at least you can be confident all of it is their work.
For larger companies it’s possible their gallery is all the work of one out of the maybe 5-10 photographers that they have on their books, so make sure to see photos from the specific person that you’ll be working with.
An answer that they might give when asked about this is “all of our photographers use exactly the same equipment and lighting set-up” but what this doesn’t address is how the photographer is with the people they’re photographing and this absolutely can be the difference between a bad headshot and a great one.
Which leads me onto the second point…
Do your homework before you book in
There are a surprising amount of people that don't properly research their photographer (I know this because I’ve been hired on the spot without people even seeing my portfolio). You don't have to find out their mother’s maiden name or the road they grew up on, but having a proper rummage through their website to see the style of work that they produce and possibly even their socials will give you a better idea of what they're like, the tone of their work, or even better if they have videos of themselves online.
The reason for this isn’t just checking their competence, but also their personality. You’re going to be inflicting this individual on every one of your staff over the course of a day, so make sure they seem like a decent person.
As mentioned before, the way that a photographer interacts with the people they photograph is 90% of a photo, so make sure they’re a good egg!
Do they ask any questions?
I alluded to the fact that I’ve been hired on the spot without someone seeing my portfolio and I’d like to say it’s because I filled all the criteria mentioned above, but it’s more likely because the person just needed a photographer asap.
That person didn’t initially provide me with any further details beyond the timing and how many people I’d be photographing, I had to make a point to get that extra information from them. If I had just shown up without confirming a bunch more details they could have ended up walking away with completely the wrong photos for their specific purpose.
It is your photographer’s job to know what extra info they need from you, so although you can do your research (which if you’re reading this you are, congratulations, make yourself a cup of tea as a treat), it’s ultimately their job to make sure they manage your expectations of what can be achieved and ask the right questions so they show up with the right gear on the day and you leave with the photos that you wanted.
Be cautious of photographers who drop their price immediately
This one might sound counter-intuitive, but pay attention to how a photographer responds if you push back on price.
I absolutely respect someone that really wants to work with me, but our budgets are just a little bit apart. By all means, try your luck and hope that the project is enticing enough, but a photographer that comes straight in with a discount is signalling something.
I don’t want to suggest that they produce bad work or anything close to that because we all need to make rent and may have a bad month, but a company that operates as a commodity willing to be traded for small margins likely doesn’t have the time to put the effort in where it really counts.
Those finishing touches and 3rd look over a set of photos to make sure there are no spots, blemishes or scuff marks on the wall behind you are the details you may not notice immediately, but after a few seconds of looking at your photos you won’t be able to see anything but those slightly off details.
There are a ton of other things that go into a photographers pricing that I’ll explain in another post, but you have to bear in mind that the 20% off they might be giving you is coming from somewhere else.
So, how do you go about getting a quote?
What a photographer needs to know to send you an accurate quote
The minimum to just know if you’re both in the same ball park for budget is the following:
• Rough number of people
• Whether you’d like the shoot at your office or in a studio
• A specific date or rough timeline of when you need the photos by
• What the photos will be used for, especially if it’s anything beyond LinkedIn and your website
Ask how the day will actually run
Once you know that you can afford them, they’re switched on, and they’re not completely objectionable, then you need to figure out if they’re going to be an organisational mess on the day.
This is the way to figure out how much work you’re going to be doing on the day. For some, you may have a plan of how to run things on the day, you’ve done this before and it works a treat. Lovely, let them know that and it’s likely they will love you for that.
For others, if it’s your first time booking headshots for the whole office, or possibly for a significant number of people, then there may be things that your photographer can do to help with the running of the day.
If you want to leave no room for errors, then (for example) I can send you a booking link to share around the company, so everyone picks their 10 minute slot and they get an email with that time and can add it to their calendars. Other options include one-in one-out or team slots (a bunch of you show up around the same time and go one after another).
The short version
If you’re short on time, the things actually worth doing when deciding how to choose a corporate headshot photographer in London are:
1. Confirm exactly who’s photographing you on the day, not just which company you’re booking
2. Spend ten minutes properly looking at their work, their writing, and any videos they’ve got online
3. Notice whether they ask the right questions before they quote
4. Be cautious of price drops that happen too quickly
5. Give them enough info to give a proper quote to know in your first message
6. Ask them how they would structure a shoot day and what options are available
If they handle all of that comfortably and you like the way they conduct themselves, you’re probably booking a good one.
And after that you’ll need to decide how to organise things on the day which you can find out more about here.
If you’d like to talk it through
If you’ve been thinking about booking a corporate headshot photographer in London and want to ask any of these questions of an actual photographer before you commit to anything, get in touch.