A company's team page is one of the most visited sections of any business website, and one of the most neglected from a photography standpoint. Outdated headshots, inconsistent backgrounds, and mismatched image styles quietly undermine the professionalism a business has worked hard to build everywhere else.
Team branding photography, done well, solves all of this at once and produces something more valuable than a set of matching headshots: a cohesive, human visual representation of your company that builds trust at first glance.
At Liza Sue Productions, we specialize in team branding sessions for companies across Cleveland, Akron, and Northeast Ohio. Here's how to approach the process and get the most out of it.
Think Beyond Individual Headshots
A traditional team photo session produces one thing: individual headshots. A team branding session produces much more. In addition to individual portraits, a well-planned team session captures the group together, candid moments of collaboration, lifestyle images of the workspace, and detail shots that reflect the company's culture and environment.
This fuller picture is what separates a team page that feels alive from one that feels like a list of employee IDs. It's also what gives your marketing team content to work with long after the session ends.
Wardrobe Coordination Is More Important Than You Think
One of the most common mistakes in team photography is leaving wardrobe entirely up to individuals without any coordination. The result is a set of headshots where one person is in a formal suit, another is in a casual polo, and a third is wearing a bright pattern that pulls focus in every group shot.
Coordinated wardrobe doesn't mean everyone needs to wear the same thing. It means establishing a general palette or set of guidelines, such as "business casual, neutral or jewel tones, no busy patterns," and sharing them with the team in advance so the final images feel visually unified even with individual variation.
Plan the Schedule Carefully
For larger teams, scheduling is one of the most important logistical elements of a successful photography session. A clear, realistic schedule helps ensure everyone is photographed without long waits, avoids the energy drain of a disorganized session, and keeps the overall shoot efficient.
As a general guideline, individual headshots take roughly ten to fifteen minutes per person when working with a photographer who provides clear direction. Adding group shots, candid lifestyle images, and multiple backgrounds extends the overall timeline. Building a few minutes of buffer between each person also helps accommodate the inevitable scheduling variations of a busy team.
Choose a Setting That Reflects Your Culture
Team sessions can take place in a professional studio, in your own office, or at an on-location setting that reflects your brand's personality. Each option has real advantages.
Studio sessions produce the most consistent, controlled look across a large team, which is especially useful for companies with multiple locations or teams photographed over several dates.
In-office sessions capture authentic context, showing your actual workspace, your real environment, and the genuine atmosphere of your company's culture. These sessions also eliminate travel time for team members, which can significantly reduce the logistical burden of a full-team shoot.
On-location sessions, whether in a downtown Cleveland setting, an Akron neighborhood, or another relevant location, offer visual variety and can give a team page a more editorial, personality-driven feel that stands out from the typical corporate headshot page.
Make It a Positive Experience for Your Team
Team photography sessions work best when participants feel comfortable rather than pressured. A photographer who provides clear, friendly direction, keeps energy positive, and makes the process feel easy will consistently produce better results than one who simply sets up a camera and waits.
It also helps to frame the session positively when communicating it to your team. Emphasizing that it's a low-pressure, professionally guided experience, and that looking great in the final images is the photographer's job, not theirs, helps people arrive relaxed and ready rather than dreading the camera.
What to Do With the Images Afterward
Once your team session is complete and final images are delivered, make a plan for how they'll actually be used before the files sit untouched on someone's desktop for six months.
Prioritize updating your website's team page first, since that's the most visible and most visited place these images will live. From there, encourage team members to update their individual LinkedIn profiles with their new headshots. If your session included group and lifestyle shots, plan how those will be integrated into social media, recruiting materials, and any upcoming marketing campaigns.
Ready to Refresh Your Team's Visual Presence?
Whether you have a team of five or fifty, a well-planned team branding session is one of the most efficient ways to elevate your company's visual presence across every platform at once. Liza Sue Productions provides team branding photography for companies across Cleveland, Akron, Richfield, and Northeast Ohio.
Reach out today to start planning your session.