Corporate headshots vs Lifestyle headshots & team photos: Which is right for your business?

When you’re looking to update the photos of your team, you might just jump onto google and search for a local photographer.

But actually, there’s another question worth asking first:

What sort of images do you actually need?

Do you want clean, consistent corporate headshots of everyone in the team? Or would more relaxed, lifestyle-style images showing your people in their working environment be more useful?

Let’s look at some options:

Traditional corporate headshots

Traditional corporate headshots are generally a clean, professional portrait with a plain background.

Everyone is photographed in a similar way, using consistent lighting and a consistent background. This creates a cohesive look across your website, LinkedIn profiles, etc.

They can be particularly useful if you have a larger team and want everyone to have a professional headshot that feels like part of the same set. Or to capture new staff members with the same type of look.

And just because they’re against a plain background it doesn’t mean they have to be boring!

There’s still plenty we can do with expression, posing and small details to make sure people look approachable!

So which one should you choose?

There isn’t a right or wrong answer – it really depends on your business, your brand, the size of your team and what you want to use the images for.

For some companies, clean and consistent corporate headshots will be exactly what they need.

For others, relaxed lifestyle imagery will give a much better feel for the people, personality and environment behind the business.

Or maybe you’d like the option of having a mixture of both.

You might use the formal headshots on your staff or “Meet the Team” page, while using the more relaxed images of people working, interacting and showing what your business is actually like across your social media, blogs, PR and marketing.

You may even want a standard corporate headshot which changes to a headshot of that employee with their hobby or interest outside of work, when hovered over!

TIP: Before looking for a photographer or booking a shoot think about what you are going to use the photographs for.

Because there’s no point spending money on photographs if they don’t work for you.

Think about where your images could be used:

Website – team pages, About Us, individual service pages and blog posts.

Social media – introducing team members, showing behind the scenes and creating regular content.

PR – press releases, articles, awards and local business stories.

Marketing – brochures, presentations, email marketing and printed materials.

Recruitment – showing potential employees the people and environment behind the company.

Having this in mind before your shoot (and sharing it with your photographer 😉) can make a big difference to the types of images a photographer creates.

What about the location?

This is another big difference between the two approaches.

With traditional headshots, I can bring a backdrop and lighting setup to your workplace, so we don’t necessarily need a particularly photogenic office – but we do need space for this!

With lifestyle photography, the location/venue becomes much more important.

We need to think about where we can photograph people, what the light is like, what’s in the background and whether there’s enough space to move around.

And here’s a little tip that might save you money:

Don’t automatically hire a meeting room or photography space before talking to your photographer.

A room might look great when you’re viewing it as a meeting room, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s great for photography.

It might have very little natural light, a huge table taking up most of the space and no room for the photographer or the subject to be able to capture a nice shot. 

Sometimes, a corridor, reception area, communal space or another part of the building might actually give us much better options.

I’ve come across this before when photographing businesses, and it’s why I’d much rather have a conversation about your space beforehand than arrive on the day and discover we’ve paid to hire somewhere that isn’t actually going to work!

Check out my full blog on staff headshots – your questions answered

Do I need team photos?

Individual headshots are important.

But team photos show off the connection, culture and personality of your business.

A strong team image can:

• Show who’s behind the business. Clients like to see who they’ll be working with.
• Make your business feel approachable. Natural, relaxed photos can make your business feel welcoming.
• Show off your company culture. Photos of your team working together tell people what it’s like to deal with you, or to work for you, they show connection.
• Look consistent and organised. Matching style and backgrounds suggest a business that pays attention to detail.

Frequently asked questions