Group photography for your business team? Yes or no?
Sometimes, a company will ask our New York business photographers to do group photography. This group photo can be anything from executives to specific teams, to the entire company - no matter how big or small.
We believe that this is a plus/minus scenario (as so many business decisions are!!). On one hand, we like the idea of seeing the team together. It signals cohesiveness and can be another way to tell the world something about personality of the business. It can be done environmentally or against a background and can be a nice visual addition to use in your branding materials.
On the flip side, it can be limiting. The best example of this is when someone senior in a group photo exits the company. You would need a serious Photoshop ninja (and a big budget) to fix this convincingly.
Let's dig in a little more....
Professional group photography can result in business growth
There are several ways in which a story can be told about a business, an image can hold more value than text related to a product or service. What a group photo can do is:
Show each individual face within the company or specific teams
Illustrate your company culture in a positive, cohesive light. It signals to clients that you are a team that works well together.
High-quality images can lead to better overall company values and representation
Why not just produce a single group photo?
So if we can just do one group photo that has everyone in it, why bother with individual corporate headshot photography?
In our opinion, group photos cannot stand in as a primary way to represent your staff. You might save a little money, but this photo inevitably has a short shelf-life. The second someone leaves or moves departments, this group photo is obsolete.
It also does not work as well if you are trying to tie in individual profile text to accompany that photo.
If you do not feel that you need to bring in a New York corporate headshot photographer to cover everyone in your company, individually, we, of course, have recommendations. The best choice, we believe, is to have an executive headshot photographer cover your senior team and then do a group photo of the whole team. This way you can profile your most senior employees but still capture the benefits of showing the world everyone who works with you. And, if someone leaves the company, it is a little less important to change that group shot.
The Exception – When a Group Photo Works As The Primary Profile Photo.
This photos is an example of where a group shot works as the primary photo. These two are partners at a small architectural firm in Baltimore and they brought our New York executive headshot photographer down to do a photo together.
When there are a just a few stakeholders in a company it is unlikely that either will leave. Therefore that group photo has more longevity. In this case we like the idea of the team photo. Not only will it work for as long as the business exists, but it showcases this duo as a real team. It tells potential clients that these people share responsibilities and compliment each other in providing a service.
So, what do we think about group photos in general?
We love it. Do it. But aside from the infrequent exception, do not use it as a shortcut to covering everyone at your business. Take the time to feature certain key people using individual corporate headshot photographers. As a secondary photo, group photography will greatly enhance your outward presentation to the world. However, a group photo should not be the only photo taken. It is not the ideal primary way to tell the world who works at your company or firm.
Advance your business through an image of those working behind it.
The Booth For Business recommends sticking with the individual headshots. If there's room in the budget, we can always take group photos of the employees working at your business.
To see more work with previous clients, visit our blog or gallery page. We also have a contact us page. Go there to send us a request for group photography, company headshots or any other photo needs.
