Month: July 2025

Don’t Let Your Headshot Hurt Your Career: Why First Impressions Still Matter in the Digital Age

Whether you’re a CEO, a job candidate, a consultant, or a spokesperson for your company, a low-quality or outdated headshot can quietly damage your credibility, reduce engagement, and even cost you opportunities.

Why Headshots Still Matter—Especially in the Corporate World

Your headshot represents you when you’re not in the room. On LinkedIn, corporate websites, pitch decks, press releases, Zoom meetings, and speaker bios—your image is speaking before you do. A well-crafted headshot communicates more than appearance; it conveys confidence, professionalism, approachability, and polish.

Marketing and communications professionals understand the power of visuals. But even savvy decision-makers sometimes underestimate how a poor-quality headshot—blurry, badly lit, taken in the wrong setting, or years out of date—can subtly erode brand consistency, both personal and corporate.

Common Headshot Mistakes That Can Undermine Your Brand

  1. Outdated Headshots
    If your headshot is more than 3–5 years old or no longer resembles you, it’s time for an update. Authenticity is a cornerstone of professional relationships—don’t undermine it with a misleading photo.
  2. Inconsistent Team Images
    Disparate lighting, mismatched backdrops, and varying styles across a team page make your company look fragmented. Consistency in corporate headshots reinforces unity, trust, and professionalism.
  3. DIY or Smartphone Images
    While phone cameras have come a long way, a true professional-grade headshot demands more than megapixels—it requires proper lighting, lenses, composition, and direction. Corporate imagery should never look like a selfie.
  4. Lack of Expression or Engagement
    Your expression should match your role. A warm, confident smile with good posture and a relaxed demeanor sends the right message. An unapproachable or awkward image can unintentionally discourage engagement.
  5. Generic Stock-Like Feel
    Your headshot should be uniquely you, not an off-the-shelf image. A creative photographer brings out personality, subtle brand cues (such as wardrobe, setting, or color grading), and context.

Your Headshot Is Part of Your Marketing Strategy

For businesses, updated, unified headshots strengthen your brand’s credibility and culture—showing the people behind the product or service. Whether it’s for leadership profiles, employee directories, or public relations campaigns, great headshots help humanize your company.

For individuals, especially those in leadership, sales, legal, or client-facing roles, your headshot is your personal brand. It should align with your industry while setting you apart visually. It’s one of the most cost-effective investments you can make in your professional image.

Why Choose St Louis Headshots

At St Louis Headshots, we understand the art and psychology of visual first impressions. As a full-service professional commercial photography and video production company, we’ve been helping individuals and businesses across St. Louis project their best image since 1982. Our team includes experienced photographers, producers, and stylists who guide each client through a relaxed, effective session—whether in our private, fully equipped studio or on location at your office.

We go beyond headshots. We can repurpose your images for multi-channel marketing, incorporate branded elements into your shoot, and even provide custom interview studios and licensed drone pilots for more complex productions.

Our studio lighting and visual setup is ideal for both small and large productions. It accommodates customized backdrops, branding props, and the nuanced lighting techniques that elevate simple portraits into compelling visuals. Our crew provides expert-level editing and post-production using the latest in Artificial Intelligence software, ensuring consistent, natural enhancements that never feel artificial.

If your business needs to elevate its brand with consistent, on-brand photography—or if your own professional presence deserves a confident upgrade—don’t let a bad headshot hold you back.

Work With the Experts
St Louis Headshots offers studio and location photography and video, editing and post-production, custom interview scenes, and indoor-capable drone work, all under one roof. Our decades of experience, creative expertise, and media fluency make us the trusted partner for businesses, marketing agencies, and professionals throughout the region.

Let us help you project authority, authenticity, and professionalism—one image at a time.

314-913-5626

Mike Haller

stlouisheadshots@gmail.com

Studio: 4501 Mattis Road St. Louis, MO 63128

Simple Steps to Plan Headshots for Every Team Member: A Guide for Marketing and Business Decision Makers

Whether your organization is refreshing its website, updating social media profiles, launching a marketing campaign, or creating internal directories, professional headshots unify your brand identity and enhance credibility. But coordinating headshots for an entire team—especially across multiple departments or locations—can be a logistical challenge without a plan.

At St Louis Headshots, we’ve helped hundreds of organizations—from fast-paced startups to established corporations—streamline the headshot process from start to finish. Here’s a proven step-by-step approach to ensure your headshot session is efficient, professional, and yields impactful results.

1. Define Your Brand Style

Before the first camera is turned on, determine the look and tone you want to achieve. Should the headshots feel formal or approachable? Studio backdrop or environmental background? Consistency across images is key for creating a polished and unified team presence.

Pro Tip: Provide visual examples or a style guide to your photography team so they can replicate your vision with precision.

2. Choose the Right Setting

Depending on your team’s size, schedule, and goals, headshots can be done:

  • In-Studio – Controlled lighting, clean backgrounds, and access to props or creative setups.
  • On-Location – At your office or corporate environment, ideal for adding context or convenience.
  • Hybrid – Great for remote teams or executive groups, ensuring consistency while offering flexibility.

We offer private studio sessions as well as mobile setups, complete with backdrops, professional lighting, and camera gear to deliver consistent, high-quality results regardless of location.

3. Create a Scheduling Plan

Avoid workflow disruptions by:

  • Appointing a coordinator on your team.
  • Using scheduling tools or time blocks (e.g., 10–15 minutes per person).
  • Offering multiple time slots, including early morning or lunch-hour sessions.

Efficiency tip: For large teams, stagger photo times and group team members by department or shift.

4. Prepare Your Team

Clear communication reduces no-shows and ensures everyone is photo-ready. Share tips on:

  • What to wear (solid colors, minimal patterns, brand colors when possible).
  • Grooming and appearance (clean, neat hairstyles, light makeup if desired).
  • What to expect (length of session, number of shots, retouching options).

We also provide a preparation guide to make sure your team looks and feels confident in front of the camera.

5. Capture Multiple Expressions and Angles

A single pose may work for a company directory, but versatile businesses need options. We recommend capturing:

  • A classic head-and-shoulders shot.
  • A relaxed, slightly angled pose.
  • A few expressions—approachable smile, confident neutral, and one with personality.

This gives your marketing team multiple looks to work with across platforms—LinkedIn, About pages, newsletters, or promotional materials.

6. Review, Select, and Retouch

Once the session is complete:

  • We offer same-day or next-day proof galleries.
  • Your team can select their favorite shots individually or allow a brand manager to choose.
  • We professionally retouch each selected image—ensuring natural skin tone, clean backgrounds, and polished presentation.

7. Repurpose for Maximum ROI

The best part of investing in high-quality headshots is the long shelf life and broad usage:

  • Email signatures
  • Team bios in pitch decks
  • Zoom or Teams profiles
  • Blog author images
  • Company press releases

We also help clients resize and reformat headshots for every use case—from 4K-resolution portraits to square-crop social profile images.

Why Partner with St Louis Headshots?

At St Louis Headshots, we specialize in delivering premium photography and video solutions that elevate your brand’s image. As a full-service commercial video and photography production company operating since 1982, we’ve worked with businesses, marketing firms, and creative agencies throughout the St. Louis area.

Here’s what sets us apart:

  • Studio & On-Location Services: Whether in our private, prop-ready studio or at your office, we deliver consistent, high-quality results.
  • Expert Creative Crew: Our team includes professional sound and camera operators, lighting specialists, and production coordinators.
  • Advanced Technology: We leverage the latest in AI tools, post-production workflows, and media software to ensure professional-grade output.
  • Drone Photography Capabilities: Need aerial visuals for a corporate video or marketing asset? We are licensed and capable of flying specialized drones—even indoors.
  • Media Repurposing: From photography to video, we help you maximize the impact of your content by reformatting and repackaging it across digital platforms.

Let us handle every detail of your next headshot project—from pre-shoot planning to post-production polish—so your team looks its best and your brand image shines.

Ready to schedule your team’s headshots?
Contact St Louis Headshots today and experience the difference a seasoned, full-service media team makes.

314-913-5626

Mike Haller

stlouisheadshots@gmail.com

Studio: 4501 Mattis Road St. Louis, MO 63128