Start here
For a remote team, begin with one written visual brief, one approval owner, one participant checklist, and one page map. Define the image destination and crop before anyone joins. Use the same brief for the first group and for later additions unless the receiving page or brand direction changes.
Our virtual headshots are real photos captured in a live remote session with a professional photographer.
That distinction matters before any of the planning steps, because live-directed photography, upload-only editing, and generated portraits are three different products that often share the same name.
Define the image destination
Inspect every page where the images will appear. Include the public team page, leadership bios, speaker pages, internal directory, recruiting materials, and any profile template governed by the same visual system. Record the image shape and the amount of space around the face on each surface.
Choose the primary destination. It should control the main crop and framing decision. Secondary destinations may use alternate crops from the same approved image, but they should not silently change the visual brief.
Note any page that uses a different background or level of formality. Decide whether that difference is intentional. If it is intentional, document the reason and the people affected. If it is accidental, settle the shared direction before image-making begins.
Do not begin with camera settings. Begin with the page. The page reveals what the final image must communicate and how it must fit beside the rest of the people grid.
Name one approval owner
Choose one person who can close visual decisions. That owner should approve the crop, background direction, color treatment, expression range, wardrobe guidance, and exception rule.
Invite stakeholders to comment before the brief is final. Marketing may care about the public page. People Ops may care about participant communication and later additions. Leadership may care about formality. Collect those perspectives, then let the named owner make the final visual choice.
Write down what requires owner approval and what does not. A change to the shared background belongs with the owner. A participant choosing between two expressions that both fit the brief may not. This boundary prevents a small choice from returning to a large group.
Use a single source of truth for the approved brief. Avoid parallel documents with slightly different wording. Link the participant note and the image approval checklist back to that source.
Write the visual brief
Describe visible choices rather than vague aspirations. Name the crop, face position, background direction, color range, expression range, clothing guidance, and intended page use. Add example images only when their role is clear.
For crop, state whether the frame is square, vertical, horizontal, or prepared in more than one shape. For face position, note the intended space above the head and around the shoulders. For background, state whether it should remain environmental, neutral, or follow a defined replacement direction.
For expression, describe the range that belongs on the receiving page. For clothing, explain color or pattern considerations without erasing personal or regional norms. For color, describe the visible relationship among skin tone, background, and brand palette.
End the brief with an exception rule. Explain who can request a variation, who approves it, and whether the variation can appear beside the main group. A brief becomes useful when it resolves decisions before the participant has to make them.
Build the participant checklist
Keep the participant note short and practical. Ask each person to confirm the device, connection, workable light, background, clothing options, and enough physical room to adjust the frame.
Use plain instructions. Clean the camera lens. Charge the device. Silence notifications. Place clothing options nearby. Identify a calm background. Check whether the workable light falls across the face rather than directly behind it.
Explain what the participant does not need to decide. They do not need to invent a crop, choose a finishing style, or interpret the brand on their own. Those choices belong in the visual brief.
Add one contact path for questions about accessibility, clothing, room limits, or device constraints. Resolve unusual conditions before the live flow whenever possible. Keep the answer with the participant record so the same question does not have to be solved twice.
Invite people and let them schedule
Once the programme is arranged, we set up your company portal with seats, HR access, and the agreed look. You add names and work email addresses; each employee receives a personal invitation, signs in with a one-time link or code, and picks an available time already shown in their own time zone. The session opens in a phone browser, so nobody installs anything. See the company process.
Work backward from the date when approved images must appear on the receiving pages, and set the programme deadline from that. Leave room for missed slots, travel changes, approval comments, page updates, and later participants.
The roster carries the states you need: invited, booked, photographed, ready for selection, delivered — alongside the deadline and your used and remaining seats. Send individual or bulk nudges when someone stalls; automatic deadline reminders go out seven days and 48 hours before the deadline itself.
Keep participant communication separate from the owner tracker. A participant should see the next action. The owner should see the unresolved exception. This separation keeps the process readable.
Separate image-making from approval
The visual brief controls image-making. The approval checklist controls the final selection. They are related, but they are not the same document.
After each session the photographer shortlists the strongest frames, and HR or the employee chooses one. At that selection step, compare the shortlist with the brief. Check crop, face position, background direction, color, expression, and destination fit. Do not compare people with one another. Compare each image with the shared visible rules.
Record the owner’s decision and any exception. If a selected image needs a different crop for a secondary destination, name that destination. If a background variation is intentional, record it. If the image does not fit the brief, return to the specific criterion that failed rather than adding a vague comment.
Delivery arrives in the three formats of the selected portrait — square, web crop, and master — with an organised ZIP and file manifest for the programme owner and individual files emailed to each employee. Keep source, approved, and web-ready files distinct, and use a predictable file name that connects the person, destination, and crop without exposing private data on public pages.
Plan for later additions
Treat later additions as part of the original plan. Store the approved brief, participant note, approval checklist, file map, and exception log where the owner can find them.
When a person joins later, first check whether the receiving page or brand direction has changed. If neither has changed, begin with the existing brief. If either has changed, document the new visual decision before adding the image.
Avoid rebuilding the entire process for one addition. The approved brief stays with the programme, so a later hire invited into the portal follows the same background, crop, ratio, and finish as the original group. Record only the new participant and any new exception. At the same time, do not force an old brief onto a redesigned page. The page remains the controlling destination.
If ongoing additions are your main question, new hire headshots covers the recurring version of this workflow. If regional differences are the harder part, global employee headshots covers multi-region rollouts.
Compare real photography and generated portraits
Separate the source-image decision from the style decision. A neutral background, formal clothing, or a particular crop does not settle the source-image category.
Ask what the receiving page requires. Does recognition of the real person matter? Does the page need a shared visual system? Who approves changes to facial detail? What disclosure or internal policy applies to generated imagery? Record the answers before comparing tools.
Use exact category labels. Live-directed real photography, upload-only editing, and generated portraits are different paths. Do not group them under one vague virtual label without a definition.
The definition at the top of this article is the one we use throughout the site. Real headshots versus AI headshots takes the comparison further if you need to argue the case internally.
Final planning checklist
Confirm the primary image destination. Confirm the shared visual brief. Confirm one approval owner. Confirm the participant note. Confirm the roster and the programme deadline. Confirm the approval checklist. Confirm the exception rule. Confirm the file map. Confirm the path for later additions.
If the shared group brief is your next question, read remote team headshots. If regions and later additions are the harder part, read global employee headshots. If you are still deciding between real photography and generated portraits, read real headshots versus AI headshots. If participants are the remaining task, read the preparation guide.
When you are ready, price remote headshots for your team.