As the head of a business headshot photography company that has been mostly sidelined during much of the pandemic, I am so very eager to get back to business. I am also on the (very) cautious side. I celebrate the positive and think about ways we can work safely. I am one of those that is excited to hear that masks are coming off, but also quite nervous about it. Is it time to take that step? Too soon? Too late?

At least a portion of my team is definitely vaccinated which is great in terms of the safety we can offer those that will be doing business headshots with us. But I am also very practical and am reading up on how to be pragmatic about risk. I understand that while there is no such thing as zero risk, there is plenty that we can do to keep our team and our clients from being vulnerable.

But I digress. This post is not how we, at The Booth for Business, feel safe about going out into the world. It is about how we can serve our longtime loyal and very new clients safely given the new ways of post-pandemic working.

What We Are Hearing from our Professional Headshot Photography Clients

We conducted a super-non-scientific survey of our clients about when they expect to start getting back together in the office and at conferences. We got some great feedback.

The news from those that are going back to work in the office seems kind of consistent. They will be expected back around Labor Day of 2021. That is not so far away and we are excited that we can get back to doing professional headshots and website headshots for these clients in a way that, with precautions, will not be so different from how we did this in the pre-pandemic times.

The same kind of timing is true for conferences. We are starting to see interest in our conference headshots as early as August 2021. But there will be some changes in this arena. Many conferences will operate on a hybrid format and there will be fewer people in attendance. It is exciting to see things move towards an in-person agenda. This is great news for those who are vaccinated and/or feel safe getting out and being with people. And it is great news for those who rely on getting their corporate headshots at an event like this.

How The Booth Will Change Doing Corporate Headshots

For our clients in the above categories, we will likely be implementing new Covid safety strategies. These are all things we have been doing at our in-studio professional headshot sessions and for business headshot off-site, at people's offices.

This is the kind of photography precautions we have been doing throughout the pandemic. We will wear masks and have our subjects keep their masks on until we are ready to shoot. We will clean communally touched surfaces between subjects. Guidance set by planners, the CDC and other guiding organizations will be followed. Like at all other times during this pandemic, we expect things to change and we are ready to be flexible and nimble in order to accommodate those changes.

In Many Ways, Corporate Headshots by The Booth Will Be The Same

From our end, the experience will be very similar. The quality will be there. The subjects will be made to feel comfortable and we will be the same friendly and personable headshot photographers who will get the best, most flattering and professional corporate headshots! What you loved about having your professional headshots with us pre-pandemic will be there for you moving forward.

What About Those Companies Not Going Back To The Office Full Time?

We have had a lot of conversations with companies about how 'going back to the office' will look. Many are considering a hybrid schedule while some companies don't intend to ever bring their staff back to the office with any regularity. Productivity has remained good with their staff working from home. Why not save commuting time and rent and keep things status quo?

What are also hearing, though is that a more permanent work from home situation does not mean never coming into the office. Most of our companies we speak to see the value of bringing people together in real life. Corporate culture is a real thing and there has to be some kind of 'coming together' experience for companies to create a sense of community.

Companies also see that a certain synergy happens among their teams when they share the same physical space. Productivity can be a goal, but productivity cannot be the only goal. Running into someone in the hall or passing their office and stopping to say hello creates a different kind of workplace commodity. It allows for collaborative thought and that other serendipitous opportunities that is important, but harder to measure.

We are seeing many companies considering a range of options that don't require staff in full-time: from 3 days in-office/week, to completely flexible work week options, to only coming in for quarterly meetings. It might even look like events, meetings and conferences particularly, will be an opportunity to bring people back into the office.

And This Is Where the Headshot Magic Can Happen!

This can be your solution for getting professional headshots for your team. Employers can do everything they need with their staff during these 'together' times and that can include corporate headshots and website headshots.

This solution is perfect, even for teams in different cities or states. If they are getting together infrequently, it is not so crazy to bring those super-remote people in for a few days.

The one thing we are hearing consistently from clients is how much they value and see a need for headshots of their teams. Website headshots, especially, in certain professional services fields, are more important than ever in establishing a relationship with a remote client. It closes that gap of feeling disconnect from your vendors or those working for you.

Now that there are fewer in-office interactions, website headshots serve an important intra-office purpose. It helps create a sense of familiarity among staff. With these new ways of working, many of us will not be in person with most of our peers.

From our perspective, this new way of getting together will make it optimal timing to cover a team, update their headshots and cover all those new employees that you have hired since the pandemic began. We feel confident that there will be further innovation in the workplace. It will be exciting to see things evolve and we look forward to evolving along with it.