Look for a recent photo of your team. Found one? Is it good quality, do you like it, and is it less than two years old? If you hesitate, your image library needs a refresh. Here are the six types of photos every company needs.
1. Team portraits
What they’re for: the “team” page, email signatures, LinkedIn, sales presentations, job offers. A face is more reassuring than an organisation chart.
How to get them right: same background, same lighting, same framing for everyone, so the whole set is consistent. Also plan a more natural version, in context. Everyone must give written consent for the use of their image, and the law recognises each person’s right to object to the publication of theirs. See our advice on team portraits.
2. The group photo
What it’s for: the home page, the press, New Year greetings, the announcement of a new arrival or an anniversary.
How to get it right: allow plenty of time, because getting everyone together at the same moment is the real challenge. Choose a place that speaks of your business rather than a white wall, and take at least two shots: there’s always someone blinking. Remember that a person who is absent or who declines must not appear.
3. The premises
What they’re for: showing where people are welcomed, or where work is done for them. Reassuring for a client, eagerly awaited by a candidate.
How to get them right: tidy up, clean, remove whatever doesn’t belong, then shoot in natural light, preferably on a fine day. An empty place looks cold, a lived-in place looks real: a few people at work, in the background, change everything.
4. Know-how in action
What it’s for: proving what you say. It’s the photo that sells without selling.
How to get it right: photograph the hands, the tools, the gestures, the details. Let people work normally, without posing, and shoot up close. The example of industry and construction shows how much these images make a difference.
5. Products
What they’re for: catalogue, website, marketplaces, brochures. A good product photo reduces purchase doubts.
How to get them right: you need two families of images: shots on a neutral background, sharp and faithful, and shots in context, showing use and scale. The lighting must reveal the materials without flattening the colours. See the product packshot and photos that sell.
6. Events and behind-the-scenes
What they’re for: proving that your company is alive: trade shows, openings, seminars, but also preparations, rehearsals, last touches. Behind-the-scenes content is happily shared on social media.
How to get them right: brief the photographer on the schedule and the key people, and make them feel what you expect: wide atmosphere shots, details, spontaneous portraits. Remember to ask for a batch “to publish the same evening”.
Tip For an event, plan from the start the delivery of a small number of priority photos, quickly retouched, and the rest afterwards. You’ll be able to post while the momentum is still there.
Building your image library
| Type of photo | Main use | Update frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Team portraits | Website, LinkedIn, emails | With every arrival or departure |
| Group photo | Home page, greetings, press | Once a year |
| Premises | Trust, recruitment | After a change |
| Know-how | Proof, social media | Over the months |
| Products | Catalogue, e-commerce | With every new item |
| Events, behind-the-scenes | Social media, press | With every highlight |
A few simple rules make it truly useful:
- Name and sort the files as soon as they’re delivered, by theme and by date.
- Record the permissions: who appears, for which uses, until when.
- Keep several formats: horizontal, vertical, square, cropped version.
- Renew regularly: a new hire, a new office, a new product means a new session.
An image library is not a one-off project, it’s an asset you maintain. A single shoot can provide all six categories at once, if it’s prepared that way.
At that dog, we often think of photo sessions as full days: portraits in the morning, premises and know-how next, products on the packshot set, and a bit of video if needed. You leave with a consistent image library, ready to live all year long.
Your image library, in one day
Tell us what you’re missing: we’ll organise a session that covers the essentials.