Executive Headshots
An executive headshot is a portrait made for the moments where someone is deciding whether to take you seriously — a board page, a pitch deck, a conference programme, a fund's leadership roster, the profile a prospective client opens before the first call. It is the same craft as any professional headshot, held to a narrower brief: it has to read as competent and current at a glance, and it has to still look like you when you walk into the room.
Executive headshots are photographed here for partners, founders, board members and senior hires, either at the studio or on location at your office. What follows is what the work involves, how to judge it, and what a session costs.
What separates an executive headshot from an ordinary one
Most of the difference is judgement rather than equipment. A casual headshot only has to look like you. An executive headshot also has to carry authority without stiffness, and it has to survive being cropped into a circle on a phone screen and blown up on a conference banner in the same week.
- Expression over pose – approachable and assured, not the grin of a corporate stock photo.
- Lighting that flatters without flattening – enough shape to look like a person, not a passport.
- Framing that survives the crop – usable square, circular, and wide, because your image will be used all three ways.
- Wardrobe that matches the room – see the clothing recommendations for the specifics.
Why corporate executives need a professional headshot
In corporate, financial and professional-services work, the headshot is often the first and only image a buyer sees before committing real money or real risk. It sits beside a bio on a firm's website, in a pitch, in a proposal, in the press. A picture that is five years old, badly lit, or visibly cropped out of a party photo is a small signal, and small signals compound in exactly the situations where the stakes are highest.
That portrait does most of its work on LinkedIn. The guide to finding a LinkedIn headshot photographer nearby covers what to look for before booking.
The other pressure at this level is consistency. A leadership page where every portrait was taken by a different person, in a different year, against a different wall, reads as a firm that does not pay attention. One where the whole team matches reads as one that does. That is a photography problem with a straightforward solution: shoot the team together, in one setup, in one visit.
Executive headshots and executive portraits
The two words get used interchangeably, and most of the time the difference does not matter. Where it does: a headshot is tightly framed, head and shoulders, built to survive being cropped into a circle. An executive portrait is looser. It gives you room, context, sometimes the office behind you, and it is what a magazine profile or an annual report wants when a small square avatar would waste the page.
Both are photographed in the same session. If you expect to need the wider frame, say so before the shoot rather than after, because the lighting and the background are set up differently for it.
How a session works
The session itself is deliberately short. Most people need 5-10 minutes in front of the camera, and the whole appointment runs about 15 minutes start to finish; the work that makes the picture good happens before and after it. Blocking out half a morning is rarely necessary, and the belief that you must is usually why these photographs get postponed for years.
- Before – wardrobe guidance in advance, so nobody arrives in the one shirt that will not work.
- During – active direction. You will be told what to do with your chin, your hands and your shoulders; nobody is left to work it out alone in front of a lens.
- Same day – a private online gallery with every image from the session, usually within 24 hours.
- After – two fully retouched high-resolution images, ready two to three business days after you choose them, with every unretouched frame available to download.
- Always – unlimited usage rights. The pictures are yours to use anywhere, with no licence to renew.
Retouching that stops at the right point
Retouching should remove the temporary and leave the permanent. A blemish that will be gone next week, a stray hair, a distracting reflection on a lens — those go. The lines that make a face look like a person who has done the job for twenty years stay. The test is simple: the photograph should not surprise anyone who then meets you.
Choosing an executive headshot photographer
Most portfolios look competent at thumbnail size, so the useful questions are the ones a gallery does not answer:
- Ask to see one person, many frames – a single flattering picture proves luck. A run of usable frames from one sitting proves direction.
- Ask who directs – if the answer is that you will be told to relax and be yourself, expect to be left working it out alone in front of a lens.
- Ask what happens to the files – how many are retouched, what the retouching removes, whether the unretouched frames are yours, and whether usage is licensed or unlimited.
- Ask about the room – a photographer who can only work in their own studio cannot photograph your leadership team on a Tuesday morning at your office.
- Ask how a late addition is handled – someone always misses the day, and matching them afterwards is either routine or impossible depending on whether the setup was recorded.
The answers here are on this page and on the rates page, and the portfolio shows the work rather than describing it.
Headshots for a whole leadership team
Teams are a different job from a single portrait: everyone photographed in one setup, on one visit, so the leadership page matches. That is covered in full on the team headshots page, and on-location sessions generally on the Boston headshot photographer.
Experience
These sessions are photographed by Donis Perkins, an executive headshot photographer who has been making professional portraits for over 25 years, for individuals and for hundreds of corporate clients, with a 5.0 rating across 184 Google reviews. You can read the reviews, look through the portfolio of recent work, or read more about Donis. If you are still deciding what kind of session you need, start with the home page.
Rates
Individual sessions start at $350, and sessions for two or three people are priced per group; teams of four or more are quoted to fit. Everything above — the gallery, the unretouched downloads, the two retouched images, the usage rights — is included at every tier. Full pricing is on the rates page, or you can get in touch about a team session.
Common questions about executive headshots
How long does an executive headshot session take?
Most people need 5-10 minutes in front of the camera, and the whole appointment runs about 15 minutes start to finish. Blocking out half a morning is rarely necessary.
What should an executive wear for a headshot?
Whatever you would wear to meet your most important client. Solid mid-tones photograph better than tight patterns, and a jacket gives the frame structure. Detailed guidance goes out before the session so nobody arrives in the one shirt that will not work.
How many images do I get?
A private gallery with every frame from the session, usually within 24 hours, and two fully retouched high-resolution images once you choose them. Additional retouched images are $45 each. Every unretouched frame is available to download, and usage rights are unlimited.
How often should an executive update a headshot?
Every two to three years, or sooner after a visible change such as different glasses, a new hair color or a significant change in weight. The test is whether the photograph would surprise someone who then meets you.
Do you photograph executives outside Boston?
Yes, throughout Greater Boston and the surrounding area, either at the studio or at your office. Sessions further afield are quoted individually.