Look, there are lots of ways to produce professional headshots.
Some media companies put up a plain backdrop, line people up and run 'em through. This gets you the uniformity that many clients want for their websites, and you might even capture a genuine smile or two, but this process provides no space for a subject's personality.
Why does the subject's personality matter, you might ask? Because that's the part that connects with audiences. That reaches their hearts, and empathetic centers. The part that encourages them to reach out, engage, make contact. The subject's humanity. You have to celebrate each professional's uniqueness.
That's why, when Willamette University contacted Human Centric Media about producing fresh headshots for their faculty to begin the 2025-2026 school year, I knew I had to do more than the bare minimum. We worked together with James, our kind and talented on-campus liaison, to find an ideal location to showcase Willamette's bright, nature-adorned campus. We built a schedule that would allow me to spend at least five minutes with each subject, getting to know them, their career and their unique charm. These aren't just nice to have elements — it's what pushes the collection from a checked box to a valuable communications asset.
Then we deployed a process by which every single subject could pick their favorites, to make sure they felt fully confident about what we communicated about them.
Human Centric Media works very hard to make sure that no gig feels like checking a box. Every single one is an opportunity to show people love and curiosity. And at the end of the day, that's the real magic of photography, even commercially: these photos are a little glimpse into each person's identity.
That, to me, is worth cherishing.
