Most Phoenix companies wait until they absolutely need new headshots—a new hire starts Monday, someone’s LinkedIn photo is from 2019, or worse, the website has a mix of selfies and professional shots that make the team look disjointed.
But here’s what we’ve learned after photographing hundreds of Arizona teams: the companies that plan ahead always come out ahead.
The Q1 Advantage Most Companies Miss
January through March is when smart operations teams lock in their team headshots for the year. Not because they’re naturally better planners—but because they’ve figured out what waiting costs them.
1. You Actually Have Budget to Work With
December’s budget conversations are happening right now. If your team hasn’t updated headshots in 2+ years, there’s a line item sitting there. Use it in Q1 or watch it disappear.
The companies we work with in Scottsdale and Phoenix know this: executive teams are more receptive to “let’s invest in our team” conversations in January than they are in July when half the budget’s already spent.
Tax benefit window: Team headshots are a deductible business expense. Book in Q1, deduct in 2025. Simple.
Your Calendar Is Actually Manageable
Try booking 15-30 people for headshots in October. Half your team is traveling, three people are on PTO, and someone’s inevitably sick on shoot day.
Q1? Everyone’s back from holidays. Travel schedules haven’t ramped up yet. Conference season hasn’t hit. You can actually get your whole team in one place without corporate Tetris.
We block out 5-10 minutes per person when we shoot on-site. For a team of 20, that’s roughly 2-3 hours total including setup. In Q1, finding that window is actually possible.
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Everyone Starts the Year Looking Current
Here’s what we see constantly: someone updates their headshot in March. By November, half the team still has photos from two years ago. Your LinkedIn company page looks like a timeline instead of a team.
Book everyone in Q1, and your entire organization starts the year with current, cohesive imagery. No more “we’ll get to it eventually.”
You’re Not Competing for Photographer Availability
Q4 is chaos for corporate photographers. Conference season, holiday parties, year-end events—everyone wants coverage. By the time you’re trying to book December team headshots, you’re competing with 30 other companies for the same dates.
Q1? We have availability. You have options. We’re not rushing through your session because we have another booking in two hours.
What Phoenix Companies Get Wrong About Timing
We hear this constantly: “We’ll schedule headshots when we have a bunch of new hires.”
That approach creates two problems:
Problem 1: You’re always reacting. New hire starts Monday, needs a headshot by Wednesday, and now you’re scrambling for availability or settling for whatever photographer has an opening.
Problem 2: Your team never looks cohesive. Different photographers, different lighting, different years—it shows.
The Phoenix companies we work with that have this dialed in? They schedule annual or bi-annual headshot days. Everyone gets updated. No exceptions. It’s on the calendar before the year starts.
The Real Cost of Waiting
When you push team headshots to Q2, Q3, or “whenever we get around to it,” here’s what actually happens:
- New hires go weeks without professional photos
- Your website shows a mix of quality levels that makes you look inconsistent
- LinkedIn profiles sit empty or outdated, costing you visibility
- You’re fielding requests individually instead of handling it once as a team
The administrative burden alone makes Q1 planning worth it. Schedule one day, photograph everyone, done for the year.
The LinkedIn Factor No One Talks About
Here’s something we’ve noticed: when one person on a Phoenix team updates their LinkedIn headshot to something professional, three more people reach out within a month asking who they used.
Do your whole team in Q1, and you create momentum. Everyone updates LinkedIn at once. Your company page suddenly looks tight and professional. Recruiting gets easier because your team looks established and cohesive.
It’s a small thing that compounds.
What About the “We’ll Just Use Our Phones” Approach
Look, smartphone cameras have gotten incredibly good. But here’s what they can’t do:
- Replicate professional lighting that makes people look polished regardless of the office fluorescents
- Coach someone through natural expressions instead of awkward forced smiles
- Create consistency across 20 different people with different comfort levels in front of a camera
- Give you professionally retouched images optimized for LinkedIn, websites, and print
We’re not competing with phone cameras. We’re solving a different problem—making your entire team look professional and cohesive without anyone needing to know how to pose or light themselves.
Book your company headshots
Phoenix companies that book team headshots in Q1 start the year looking cohesive, professional, and prepared. Everyone else spends the year playing catch-up.
If you’re planning to update your team’s headshots in 2025, Q1 gives you the availability, budget flexibility, and calendar space to actually make it happen without chaos.
Ready to schedule your team? Request a custom quote for on-location team headshots in Phoenix/Scottsdale or see our corporate headshot portfolio.
For teams under 5 people or individual new hires throughout the year, studio sessions in Scottsdale offer the same professional quality with flexible scheduling.
We’re not competing with phone cameras. We’re solving a different problem—making your entire team look professional and cohesive without anyone needing to know how to pose or light themselves.
