The Executive Photographer
Corporate Headshots in Boston
Corporate headshots that look like you on your best day.
Authentically catching you in the act of being your best self.
The only Boston photographer who spent 35 years as a sales and marketing executive and a decade as a leadership consultant and coach.
This page is for an individual corporate headshot in Boston — an executive, professional, or business owner getting one polished portrait for their company website, LinkedIn, proposals, speaker bio, or press. Individual sessions start at $395 and include one fully retouched, licensed image, with additional images $125 each; they take place at the Sherborn studio, about 30 minutes west of Boston. Damon Bates spent 35 years as a corporate sales and marketing executive and a decade as a leadership consultant, and trained with Peter Hurley in 2013. Photographing a whole team instead? On-location Boston team headshots are a separate service.
Damon Bates — by the numbers
- ✓35 years as a corporate sales and marketing executive
- ✓A decade coaching leaders on executive presence as a leadership consultant and certified Bates ExPI executive-presence coach
- ✓Trained with Peter Hurley in 2013 — among the first headshot photographers in Boston, refreshed 2025
- ✓MBA, Boston University
- ✓The only Boston photographer who has been a senior executive — 35 years in senior leadership
Corporate Headshots for Boston Professionals
A corporate headshot is the first impression you make before you ever walk into the room. It's on your company's website, your LinkedIn profile, the proposal deck, the conference badge, the press release. For most Boston professionals, it's the single most-seen photo of them anywhere — and it's usually the one they like the least. My job is to change that: to give you a corporate headshot that looks like you on your best day, not a stiff, over-lit ID photo you tolerate because you have to.
I'm Damon Bates. Alongside my photography, I spent 35 years as a sales and marketing executive and a decade as a leadership consultant and coach. That matters here more than any lens or lighting rig, because a corporate headshot isn't really about the camera — it's about how you come across. I've spent three decades reading how professionals present themselves, coaching them on presence, and understanding exactly what a headshot needs to communicate to a client, a hiring manager, or a colleague scrolling past. When I direct you in front of the camera, I'm not guessing what looks credible — I know, because I spent a career in the rooms where it mattered.
Sessions are private and unhurried at my studio in Sherborn, about 30 minutes west of Boston. Most clients tell me they dread having their picture taken and leave surprised at how easy it was — and at how much they like the results. I coach you through posture, expression, and wardrobe as we go, so you're not left to figure out what to do with your hands or your face. You review and approve your images with me before you leave. Nothing gets published that you haven't chosen yourself.
I photograph corporate professionals across every industry Boston runs on — finance, law, consulting, technology, healthcare, real estate, and more. Whether you need a single polished corporate headshot for a new role, an updated LinkedIn image, or a matching set for your team, the approach is the same: get you the one image that actually represents how you carry yourself at your best.
While my studio is in the Boston area, I also bring a full portable studio on-site to offices throughout Greater Boston for teams that need consistent corporate headshots for everyone. If you're photographing yourself today but suspect your whole team will need updating, it's worth knowing that's work I do regularly — same coaching, same quality, at your office.
Photographing your whole team or company? See Boston team headshots.
Corporate Headshots by Profession
A corporate headshot isn't one thing — what it needs to communicate depends on who's looking and what they're deciding. Here's how I think about it for the professionals I photograph most.
Executives & Senior Leaders
The people reading an executive's headshot read rooms for a living — board members, search committees, investors, peers at the C-suite level. They're looking for two things at once that usually fight each other: the intensity to command a room and the approachability to be someone they'd want in it. Too much intensity and you read as guarded or severe; too much warmth and you read as junior. Getting both into one frame is the entire job — and after 35 years in those rooms, it's the read I know best.
Business Owners & Founders
When you own the business, you are the brand — the face on the homepage, the pitch deck, the About page, the LinkedIn that a prospect checks before the first call. Your headshot has to carry the company's personality, not just your features. Scrappy and human, or polished and established? That's a positioning decision, and it belongs in the frame on purpose, not by accident. Before we shoot, we talk about what the company is trying to say — because for now, you're the one saying it.
Attorneys
A headshot in law is a credibility instrument, and the read depends entirely on the client you serve. For a person in trouble — anxious, out of their depth — the frame has to say you can call me, I've got this; warmth is the conversion lever, not intimidation. For corporate and institutional work, it has to signal the composure and judgment a general counsel wants across the table. Same photographer, a deliberately different read. We decide which before the first frame.
Financial Advisors
Trust with money is the whole transaction, and the headshot has to earn it before a word is exchanged. It needs to be approachable enough that someone picks up the phone, and serious enough that they'd hand you their retirement once they do. Too warm and you read as a friend rather than a fiduciary; too cold and they never call. The line between the two is narrow, and finding it for you — your face, your practice, your clientele — is what the session is for.
Getting Here from Boston
Take the Mass Pike (I-90) west to Route 16 south — about 30 minutes from downtown Boston to the studio in Sherborn.
Drive time: 30 minutes
Services
- ✓Corporate & Business Headshots
- ✓LinkedIn Profile Headshots
- ✓Professional Website & Bio Portraits
- ✓On-Location Corporate Sessions
- ✓Team & Company Headshot Days
- ✓Presence Coaching During Your Session
What Clients Say
“Working with Damon was the best experience I have ever had being photographed. He is very professional, detail oriented yet efficient. He captures the very best side of each person he photographs. His pictures are phenomenal!”
Anna S., Cambridge Family Enterprise Group, Cambridge, MA
“Damon was referred to me by a friend who said 'Everyone I know uses Damon.' Now I understand why. He is patient during the shoot but highly efficient, and he understands what makes a good headshot. I highly recommend Damon if you want a great business headshot.”
Jon S.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a corporate headshot in Boston cost?
Individual sessions start at $395, which includes one fully retouched high-resolution image. Additional images are $125 each, and most clients choose 2–3 finals. There are no packages and no pressure — you decide how many images to keep after you see them. See the full individual session pricing page.
What should I wear for a corporate headshot?
Solid colors in navy, charcoal, dark gray, or deep blue photograph best — patterns can distract. Bring 3–4 options and we'll choose together at the start of the session; I do a wardrobe review with every client. For more detail, read what to wear for your headshot session.
Where is the studio, and do you photograph in Boston itself?
My studio is at 80 Maple St in Sherborn, MA — about 30 minutes west of downtown Boston via the Mass Pike, with free parking. Individual sessions happen at the studio. For teams, I bring a full portable studio on-site to offices throughout Greater Boston — see Boston headshots for individual work in the city and Boston team headshots for on-location group sessions.
What's the difference between a corporate headshot and a LinkedIn headshot?
Less than you'd think — they usually come from the same session. A corporate headshot tends toward a formal, on-brand look for your company website or bio; a LinkedIn image can be a touch warmer and more approachable. We vary framing and expression during the shoot so you leave with both. For the full breakdown, read Corporate Headshots vs. LinkedIn Headshots.
What's the one thing people don't realize about their headshot?
That it's not about the camera — it's about how you come across. Most people fixate on lighting or resolution, but the thing that actually makes a headshot work is presence: whether you read as confident, approachable, and credible in a single frame. That's a read, not a technical setting, and it's the reason a technically perfect photo can still feel "off." After 35 years as a corporate executive and a decade coaching leaders on presence, that read is exactly what I direct you toward — which is why clients who dread being photographed leave with something they actually like. More on how I think about leadership: 6 Lessons on Building a Great Team and Is Leading Virtually Really New?
Will my images work for LinkedIn, Zoom, Slack, my website, and everywhere else?
Yes. I deliver every image at 2048 pixels on the long edge — the maximum resolution Facebook allows before its compression algorithm kicks in and starts degrading the file. Conveniently, that same spec works for virtually every other online use: LinkedIn, your company bio, Zoom and Slack avatars, email signatures, speaker bios, and press. The one exception is offset printing, which needs a different spec — so just tell me how you plan to use the image and I'll make sure you get a file specced exactly how you need it.
Can you photograph my whole team or company?
Yes. I bring a complete portable studio to your office — professional lighting, backdrop, and a tethered display — and photograph each person in about 8–10 minutes for a consistent, on-brand set. It works for a handful of new hires or a full company. See Boston team headshots and team pricing and details.
Do you retouch the final images, and how long is turnaround?
Every final image is professionally retouched — natural, not overdone. We select your favorites together at the end of the session, and retouched high-resolution files are typically delivered within a few business days. You approve every image before anything is finalized.
How long does a corporate headshot session take?
Plan on 30–45 minutes. That's enough time to review your wardrobe, work through a few expressions and framings, and get variations you can use for different purposes — a formal corporate look, a warmer LinkedIn image, a bio photo. We're working the whole time, so it doesn't feel long.
Can I bring options and run them by you first?
Please do. Bring 3–4 wardrobe options and we'll choose together at the start of the session — I do a wardrobe review with every client, because what photographs well isn't always what looks best in the closet. Solid colors in navy, charcoal, or deep blue read best; busy patterns distract. You're never left guessing, and nothing gets shot that we haven't talked through first.
Should I just use an AI headshot generator instead?
For a placeholder while you book a real session, AI is fine. For the photo that represents you to clients and colleagues, it's the wrong tool. An AI generator doesn't photograph you — it builds a composite from your selfies and idealizes it, smoothing every pore and perfecting every angle into a version of you that doesn't walk into the room. Clients and hiring managers are learning to spot the too-even lighting and the too-perfect finish, and the flicker of doubt it creates works against you. A coached session gives you the opposite: an image that's genuinely yours and matches the person who shows up to the meeting — something, as one client put it, that "cannot be AI'd." More in AI Headshots vs. Real Headshots.
Do I need a bunch of different looks, or is one enough?
Most people need fewer than they think. One strong, versatile headshot covers the majority of uses — LinkedIn, your company bio, a proposal, a conference badge. What's genuinely useful is a little variation within the same session: a more formal frame and a warmer one, so you have the right register for a board page versus a networking profile. You leave with real options rather than one take you have to settle for — but you don't need ten looks, and I won't upsell you into them.
How is the coaching different from a regular headshot studio?
Most photographers tell you to relax and smile. I spent 35 years as a corporate executive and a decade as a leadership consultant coaching professionals on presence — so I can tell you exactly why a posture reads as guarded, or how a small change in chin angle changes what the camera sees. That coaching is the reason clients who dread being photographed leave with a corporate headshot they actually like.
Can you coordinate with my designer or marketing team?
Absolutely — this comes up often with corporate and team work. If your marketing team or designer needs specific dimensions, a consistent background, or files formatted a particular way for the company site, I'll deliver to their spec. Just loop me in on what they need and I'll make sure the finals drop straight into your brand system.
Are you insured for on-site corporate work?
Yes. I carry $1 million in professional liability insurance through the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) member program, administered by Lockton Affinity, LLC. For on-location team or company sessions I can provide a Certificate of Insurance (COI) naming your office, building, or facility as certificate holder ahead of the shoot — a requirement many corporate offices and law firms have for outside vendors. Just let me know who the certificate holder should be.
I'm a senior executive — is there a session built for that?
Yes. If you're at the C-suite or board level, my executive headshots in Boston page covers the presence-focused session built specifically for senior leaders — same coaching background, tuned to how boards, search committees, and investors read a photograph.