CHICAGO
BUSINESS
HEADSHOTS

Chicago business headshots for owners, founders, and solo professionals — when you are the business, your headshot is the first meeting. I make sure it makes a promise your face can keep.

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Chicago business headshots are professional portraits for owners, founders, and solo professionals — used on your website, social media, speaking materials, and press. The session fee is $500 and includes the directed shoot and a private online gallery to review your images together; individual images are then $250 each, fully retouched and licensed for your own marketing. 312 Elements is led by photographer Michael Schacht, who has photographed 10,000+ people over 17 years (since 2009). Booking for a whole team? Team sessions start at $1,200.

See pricing and book a session at headshot pricing and booking.

When you're the business, the headshot is the handshake

Here's something it took me an embarrassingly long time to understand about my own face: when you're the business, your headshot is already in the room before you are. For an owner or a solo professional, it isn't decoration on a corporate org chart. It's the first meeting. It's sitting on your website, your proposal, your speaker bio, and the email signature that lands in somebody's inbox a full day before you ever shake their hand. By the time you actually say hello, they've quietly formed an opinion about whether to trust you with their money, their case, their health, or their business. That's not entirely fair, but it's how people are wired, and I'd rather you know it than find out the hard way. And honestly, I've been on the wrong side of it. For years I had a headshot I thought made me look like a Serious Professional, and mostly it made me look like a guy who was uncomfortable being photographed, which I was. People would meet me in person and you could watch the little recalibration happen. So I genuinely get how this feels. The job of a business headshot isn't to make you look like someone you'd hire; it's to look unmistakably, recognizably like you on a good day, because when you're the brand, the person and the business are the same thing. There's no roster to fit into and no house style to hide behind. There's just you, and how honestly the picture tells the truth about you. The one thing I'd want you to walk away knowing, whether you ever point a camera in my direction or not, is that a good headshot starts the trust, it doesn't oversell it. Get the likeness right and the first meeting opens warm; people feel like they already know you, because in a real way they do. Push it too far (too polished, too retouched, a little too much somebody else) and every introduction begins with the room adjusting to the real you, which is a rough way to start anything. Aim for true, not flattering. True is the part that actually does the work, and it's the standard behind every set of headshots Chicago business owners book with me. Recent sessions include real estate broker and engineer Sabrina Jurlina and family law attorney Susan Guthrie.

Which business owners invest the most in their headshots?

Pre-IPO founders are the business clients least likely to cut corners on a headshot: they use the shoot to raise capital, build brand awareness, and earn press, so they have the most to lose from a weak visual brand and the most to gain from a strong one. The same logic splits attorneys (B2C family law, personal injury, and criminal defense lawyers take branding more seriously than B2B lawyers, where one rainmaker's image carries the firm) and realtors (top producers invest; part-timers don't).

A business headshot has one job: start the trust that closes the deal. But the read that earns trust is different in every line of work — and getting it right starts with understanding what your client is actually afraid of.

Realtor Headshots

Your headshot is a neighborhood signal. The read that sells a $4M listing repels the first-time buyer, and the read that reassures the first-time buyer reads as out-of-depth to the luxury seller. Price tier and geography are baked into the frame before anyone reads your name — which is exactly why we talk about your market before we shoot.

What should realtors wear for headshots?

Dress for the listing you want next, one notch above what you'd wear to a showing. A tailored blazer or a structured solid top in a mid-tone — navy, charcoal, deep green, burgundy — reads as trustworthy at every price point and holds up at postcard size. Skip logos, busy patterns, and anything shiny; on a yard sign the eye should land on your face, not your jacket. If you work two markets, say condos downtown and single-family homes in the suburbs, bring a second, more relaxed look so one session covers both.

Which background works for luxury and first-time-buyer realtor headshots?

Start with where the photo will live. Realtor headshots get cropped into everything — yard signs, business cards, email signatures, brokerage and Zillow profiles, just-sold graphics — so your primary frame needs a background quiet enough to survive a tiny crop. I don't work from a color menu. The studio is an open-floorplan loft, so I set up natural vignettes around it for a less staged look, alongside a collection of hand-painted backdrops and studio paper, and your wardrobe decides which one we use. Luxury agents tend to be better served by the richer, moodier end of that range; agents who work with first-time buyers, by something lighter and more open. If you have a specific look in mind — a brokerage color, a certain feel — tell me ahead of time so it's set up when you arrive.

How much do realtor headshots cost in Chicago?

One finished realtor headshot with me is $750: the $500 session plus one $250 image, retouched and ready for signs, print, and online profiles. Brokerages photographing four or more agents can book team and group headshots instead.

Financial Advisor Headshots

Trust with money is the entire transaction. The frame has 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, not a fiduciary. Too cold and they never call. The line between the two is the whole job.

Entrepreneur Headshots

You're often the face on the pitch deck and the homepage — for now, you are the brand, full stop. The headshot has to carry the company's personality, not just your jawline. Scrappy and human, or polished and inevitable? That's a positioning decision, and it belongs in the frame on purpose, not by accident.

Where entrepreneur headshots get used

The same frame has to work on your homepage, the team slide in your pitch deck, LinkedIn, a podcast guest page, a conference speaker bio, and the press kit a reporter asks for with an hour's notice. Because every purchased image is licensed for unlimited promotional use, you never go back for permission when an investor deck or a publication needs it. If you already know where your face will live, bring that list to the pre-session conversation; it decides whether you need one great frame or a small set with range. If you need a full image library — working shots, on-location, the whole brand — that's personal branding.

Entrepreneurs I've photographed

Founders and executives who have trusted me with their portraits include INWK CEO Eric Belcher, JB Training founder Brad Karsh, ISSA's John Barrett, HiBid CEO Pat McCusker, Loren Stanton of Stanton Inc., TurnIt's Eric Broughton, and architect Shankar Nair. Different companies, different stages, different reads — which is the point. A founder raising money and a founder selling to enterprise buyers need different faces on the homepage, and deciding which one you are comes before any lighting decision.

Attorney and Lawyer Headshots

The opposite of big-firm law. A person in trouble — scared, out of their depth — has to look at your face and feel they can call you. Warmth is the conversion lever here, not intimidation. The read isn't I will destroy your opponent; it's I will take care of this, and I will take care of you.

What should attorneys wear for lawyer headshots?

A well-cut suit or blazer in navy, charcoal, or a deep neutral, over a solid shirt or blouse, is the foundation for almost any practice. The tie is the real decision: attorneys who spend their days in a courtroom are one of the few groups still wearing one, and it reads as courtroom and institution. If you're not in front of a judge, an open collar or a softer blazer reads as approachable counsel and won't date the photo as fast. Bring both if you're unsure, and we'll decide together which one sounds like you.

How attorney headshots differ by practice area

Family law, personal injury, and criminal defense clients are usually calling on one of the worst days of their year, so the frame leads with warmth. Corporate and transactional clients are hiring judgment under pressure, so the frame can carry more stillness and authority. I've made attorney headshots for Chicago firms across that whole range, including Kirkland & Ellis, Sidley Austin, Mayer Brown, McDermott Will & Emery, Beermann LLP, and Minsky, McCormick & Hallagan, as well as McEntee Law Group. Partners who need to match an existing firm roster are better served by corporate headshots.

Where lawyer headshots get used

Your firm bio page, Google Business Profile, Avvo, Justia, Martindale-Hubbell, Super Lawyers, LinkedIn, CLE and conference speaker pages, and the occasional news quote — each crops your photo differently, and several render it as a small circle or square. The frame needs enough room around your head and shoulders to survive a tight circle crop and a wide bio banner from the same file. Every purchased image is licensed for unlimited promotional use, so a directory or a publication never needs a separate permission.

Doctor Headshots

Bedside manner, photographed. Patients choose on will this person be kind to me when I'm vulnerable long before they evaluate a single credential. The frame has to lead with reassurance — competence is assumed; warmth is what gets them in the door. I've photographed physicians with Northwestern Medicine Physician Network, University of Chicago Medicine, and Advocate Medical Group.

Consultant Headshots

You are the methodology. There's no product behind you, no firm name doing the selling — there's you, and whether someone looks at your face and thinks that's a person I'd take advice from and pay a premium to. The read has to carry authority and approachability at once, which is the hardest balance to strike and the one that matters most.

How a business headshot session works

1
The conversation first
Before the camera comes out, we talk about who your clients are and what they need to feel when they land on your face. That conversation is half of what you're paying for — it's what turns a nice photo into a headshot that actually works. Text me reference images while we plan; some of my favorite sessions started as a text thread of closet photos and one question: this one or this one?
2
Studio or on-location
Sessions run in the West Loop studio, or on-location when your space is part of the story. I direct the entire time — no guessing what your face is doing — with on-screen review as we go, so you leave knowing we got it.
3
Gallery and selection
Before the session ends, we sit down and review the images together. You mark your favorites, and if anything's missing, we keep shooting. Your private online gallery is up within 24 hours. You choose the images you want, and I deliver them fully retouched 7 days after you choose.

What Chicago business owners say

I'd recently launched my own practice after years at a large firm and needed imagery that positioned me as independent without looking like I was either still playing the big-firm role or visibly trying not to. That's a genuinely difficult balance — I'd seen other attorneys get it wrong in both directions. The images communicate exactly the right level of authority and accessibility for the clients I want to attract, and several have mentioned the photos specifically when explaining why they reached out.

Catherine N.

Managing Attorney

After years at a large consulting firm I went independent, and quickly realized my existing headshots communicated 'employee' rather than 'trusted advisor' — a subtle but real distinction that sophisticated clients pick up on immediately. I needed something that projected confidence and credibility without the visual weight of a large institution behind me. The images have become central to how I introduce myself to prospective clients, and more than one has referenced them before we've even had a conversation.

Alexis M.

Management Consultant

People searching for a therapist are often in a vulnerable state, and the photo on my Psychology Today profile is frequently the first thing they encounter before deciding whether to reach out. I needed something warm and trustworthy rather than clinically polished — therapist headshots that look like corporate portraits actively undermine the purpose. Michael understood that register immediately and the images have directly contributed to a meaningful increase in initial inquiries since I launched my practice.

DNP

Dr. Nadia P.

Licensed Clinical Psychologist

Read more in my full collection of client reviews.

How much do business headshots cost in Chicago?

Business headshots in Chicago with me cost a $500 session fee plus $250 for each image you choose, so one finished headshot is $750. Everything is à la carte because every session is built around what you need, not a package.

The directed shoot, with unlimited wardrobe changes, backgrounds, and time
A pre-session conversation about your clients and how you need to be read
Studio session in the West Loop, or on-location within Chicago city limits ($500 on-location fee) where your space is part of the brand
A private online gallery of usually 300 to 600 frames, up within 24 hours, to choose from
Each purchased image fully retouched and delivered 7 days after you choose, sized for your website, social, speaking kit, print, and press, and licensed for unlimited promotional use with no per-use fees
Optional, à la carte: a hair and makeup artist ($300, a full face of makeup plus hair touch-ups) and 24-hour rush delivery ($100 per image)

How long does a business headshot session take?

As long as it takes — there is no time limit on a session, and I mean that. Most people run out of steam around 90 minutes; experienced clients who know exactly what they want sometimes go to about 150; no session has ever passed two and a half hours. Because the clock isn't running, we can try the second jacket, the other background, and the framing you weren't sure about, and still land the one frame that has to be great. Any specific framing — three-quarter, tighter, wider, seated — is available on request. The goal is getting you what you need, not fitting you into a format.

What makes a headshot business appropriate?

A business-appropriate headshot shows your face clearly and evenly lit, in clothing your clients would expect to see you in, against a background that doesn't compete with you — and it looks like you do today. Beyond that, appropriate depends on who is hiring you. A litigator, a realtor, and a startup founder can each have a correct business headshot that looks nothing like the other two, because each one has to match what a specific client needs to feel before calling. The common failure isn't a wrong background. It's a photo that's accurate for the wrong audience, or flattering enough that it's no longer accurate at all. That's why every session starts with a conversation about your clients before the camera comes out.

What should you wear for a business headshot?

Wear what you'd wear to the most important client meeting of your year, then make it one notch simpler. Solid mid-tone colors — navy, charcoal, deep green, burgundy, soft blue — photograph cleanly and hold up at thumbnail size. Avoid busy patterns, large logos, shiny fabrics, and statement jewelry; anything the eye lands on before your face is working against you. Fit matters more than label: the shoulders and collar are most of what a headshot shows. Get a haircut a week ahead rather than the day before. If you wear glasses every day, wear them in your headshot — glare is my problem to solve, not yours; anti-reflective lenses help, and retouching usually handles what's left. Then bring options. Wardrobe changes are unlimited, the studio's full bathroom doubles as a private changing room, and there's a steamer on hand, so nothing has to arrive perfect. A hair and makeup artist is available as an add-on (see the cost list above).

Can ChatGPT or an AI generator make your business headshot?

It can make a picture of someone who looks a lot like you, and that is the problem. A business headshot exists to start trust before the first meeting. When the person who walks into the coffee meeting doesn't match the face on the website, the trust breaks at exactly the moment you needed it. AI generators smooth skin, reshape features, and invent lighting and clothing that never existed, so the result reads as generic. For a placeholder on a profile nobody visits, that may be fine. For the homepage of a business where you are the product — your practice, your listings, your firm — the photo has to be evidence, not an illustration. That's the standard behind every frame I make: true, not flattering.

Where can you get business headshots in Chicago?

My studio is at 212 N. Sangamon Street, Studio 4B, in Chicago's West Loop at Lake and Sangamon. The Morgan station on the Green and Pink Lines is steps away, and there's valet parking across the street at the Equinox, 201 N. Sangamon. Most of my business headshots in Chicago are made there. When your office, shop, or listing is part of the story, I bring the session to you anywhere within Chicago city limits for a $500 on-location fee; there's no minimum room size, and a bright office with floor-to-ceiling windows may need only one light. Clients include the vendor loyalty programs at Northwestern University and UIC, exclusive work with UChicago Booth and Northwestern Kellogg, and agents from dozens of real estate brokerages. Booking a group? See team and group headshots.

Built for owners and operators

17 years: photographing Chicago's business owners, founders, and solo professionals
10,000+ people: photographed across nearly every profession in the city
$500: session fee, with individual images at $250 each
24 hours: delivery for your private online gallery

Frequently asked questions about business headshots

What's the one thing people don't realize about their headshot?

That they're optimizing for the wrong photo. Almost everyone walks in wanting the best picture ever taken of them — and that's the trap. The best photo of you and the most-like-you photo aren't the same image, and when they diverge, the flattering-but-not-quite-you shot is the one that costs you. When you're the brand, the headshot is a promise your actual face has to keep. Oversell it and every first meeting opens with a tiny disappointment — the room recalibrating to the real you. Nail the likeness and you've built trust before you've said a word. Trust is the whole transaction in your work; the headshot's job is to start it, not to write a check your face can't cash.

Do you have experience working with C-suite executives?

Yes — and the more useful answer is what that work taught me: there's no single executive look. The read a CEO needs is not the read a founder needs is not the read a managing partner needs. A photographer with one signature style can only really serve the people that style happens to flatter; everyone else gets bent to fit the look. I work the other way around — I read the person in front of the camera and the rooms they're walking into, then adapt the lighting, direction, and tone to them. The chameleon part is the actual skill. If all my work looked the same, that would be the tell that I was photographing my style instead of photographing you.

Will you help me choose the final shots?

Yes, and I'll be honest — this is the part I'm genuinely good at. We review everything together on-screen at the end of the session, and I'll tell you which frames are working and why, in plain terms. You're the final call, always, but you're not alone with a wall of near-identical thumbnails trying to spot the difference. The one thing I'll gently steer you away from is crowd-sourcing it to your group chat afterward — well-meaning friends will talk you out of the right shot every time. Let's land it in the room, together, while the read is still fresh.

My face is my brand — how often should I update this?

Your headshot should look like you, full stop — that's the only real rule, and the one most people break. The trigger isn't the calendar, it's change: new haircut, went gray, grew the beard, lost the beard, changed your glasses, new role, lost a lot of weight — I've made a lot of fresh headshots lately for people whose GLP-1 results left their old photo behind. If the person in the photo and the person at the coffee meeting are running on different software, the photo is costing you trust at the exact moment you're trying to build it. When you're the brand, an out-of-date headshot isn't vanity. It's a broken promise. If nothing has changed, every 18 months is a good fallback.

Do I need a bunch of different looks, or is one enough?

One look: clean, simple, you show up everywhere as the same recognizable person — which is its own kind of brand discipline and works beautifully for a lot of people. A few looks: a warmer frame for the about page, a sharper one for the speaker bio, something more editorial for press — useful when your face shows up in genuinely different contexts. The honest answer for most people is to start with the one shot that has to be great, and add range only where you can name the specific place it'll live. I'd rather you have one frame you'd put on a billboard than six you feel lukewarm about.

Can I bring options — and run them by you first?

Please, on both counts. Bring more than you think you need; we'll build looks from the combinations, and having options in the room beats wishing you'd packed the other shirt. And yes — text me photos before the session, or even while you're standing in the closet. I'm happy to weigh in before you pack. This is a collaboration, not a test, and the people who show up prepared get more out of the hour.

I'm looking to get my whole team done — is this the right place?

That's a different setup with its own logistics — matched lighting across everyone, on-location options, new hires matched down the line. Team sessions start at $1,200. Head over to my team and group headshots page and I'll take it from there.

What is a three-quarter headshot pose?

It's a pose where your body turns roughly 45 degrees away from the camera while your face turns back toward the lens. It narrows the shoulders, adds depth, and reads as more relaxed and confident than standing square to the camera, which tends to look like an ID photo. Photographers also use three-quarter for a waist-up crop, which shows more posture and hands. Either version, or any other framing you need, is available on request.

Should I smile in my business headshot?

Usually, yes — but not the smile you give a phone camera. I photograph a range, from a closed-mouth hint to a real laugh, and the right one depends on who's calling you: warmth wins for a family lawyer or a first-time-buyer realtor, while more stillness can carry a litigator or a founder pitching investors. What never works is a forced grin; it reads as nervous, and directing it out of you is my job.

What if I'm not photogenic?

Photogenic mostly means comfortable, and comfort is directable. I direct the whole session — where your weight goes, what your chin does, when to breathe — so you're never guessing. Most people who say they aren't photogenic have simply never been directed; they've only been pointed at.