Headshots & personal branding
A headshot
that looks
like you.
However you want to be seen
Lit or naturalYour call
Studio or your deskAny location
Clean or in contextBackground to suit
One or the whole floorRolling slots
A headshot represents you and your brand, so it shouldn’t look like everyone else’s. Most people arrive convinced they’re bad in front of a camera — that’s the job. I direct you through it, so you don’t have to know what to do with your hands.
About the service
Headshot photography in Manchester & across the North West
I provide professional headshot photography in Manchester and throughout the North West for businesses, entrepreneurs, creatives and corporate teams who need modern, high-quality portraits. Sessions run at your offices, on location, or wherever suits — across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, the Fylde Coast, Liverpool, Preston, Leeds and the wider UK.
Long gone are the days when a headshot was something taken quickly against a plain white wall. A headshot represents you and your brand. It can be lit or natural. It can sit against a clean background or in a real working environment. Whether you need a single portrait, a new starter photographed to match the rest of the team, or an entire office covered in a day, the aim is the same: a picture that looks like you on a good day.
Twenty-five years behind the camera
I've spent over two decades photographing people for commercial clients, and most of that experience goes into the half hour you spend in front of the lens. Almost everyone arrives convinced they photograph badly. They don't — they've simply never been directed. My job is to talk you through it so you never have to work out what to do with your hands, and to know when the frame is right rather than shooting hundreds and hoping.
Corporate & team bookings
Team shoots run as rolling slots through the working day, so no one loses more than half an hour and the business keeps running. Everyone is photographed with consistent lighting, framing and background, which is what stops a company website looking like twelve pictures taken by twelve different people over five years. Per-person rates reduce for bulk commercial bookings — tell me the numbers and I'll quote.
Beyond the standard headshot
Alongside business, corporate and LinkedIn headshots, I shoot personal branding and environmental portraits, conference and speaker portraits, press and editorial portraits, and actor headshots to the conventions casting directors expect. Files are delivered individually retouched and sized for both web and print, so the same set works on LinkedIn, your website, a press release and a printed programme.
Commissions regularly take me across Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Lancashire, Cheshire, the Ribble Valley, Cumbria, Yorkshire and London, and I travel nationally and internationally for clients who need consistent photography across multiple sites.
Nobody remembers the camera. They remember whether they look like themselves.
Brett Harkness
Photographer
Common questions
Headshot sessions — what to expect
How long does a headshot session take?
A standard session runs 30 minutes. That's long enough to try a couple of looks and get several usable frames, and short enough that you can fit it around a working day.
What should I wear for a headshot?
Solid colours photograph better than busy patterns, and mid-tones better than pure white or black. Bring two or three tops so we have options — jackets read as more formal, knitwear as more approachable. Whatever you'd wear to meet a client you want to impress is usually right.
Where does the shoot happen?
At your offices, on location, or somewhere that suits — anywhere across Manchester, the North West and the UK. Shooting in your own workspace also gives you environmental portraits alongside clean headshots.
Can you photograph a whole team in one day?
Yes. Team shoots run as rolling slots through the day, so people come down when they're free and nobody loses more than half an hour. Everyone is lit and framed the same way, so the finished set looks like one considered piece of work.
How much do corporate headshots cost?
It depends on how many people, where, and how many final images each person needs. Per-person rates reduce for bulk commercial bookings — send me the numbers and a rough date and I'll come back with a price.
When do I get the pictures?
We review the shoot together on screen before you leave and you choose your favourites. Retouched files then arrive sized for both web and print.
Start here
Let’s do this.
Option one
Just me
One person, thirty minutes, three retouched images.
Book it →Option two
The whole team
Rolling slots at your offices. Reduced rate per person.
Get a quote →Option three
Something else
Branding, press, conference, actors — tell me the brief.
Talk it through →Or just call 077666 04273 info@brettharknessphotography.com Manchester & UK-wide