Real Estate Headshots for the Whole Brokerage: One Office Day, One Look for Every Agent
By Koby Sirkovich, Head PhotographerThe simplest way for a Toronto-area brokerage to get real estate headshots for every agent is one office day, with BusinessPortraits.ca photographing everyone to one standard so the whole office reads as one team. That matters most where the photos appear together, on the brokerage website and in the office's own marketing. Ontario also requires each agent's advertising to carry the brokerage's name, so every sign and profile presents the agent as part of the office. Because those places need different crops, from a tight profile circle to a waist-up sign, each agent receives a file they can crop for each of them. BusinessPortraits.ca has photographed more than 800 Canadian organizations since 2017, including RE/MAX, Royal LePage, and Century 21 offices, and the brief from brokerage offices has been consistent: one look, every agent.
Every agent runs their own calendar, and no two line up. The office books one day, and each agent takes a slot in it.
Organizing the day falls to whoever manages the office's marketing: the administrator, the agent who runs the office's social accounts, the broker of record, or a team leader.
For the organizer, the main tasks are securing a room, creating a schedule, and notifying the agents. We handle the photography and every file that comes after it.
Real estate headshots for a brokerage: how the office day works
We set up at your office anywhere in the GTA. Each agent gets a slot of about 20 minutes: a few minutes of photography, and the rest for settling in and reviewing the photos on a monitor beside the camera. We photograph every agent to the same standard and keep it on file for agents who join later.
We can photograph a roster of 20 agents in one day. For larger rosters, we shorten each agent's time at the review monitor, and offices with 50 or more agents can use our express format.
A 20-agent day
- 9:30 a.m.the first agent, after a 30-minute setup
- 12:00 noona 15-minute break
- 4:40 p.m.the last slot of the day
Why the whole roster should look like one team
A matched set matters most where agent photos appear together: the brokerage website, brochures, and team ads. Real estate adds its own reason: each agent's advertising must include the brokerage's name, so even a single sign or profile represents the office.
The brokerage's name is on every agent's advertising
The Real Estate Council of Ontario puts it plainly in Bulletin 5.1, Advertising requirements: "All advertising must include the name of the brokerage. This applies to all advertising by brokerages and agents, including agents working in teams. Agents are prohibited from advertising in any manner unless the brokerage is clearly and prominently identified." The bulletin counts print, websites, and social media as advertising, and notes that business cards carrying promotional statements may be too.
Franchise brands write the same rule into their own manuals. The RE/MAX brand manual, Brand Identity: Trademark and Graphic Standards, requires that "the full RE/MAX office name must appear prominently on all forms of communication and advertising materials such as property signs, business cards, newspaper ads, email signature blocks, etc."
One name on every board
Board to board, the agent changes. The line under the agent does not.
What one look means across 20 or more agents
One look means the same background, lighting, finish, and framing for every agent, set on the office day and kept on file. In a single office, one look needs nothing extra from you. Brokerages with several locations need more planning, which our guide to consistent headshots across several locations covers.
The agent's marketing comes out of the same set
The office standard still leaves the choice to each agent. Each agent picks their preferred portrait from their own online proof gallery, and the open image licence lets them use it on cards, websites, social profiles, and signs without asking us.
Who books the day, and who pays for it
The office books the day and decides who pays.
Whoever books is the client
The client is whoever books the day, whether that is the person who handles the office's marketing or a team leader. We send a single quote to whoever books.
On the office days we have photographed, the office has paid as one client rather than agent by agent, and team leaders have paid for their own teams.
What brokerage offices ask us for is consistency: every agent should look like part of one team.
Why one day beats 20 bookings
Our group discount follows the number of people we photograph in one day at a single location. On-location rates start at $226.98 per person, and single-person bookings do not qualify for the discount. Twenty agents get 35% off, or $147.54 per person, and a roster of 25 stays in that tier; the discount rises with headcount to 65% for 80 people or more. The pricing page has the full tier table and an estimator. All prices are subject to HST.
One day, one location, one discount tier
On-location rate from $226.98 per person.
One file for everything an agent will do with it
Agents use one photo in many places, so we deliver one file they can crop to all of them rather than one cut to a single size.
An agent's photo appears wherever their name does. CREA Café, from the Canadian Real Estate Association, notes where clients are likely to see it first: "Whether it's on your lawn signs or your REALTOR.ca profile photo, your headshot will likely be the first encounter a potential client has with your business." Agents themselves start with the website and business card and work outward:
- The brokerage website, where the roster reads as a set, and the business card.
- Social media profiles, where the photo is a small circle.
- Printed materials, from listing presentations to feature sheets.
- Signage, where the photo runs large and the franchise sets the rules.
Signs come with rules. The RE/MAX manual, page 28, permits associate photos "only on horizontal signs and on riders" and requires that "photos must be cropped at the waist or higher. No full body images are allowed." Signs may use a waist-up crop, while profile pictures are cropped tight around the face. We photograph each agent with extra space, so one file works for both. Each agent receives their chosen image retouched and at full resolution, with that space left in.
Our guides cover the size and resolution a printer needs and the crops a headshot has to survive, and what a headshot price includes explains the open image licence and the five years we keep every file.
Running the day at the office
We run the day at your office in time slots, and you finish your part before we arrive.
What the office provides
We need only a room with an electrical outlet, such as a boardroom or an empty office. Our guide to on-site setups shows the space we work in and what makes a room easier.
Booking the day in slots
Give each agent their own time slot so nobody waits. Our guide on scheduling order sets out a sequence that keeps the day moving.
What to send agents before the day
Send each agent the prep guide with their slot confirmation, and state what to expect: business attire, photographed against the office's background and lighting. Agents who know in advance arrive prepared, which keeps the day on schedule; matching the set is our job. Our guide on running or handing off a company headshot day covers the rest of the organizer's side.
When an agent joins after the office day
We photograph a new agent to the office standard, either on a return visit or at our studio. Most offices schedule new agents for the next office day to receive the group discount.
Rosters change all year as agents move between brokerages and as people enter and leave the profession. RECO's 2024 Annual Report records 6,329 new registration applications and 6,118 terminations in 2024, among 112,865 registrants at year's end. We keep the office standard on file, so an agent photographed in March and one photographed in October sit side by side on the website as one set.
Photographed months apart, to the standard on file
AprMayJunJulAugSepOct
NovDec
- Registrants at the close of 2024
- 112,865
- New registration applications in the year
- 6,329
- Terminations in the year
- 6,118
Source: RECO 2024 Annual Report. Moves between brokerages come on top of these figures.
Our guide to photographing new people between headshot days explains how the match works and when to book an individual session instead of waiting.
Questions brokerages ask about real estate headshots
How much do real estate headshots cost for a whole brokerage office?
For 20 agents photographed in one day on location, the rate starts at $147.54 per person, after a 35% group discount on the $226.98 base rate. Discounts range from 20% for two people to 65% for 80 or more. The pricing page lists every tier, our budgeting guide explains what moves the total, and all prices are subject to HST.
Who pays for the headshots on a brokerage headshot day?
The office decides. We issue one quote to whoever books, the office or a team leader, and any split of the cost among agents is the office's decision.
Can each agent have their own style, or does the whole office get one look?
The office sets one look for all agents: the same background, lighting, and framing. Each agent then picks their preferred image from their own proofs, so the website and signs read as one brokerage and every agent still makes their own choice.
What happens when a new agent joins after the office headshot day?
We photograph new agents to the office standard on file, either at our studio or during our next office visit, so their portrait sits beside the rest of the roster as one set. Our guide for people who join between headshot days explains when to book sooner.
Can a team leader book a headshot day just for their team?
Yes. A team within a brokerage can book its own day, with the team leader as the client. We photograph the team to the office's standard if it is on file with us, so the team matches the rest of the office. Ontario's RECO Bulletin 5.2 states that "all agents operating in a team trade on behalf of the brokerage where they are employed," which is why team advertising still carries the brokerage's name.
Where can agents use the headshots?
Agents can use their photo anywhere they advertise. Each file comes with an open image licence covering business cards, websites, social profiles, print, and signage, with no need to ask us. We archive every delivered file for five years from the session date. The terms are in our guide to what a headshot price includes.
What does the brokerage need to provide on the day?
Provide a room with an electrical outlet and a list of time slots, and send the prep guide to every agent. The detail is in our guides to office setups and scheduling.