Innocean USA was revamping its website, with a new section dedicated to showcasing some of the friendly faces across the agency. To keep in line with the aesthetics and art direction of the site, we needed something more polished than our typical orientation-day headshot. At the same time, this collection of photos couldn’t feel overly staged and orchestrated, either. We wanted the unique personalities of each employee to shine through. We wanted the photos to convey a natural and genuine vibe.

We enlisted the help of one of our own creatives—ACD/copywriter by day, hobbyist iPhone photographer by weekend—to execute the new agency headshots. Leveraging his existing familiarity and rapport with Innocean’s employees, he conducted the shoots with a bit of an improv spirit, telling stories, fabricating absurd scenarios and inviting his photo subjects to participate with him in the banter. Many of the moments and expressions caught on camera were the natural reactions and consequences of Brian’s interaction with the employees being photographed. All images were shot entirely on iPhone 6 using the native camera and edited using the VSCO Cam app, with no additional equipment used—all lighting was natural.

If success for an agency photo shoot can be measured by how quickly employees approved their new photos for website use, this iPhone series hit it out of the park.