By profession
Dentist headshots
A dental practice page is read by people who are already nervous. The portraits are part of the reassurance.
Reassuring without being clinical
Dental practices use two portrait conventions: clinical wear, which signals competence, and smart casual, which signals approachability. Either works; the failure is the severe expression, because an anxious patient reads a stern face as a warning.
The composition that works is bright, evenly lit and warm: a real smile, both eyes visible, and a clean background. The clinical details — the chair, the equipment — belong in a separate photograph of the practice.
- Clinical wear or smart casual, consistent across the team.
- Bright, even light — the opposite of the surgery's overhead lighting.
- A genuine smile, which is the entire point of the photo.
- Clean background: plain wall, or a bright reception area.
The practice page as a set
A practice's team page is a buying decision aid: patients choose a dentist partly on whether the team looks kind. A page of portraits in different light and different years works against that, even when every individual photo is fine.
Consistency is what makes a small practice look established, and it is the reason to apply one style to the whole team rather than collecting whatever photos exist.
- One style for every portrait on the page.
- Same background tone across the team.
- Same crop and framing.
- Include the whole team, not only the dentists.
Producing a practice's portraits
Dental teams are busy and rarely in the same room at the same time, which is why practice pages are usually out of date. Applying one style to photos each person already has removes the scheduling problem entirely.
The output is a page where the receptionist, the hygienist and the dentists all look like they belong to the same practice — which is exactly what a nervous patient is looking for.
How it works
Three steps from a phone photo to a finished image
Upload your photos
Six to ten selfies with different angles and expressions.
Pick a style
Business, editorial, black and white, cinematic — or a profession set.
Download the set
A consistent batch of portraits, ready for your profile.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What should a dentist wear in a headshot?
Either clinical wear or smart casual, as long as the whole team uses the same convention. Clinical wear signals competence, smart casual signals approachability, and the severe expression is the only real failure mode.
Why does a dental practice need team photos?
Because patients choose a practice partly on whether the team looks kind. A team page with portraits in different light and different years undermines that, even when each individual photo is fine.
How do we photograph a dental team that is never all in the building?
Apply one style to photos each person already has. Scheduling is what stops practices updating their page; removing the group session removes the problem.
Should the practice or the equipment be in the background?
For team portraits, a clean background works better. Photograph the surgery separately for the practice page — mixing the two means the portraits compete with the equipment.
Try it on your next photo
Free to download on the App Store. iPhone and iPad only.