Your Staff Is Moving On.
Give Them Something That Goes With Them.
They are young. The pay is modest. And by September they are applying for the next thing. A professional headshot is a small investment that follows them for years. You can offer it this summer without adding anything meaningful to your workload.
The Offer at a Glance
You book one block of time. Scott Parker Photo comes to you, sets up on-site, and works through your staff in an organized rotation. No off-site logistics. No half-day lost to transportation.
Each staff member walks away with two professionally retouched images, delivered as JPEGs via Dropbox within a week of the shoot.
The camp coordinates one conversation. Everything else is handled.
Why It's Worth It to the Camp
Your staff works hard. This says you noticed.
The people who come back season after season are not coming back for the paycheck. They come back because they felt like they mattered. A professional headshot is a small investment that says something larger: we think you have a future, and we want to help you look ready for it.
It also helps the camp. When your staff photos on the website look like a real team, parents notice. A polished, consistent set of staff images signals that your program is organized and professional. That is worth something.
And the person doing the shooting matters. Scott Parker Photo specializes in headshots. Not portraits, not events, not whatever needs photographing that day. Headshots specifically. Scott is a Mentor with Headshot Crew, one of the leading headshot training organizations in the country, founded by photographer Peter Hurley. He photographs several hundred corporate and executive headshots every year. Your staff will be photographed by someone who does this every day, not someone who was already on-site for other reasons.
The effort required from you is close to zero. You provide a space and a time block. The rest runs itself.
Why It Beats the Usual Camp Option
The typical camp headshot is a phone photo against a wall, or whatever got grabbed at orientation. Some staff will do something smarter: find the best photo of themselves from the summer, run it through an AI background remover, and call it a headshot. The result looks like what it is. Color cast from the original environment. Edges that do not quite work. The subtle signals that tell a recruiter or hiring manager something was manipulated.
That matters more than it used to. Companies are paying closer attention to AI-modified images. They want to see the actual person, not a version that has been processed into something else. A staff member showing up to a job search with an AI-stripped camp photo is starting at a disadvantage before anyone has read their resume.
A clean, professionally lit headshot removes all of that. Sharp. Consistent. Nothing to explain or apologize for.
The other thing that matters is what happens during the shoot itself. Getting a good headshot out of someone who is not a model, who is self-conscious, who has ten minutes before they need to be back at their activity, is a specific skill. It is roughly half of what Scott teaches other headshot photographers through Headshot Crew. The executives he photographs all year are real people feeling rushed and uncomfortable, the same as anyone. Getting them to a frame that actually looks like them at their best is the job. That is what your staff will get.
How It Works
There are three steps. None of them require much from you.
Before the shoot
One short conversation to confirm the date, the space, and how to organize the staff rotation. Everything is sorted in advance so the day runs without surprises.
On-site
Scott arrives an hour before the first staff member to set up. The setup needs a 10 by 10 foot space, though 8 by 10 works if that is what is available. A spare room, a corner of a common area, anywhere with a bit of breathing room. Indoors works best. If your site is better suited to outdoor shooting, that is worth a conversation beforehand.
Each staff member needs between five and fifteen minutes in front of the camera. Relaxed people move quickly. Nervous people get the time they need. Total time on site depends on how many staff are participating, and that gets sorted in the planning conversation.
After
Finished images go directly to camp administration via Dropbox within a week. You deliver these professional images as a benefit to each staff member.
Staff participation is voluntary. In practice, once the first few people come back looking good, the rest tend to find their way over.
Pricing / What's Included
Pricing is a flat fee based on headcount. The minimum is $1,000, which covers up to 20 staff members.
Every participant receives two professionally retouched images delivered as ready-to-use JPEGs via Dropbox within a week of the shoot. Retouching is included. There are no surprise costs at delivery.
Additional retouching is available if a staff member wants it. That is handled separately and does not affect the camp's fee.
A 50% retainer holds the date. The remainder is due after the shoot.
For camps with more than 20 staff, pricing is straightforward. Get in touch and I will send you a number based on your headcount.
A Few Things Camp Directors Usually Ask
Does this eat into program time?
Each staff member is away from their activity for five to fifteen minutes. Scheduling the shoot during a transition block or around a meal means the disruption to programming is minimal. Total time on site depends on headcount and gets confirmed in the planning conversation.
What if staff don't want to participate?
Participation is optional. You announce it as a perk and people opt in. There is no pressure and no awkward moment for anyone who passes. In practice, once the first few people come back with their images, the holdouts tend to come around.
What about space?
The setup works in any standard indoor space, 10 by 10 feet preferred, 8 by 10 if that is what is available. A spare room, a corner of a common area, anywhere with a bit of breathing room. Outdoor shooting can work but needs to be discussed in advance.
[NEEDS REAL INPUT: any additional notes on space flexibility or site-specific considerations.]
What about weather?
[NEEDS REAL INPUT: weather contingency policy.]
When do staff get their images?
Within a week of the shoot. Images go directly to each staff member via Dropbox. You are not the middleman.
What does the camp have to do on the day of the shoot?
Provide the space and let staff know the schedule. Scott handles setup, the shoot, retouching, and delivery. The camp's job on the day is essentially done once the room is available.
What if a staff member is unhappy with their images?
[NEEDS REAL INPUT: your revision or reshoot policy.]
Ready to Put This on the Calendar?
Your staff is heading into job searches, grad school applications, and career moves. A professional headshot is something concrete you can give them this summer. It costs less than a raise and follows them for years.
The next step is a short conversation. No commitment, no pressure. Just the details.
A Note From Scott
I learned to develop black and white film at Camp Kawanhee in Weld, Maine. I was thirteen or fourteen. I did not think of it as the start of anything at the time. The darkroom was just a rainy-day activity built into the back of the nature building, on the other side of the lapidary room.
I came back to Kawanhee as a counselor through my college years and into my twenties, running kayaking, sailing, waterskiing, wood shop, and the Leadership Training Program for Junior Counselors, depending on the summer. Those years gave me something I did not fully understand until much later. The colleagues I worked alongside became a network that has followed me through my entire career. Former campmates have made introductions, acted as references, and sent work my way throughout the years. Last month, a camp alum reached out to hire me to shoot production stills for his film.
During those same years I was competing nationally in whitewater slalom kayaking, twice qualifiying for Olympic Team Trials. Because it is a niche sport with limited funding, I learned early that I could trade photography and video to equipment sponsors in exchange for the gear I needed to train and compete.
When my competitive career wound down, photography stayed. I did freelance work, spent years on the photographer call list at Ethan Allen Furniture’s 5-set studio, and eventually built my own headshot, portrait, and fashion photography business. Since 2020 that business has been my full focus.
In 2022, I reached out to Kawanhee to talk about their digital archives. The camp had recently celebrated its hundredth season and had been working on a museum project for a decade before. I had watched archivists sort through decades of film and prints, and I wanted to raise the question of what was being done with the digital photos that had taken over from film. That conversation led somewhere unexpected. They had not yet hired a photographer for the 2022 season. My nephew was attending camp that summer. I said yes, and came back for 2023 as well.
I am not pitching you this service from the outside. I understand what a summer camp is, what it asks of its staff, and what it can give them in return. I have seen it from every angle. Not every camp has the same history. But, every camp can support their staff in meaningful ways. That is why this particular project matters to me.