Ready for Your Close-Up?
In collaboration with the Career Development Center, Academic Affairs, and Facilities, Student Success has brought a headshot photo booth to campus. All community members are welcome to use the booth to take professional headshots or ID card photos, free of charge.
The Iris Headshot Photo Booth was installed on the second floor of the Walker Building, near Suite 211, on March 12. The booth provides studio-quality lighting, advanced cameras, and robust editing tools to produce high-quality digital portraits. Its user-friendly design features an intuitive interface and a life-size monitor, making it accessible for anyone to achieve professional results.
A committee consisting of representatives from Enrollment, the Career Development Center, Academic Affairs, and Facilities reviewed various photo booth options. After visiting other colleges and universities that were using this technology, the team confirmed the Iris Headshot Photo Booth as the best option for our community.
The committee chose the Walker Building as its home because the top priority was accessibility. Users can access the space at their convenience without needing an appointment or a key. And because alumni already have access to the Iwasaki Library, they will be able to use the photo booth as well.
To date, 506 unique users have completed 937 sittings. About 35 staff have taken advantage of the photo booth so far. The average time per session is 2 minutes and 36 seconds.
Anthony Rodriguez (Student Success) was one of the first people to try out the photo booth. He hadn’t had professional headshots taken in over two years, so he was excited to be able to take updated photos for free. He said, “It’s such an important offering for our brilliant students as they launch into their professional careers, and also for colleagues and alumni who want to keep their professional materials up to date with ease.”
It was a no-brainer for Elizabeth Apple (Iwasaki Library) to try the photo booth, because it lives right outside of her office. She was impressed by how user-friendly the booth was. She appreciated the suggestions offered for different poses. “They helped me feel more comfortable and confident in front of the camera. If you’re like me and sometimes find posing a bit awkward, this totally took the pressure off,” she said.
Matt Finn (Academic Affairs) needed an updated headshot for a local theater production that he is currently performing in. So he stopped by the booth the other day on the way to rehearsal. He said, “The process was so extremely fast and easy, and the booth has frosted glass so you have privacy to be yourself.”
Jade Carter-Smalley (Student Success) needed a new headshot for the Student Success website. She spent about six minutes in the booth, trying out all of the editing features. She retook her photo a few times and then made edits, enhancing the lighting and removing blemishes. “All the prompts they give you really do help you along the way to ensure your picture is great,” she said. “After you take your pictures, you receive an email almost immediately, which is really important if you’re in a rush to get headshots completed.”
Sharon Duffy (Student Success) was the leader of the group that chose the Iris Headshot Photo Booth and is the booth’s administrator. She shared that the response to the booth has been overwhelmingly positive. “The energy around the headshot photo booth has been incredible! Students, faculty, staff, and alums are loving it, and it’s amazing to see their joy, confidence, and empowerment as they update their professional images. This kind of positive response is exactly what we hoped for,” she said.
Want to see how it works before you head over to Walker? Watch this recent Student Success video of a student doing a demo. If you have questions about the photo booth, please contact Sharon Duffy at sharon_duffy@emerson.edu.
Nancy Howell (Communications and Marketing)