Boston Headshot Photographer — Craig William Johnston Studio
Your headshot is in every room you’re not in.
Executive & editorial headshots·SoWa, Boston·By appointment
"Craig takes such profoundly human and intimate portraits. He has a real intuition for this medium — it's actually kind of startling." — Carlos Dengler | Founding Member of Interpol
Your headshot is making an argument about you. Make sure it’s winning.
It's on your LinkedIn before the call. On the firm's website before the meeting. On the event page before the keynote. It's making a first impression — every single day — and you're not there to correct it.
Most headshots are wrong. Not technically — compositionally, expressively wrong. They look like someone performing "professional" for a camera rather than someone you'd actually want to work with.
I work differently. Private studio. One person at a time. I'm not managing a queue — I'm paying attention to you. The goal is a headshot that looks like you on your best day, not like a stock photo of a role you're playing.
Selected work
How it works
15 minutes. We talk about what you need the image to do — not what size file you want. This is where the session actually starts.
60–90 minutes in the private SoWa studio. 2–3 wardrobe looks. Direction throughout. Nothing to "do" except show up.
A curated gallery of your strongest frames, presented at a follow-up review. You choose what you need. Images are licensed individually.
Professional headshots in Boston
A professional headshot isn't one photo — it's the version of you on LinkedIn before the call, on the firm's leadership page before the meeting, on the conference badge before the keynote. Most professional headshots in Boston come out the same way: gray backdrop, arms crossed, smile on three. They're fine. Fine is the problem — fine is the one nobody remembers.
Every headshot here is shot one person at a time, in the private SoWa studio, with real direction the whole way through. Because "just be natural" has never once helped anyone in front of a camera.
Headshots
A headshot has to work everywhere your name appears — the firm's site, the bio page, the conference program. Shot here in the SoWa studio, or on location if that's simpler, and lit so the frame still holds up next to one made a year from now.
Executive & LinkedIn headshots
An executive headshot carries more weight than people admit — it's the first read on judgment, warmth, and whether someone wants you in the room. A LinkedIn headshot done right isn't about looking polished; it's about looking like the person your reputation already says you are. Founders, partners, board members, and anyone still using the photo from two jobs ago.
Acting & creative headshots
Actors, musicians, and performers need a headshot that reads as you — not a casting type. Acting headshots in Boston are shot the way editorial portraits are: real expression, real presence, the frame a director actually responds to. Bring two looks. We'll figure out the third when you panic about the second.
Pricing
Every sitting is priced to what you need the image to do. Tell me what it's for and you'll have a number on the call.
A 50% deposit secures the date.