Portraits, Not Just Headshots – UESI 2025 Pipelines Conference
This August I had the chance to set up the “Headshot Café” at the UESI 2025 Pipelines Conference in Tampa, hosted by the American Society of Civil Engineers. It was a fun idea on paper, but in practice it turned into something really special. Every time the Café was open, there was a line out the door!
I’ve always preferred to think of these sessions as portraits, not headshots. A headshot is quick and transactional. A portrait—no matter how brief—means making a connection with the person in front of the camera. Even if I only had a minute or two, I wanted each subject to feel seen, comfortable, and confident. Judging by the steady stream of attendees, I think people picked up on that.
And honestly, the fun for me continued after the shoot. I photographed over 160 people across the conference. As much as I would have loved to share every single favorite, I had to edit it down. The problem? I liked far too many! Even after culling hard, I still ended up with a gallery of seventy portraits—each one with something I couldn’t let go of. Going through them, I kept finding those little surprises: the off-moments, the giggles, the raised eyebrows, and the flashes of humour that remind you these “rough, tough, we-build-the-big-stuff” engineers are just people with big personalities and great stories. I rarely have so much fun in the edit as I did with this group.
It was brilliant to collaborate again with Pilotmoon Films—Joel Malizia and Dave Alison—alongside Rob Salo at Molecular Media. Their energy and professionalism make every project run smoother and more fun. Big thanks as well to Ryana Ali from UESI and ASCE President Victor Fernandez-Cuervo for supporting the concept and helping bring it to life.
The best part? Seeing the response from the ASCE community. The official @asce_hq Instagram account even gave me a shout-out: “Not a question but we love Steve. Yes we absolutely do! Thank you again to @steveboxallphotography and @asce_uesi for hosting the headshot workshop!” That kind of feedback means the world.
I can’t share them all here, but here are just a handful of my favorites. The full gallery is now live at steveboxall.com/asce, and I’ll be posting everything as a photo-bomb-like-no-other over the next few weeks on my Instagram.
At the end of the day, it wasn’t just about updating LinkedIn photos—it was about giving civil engineers and conference attendees a moment in the spotlight, capturing them at their best. And that, to me, is what portrait photography is really about.
“Not a question but we love Steve. Yes we absolutely do! Thank you again to @steveboxallphotography and @asce_uesi for hosting the headshot workshop!”
