Bad Styling
Styling is essential when it comes to legal headshots. More often than not, law firms will have outdated headshots that end up looking like high school senior photos. Take a look at your competitor’s team pages and take note of their styling.
Do their headshots seem casual? In the legal field, professionalism is key. Your legal headshots should give clients the feeling that your team is professional and confident or they might not want to work with you. Lawyers should be dressed appropriately and in a setting that is consistent with your office and your company image.
Your headshots should also reflect your law firm branding. Like we mentioned, law firm photography can look dated, and bookshelves are often used as a backdrop for legal portraits. If your branding conveys that you work in a professional, modern office—your legal portraits should also reflect that in the styling.
Generic Stock Photos
Generic stock photos are a crime that many law firms are guilty of using. Generic stock photos almost never match law firm branding and can cause websites to appear disjointed. At best using the same stock photos as all of your competitors will cause you to blend in—at worst, it could be misrepresentational about the reality of your firm and could even create the appearance of “phoniness.” There is nothing original or branded about generic stock photos—which is why law firms should think about getting custom stock photography for their website and marketing materials.
There are even Bar Association rules in some states that say that your stock photos must include current lawyers and staff, so that is another incentive for having a complete photo library that includes custom stock photos.
Consistency
When looking at competitor websites, you should take into consideration how many locations their firm has. Consistency is incredibly important for large firms because having a consistent look will show clients that you are united and one team. Having different branding for each branch will give clients the impression that their firm is not connected.
The Gittings process ensures that your legal photography will be on-brand and professional. Our team will work with you to find the perfect style for your lawyer portraits and custom stock photos, and will even set up a pilot session to give you a real-time look at how certain styling will look with your actual lawyers.
Contact Gittings today to discuss how we can provide the best legal headshots for your law firm. To view our diverse portfolio of lawyer portraits, click here.