Monday, April 30, 2007

Advanced Lawyer Photography for Dummies*

Class is in session. Today’s lesson: Successful photography for lawyer clients.

First and something to mind throughout the creative process: Lawyers are not a photogenic bunch. Alas, despite this misfortune of nature, they, like realtors, seem obsessed with pictures of themselves.

Here are a few tips to help you out. You’re an advanced class, one of my best, so I’ll go quick.

Lawyers want to convey rigidity, strength, dominance. They’re representatives of our no-nonsense legal system: Have them stand proud but perhaps with a slight “come hither” look in their eyes. Crossing arms further conveys confidence that a simple high school yearbook background might elide.

Lawyers are thought a cold, tough breed, sharks sporting suits but with worse manners. A bit of PR might be required of you by the firm. This friendly persona can be captured with the proper lighting--well, proper lighting and a bit of Photoshop. For tougher customers, try softening the border of your picture to reduce hard edges. Even better, get rid of edges altogether or place your subject between his/her office and the Twilight Zone.

Additionally, lawyers of all ilk take an oath (equivalent to doctors’ Hippocratic) to defend freedom. Freedom© being copyrighted by the U.S., what better way to display your love of the oath than to put a patriotic reminder of your nation behind you. Or, better yet, capture them volunteering at their local flag shop .

So, class, I hope you were taking notes. Your homework for next week: Generate a successful lawyer pic for one of your clients. For a reference, you can view representative examples of photographic excellence by following this and this link .

Class diss-missed.

Envy all people, let none annoy thee.

* Limited educational value. Primarily for our shared enjoyment and to justify my hours of looking through the results of “lawyer” on Google image search.

** Veiled Monty Python allusion.

3 comments:

AlegraMarcel said...

This blog is part of your job? I don't really understand your job. But your blog is thought provoking most of the time and humorously entertaining the rest of the time.

AlegraMarcel said...

P.S. You look good as a patriot!!!

farringer said...

Re: My Job
Consumer Justice Group is what the internet was designed for: proving information and connecting people. Our firm takes a stand, one of the reasons I signed on. (How's that for a pitch and testimonial?) Since our
main site
serves as a viable resource for reliable facts and not the place for opinions (only slight biases), here’s where I can rant and vent and be creative on the company dime.