Helping Law Firms Get Professional Headshots On A Global Level
Even though I am a Minneapolis portrait photographer, I serve many clients with multiple locations throughout the Upper Midwest, the USA, and some having a global reach.
My client base includes a broad base of businesses. A lot of my work is for law firms. Read more here: click.
For the past several years, I’ve worked with GittingsLegal as their Twin Cities commercial photographer.
GittingsLegal Home Page
The age we live in now.
Websites are fast becoming the centerpiece of many companies’ marketing efforts. Having strong business portraits of people displayed on their website has always been a good idea. Now, it’s becoming mandatory:
- Since face-to-face contact as a way to develop business and serve clients is on a downward trajectory, prospects and clients are visiting “Our People” pages on an increasing basis to help make decisions.
- Quality corporate headshots are a major factor in establishing a firm’s reputation and capabilities. They help bolster a company’s position as a leader.
Continuity.
The biggest challenge leadership and marketing staff face when they want to have business portraits taken is to insure the photos meet a consistent standard of quality and format.
Portion of a website page for a client illustrating the effectiveness of continuity.
That doesn't mean to say a company's profile has to consist of rows and rows of heads that are of the exact same proportion and pose.
Leadership profile page for one of my clients. These are called standard non-standard portraits. Even though they are not exactly the same, they share a common format and content.
If a company doesn’t make continuity and quality important, their websites tend to look disorganized and chaotic. I’ve seen many websites where some of the photos appear to be taken with a cell phone using the snap shot approach of “stand up against a blank wall. Other photos look as though they were cropped from a group photo taken at a family wedding. And, some are obviously taken by a professional portrait photographer.
About GittingsLegal.
Several years ago, GittingsLegal was formed with a specific target market in mind: law firms with multiple offices located across a broad geographical area. Since then, they have broadened their business to include a variety of professional services firms including the fields of accounting, engineering, architecture, and finance.
Services.
Their service model is built on three core services appealing to law firms with multiple offices who want a consistent look and professional quality to their headshot photos:
- Project planning. They work with companies to develop an image design concept before the photos are taken. Frequently, they will set up a pilot program consisting of test photography to help decide what format and style of portrait photography will work the best.
- Lifesaver for admins. GittingsLegal manages the scheduling process using one of the few online scheduling applications available. People from all of the firm’s offices can simultaneously schedule their portraits based on available days and times. They acquire the services of top professional photographers in every market served by the law firm. Business portraits are taken using a detailed set and lighting diagram and a prescribed shooting script resulting in consistent, high quality images. Moreover, clients are able to review the photos and make their choices on the spot. Images are processed and retouched at the GittingsLegal production facility so the final images all have the same high quality look.
- Photos are never lost. Law firms don’t have to search for photos on multiple drives or try to find them at each one of their offices. GittingsLegal gives continuous access to all of the photos through an archive they maintain into perpetuity.
As a commercial photographer who shoots business portraits for a wide variety of companies, I appreciate the rigorous standards and procedures GittingsLegal uses. In the time I’ve worked for them, I’ve learned a lot about the process and procedures required to shoot a large number of people. I’ve also learned a lot about photographic technique.
Here's a brief idea of what a GittingsLegal photo shoot looks like:
Another positive benefit has been the opportunity to get to know other Gittings portrait photographers from all around the World. Besides the camaraderie, I’ve also been able to learn a lot about how other photographers run their businesses. We’ve shared a lot of ideas with each other about photographic technique and equipment.
GittingsLegal Photographers.
As examples, here are a couple of other photographers that work with GittingsLegal.
Greg Lambert is a San Diego based photographer whose work closely parallels mine. His work is also split between architectural photography and corporate business portraits.
Lambert Photo
Steve Poisall's Tampa based photography business, the Gallery Studios, includes business portraits and corporate event photography.
The Gallery Studios
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Silverman Be Remarkable
Steve Silverman
(o)952-844-0119
(m)952-905-1197
steve@silvermanberemarkable.com