Custom Photography for a Law Firm Web Site

by Kent Neff, FindLaw Web Designer

Overview

Custom photographs can add a personal touch and look of sophistication to any law firm Web site. The addition of custom photographs marks an important point of distinction between your law firm and all your competitors in town. If done poorly, however, photographs can be a liability instead of an asset . Here are some simple pointers to help you easily take professional-looking photographs.

Custom photography is defined as any photo taken by you, your FindLaw sales representative or a commercial photographer. It is imperative that you, the client law firm, obtain ownership rights of all photos used on your Web site. Copyright infringement is a frequently misunderstood and overlooked issue on the Internet, and if not taken into consideration, can expose your firm to potential liability.

Subject Matter

Possible topics of photos that work well on law firm Web sites:

• Attorneys and staff in your office – shown either formally posed (individual or group shots, in the law firm’s conference room or library, etc.) or informally posed (shown in consultation with clients, working at their desks, doing research work in the library, answering the phone, working on the computer, etc.). All these shots can add warmth and personalization to the firm’s Web site.
• Interior shots of the office, reception area, conference room, library, main entrance area, etc. These types of shots are often best without any people in them.
• Exterior shots of the office building, entrance area, or any interesting architectural or design elements unique to the law firm’s office or building. In addition to being visually appealing, these shots can help clients find and recognize the office when they visit the office in person and thus instill a comfort factor.
• Notable landmarks in the metro area or around the state. These help add that familiar, “hometown” feel to the firm’s practice, as well as provide visual interest.

Environmental Factors

After subject matter, the next most important factor to consider is lighting. This is an area that is frequently overlooked yet can make all the difference between an average photo and a great photo. If you pay careful attention to just a few simple points you can consistently take compelling photographs. Here are a few easy tips:

• Interior shots – turn on ALL the lights in a room, especially those with incandescent bulbs. Close all window blinds to reduce bright light and glare coming from outside. The goal here is to illuminate all corners of a room from within, eliminate shadows, and cast a warm glow. The camera’s flash will then be needed only to fill in dim areas, as needed and determined by the camera. NEVER take a photo using the camera’s flash as the SOLE source of illumination.

• Exterior shots – it’s best to take these shots on cloudy days, if possible, as this minimizes shadows and harsh contrast. If you want to take photos in bright sun, take them in the morning or late afternoon and with the sunlight coming from “over your shoulder.” This will add a soft, warm light to the photo.

For those who are interested in a more technical approach to lighting and related environmental factors, here are some concepts on light quality that will help you to better compose and determine the best time of day to take your photos.

• Incandescent light – has as a fuller spectrum of light with emphasis on yellows, reds and oranges. This gives people, rooms, buildings and landmarks a warmer, softer look.
• Fluorescent light – has only a partial spectrum of light with spikes in the gray, green and blue ranges. This can make skin look ashen and cold, and is not particularly flattering to people.
• Sunlight – early morning or late afternoon sun emphasizes the “warmer” and “softer” colors of the spectrum: yellow, orange and red. Midday sunlight provides more of a complete spectrum and tends to look “fully white” or show a slight bluish cast.

Photographic Specifications

In order to be the most usable by FindLaw’s Web designers, all photos should adhere to the following specifications:

• Digital photos are the preferred format.
• Must be in “jpg” file format only.
• The “quality” setting on the digital camera should be set at least at “medium,” but the “high” quality setting is best. This can result in larger file sizes, but it will provide the most detailed images to work from.
• Do not do any photo editing, color correction, or resizing of the photo. We will take care of that, if necessary.

How to Submit Photos to FindLaw

Sending photos to us is easy:

• Send them as an attachment to an e-mail or burn them to a CD and mail them to us. Since digital photo files can be fairly large, if you have multiple photos you may have to send multiple e-mails with photos attached in order to deliver them all.
• If you have only prints and no digital versions, simply mail them to us and we will scan them. When finished, we’ll return your photos to you.