Advice on photos for professional service web site, please

tylerzambori

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Hi all,

My s/o and I are working on his new web site. We don't entirely agree about the photos. He is a professional legal Interpreter, and works primarily either for the courts or for lawyers. We want to get him new civil attorney clients for deposition work.

The issues are:

1. One photo of him shows the federal Courthouse in the background. It doesn't show the entire courthouse, just the middle section of it. The photos were taken on public property - on the sidewalk far from the actual building. We took the picture on a Sunday morning when the building was closed, and a security guard came out to tell us we could only take the picture from the sidewalk, which we did. His issue is that he thinks it might imply an endorsement by the Federal Court. I think he's being too much of a "boy scout." He was a Federal employee for 10 years, and now he still works there on a daily basis, as a freelancer. They even have a contract with him to provide his interpreting services.

2. The rest of the photos are pictures of him standing in front of trees. I don't think this is such a great background for an interpreter who works inside the courthouse. I think the background should be more like what lawyers generally use - maybe buildings with glass or bookshelves with books. There are buildings with glass behind the trees, but the trees figure prominently. One even gives the impression of a tree growing out of his head. I took a snapshot of him standing in front of a revolving glass door that I like better, and I used that for his Linkedin page. I think it evokes the idea of being just about to go inside a courtroom and do some interpreting (it's not a court building).

So what do you think - should we take some pictures of him standing in front of other nice office buildings, which are not courts? Should we dump the pictures with the trees growing out of his head?

Just FYI, the site design is being done by his brother, and it will be a wordpress site.

Thanks for your thoughts!
 
So what do you think - should we take some pictures of him standing in front of other nice office buildings, which are not courts? Should we dump the pictures with the trees growing out of his head?

I dont think really think it matters. If you do a wide enough shot so that people can recognize the location then he will not be big enough in the photo to recognize. Your gonna want to use a shoulders up shot. And you want the attention to be on him not the background so blur out the background with a nice wide aperture.
 
What country is the federal courthouse in?

If it's in the USA, the Federal Court is not allowed to endorse any business, so anyone thinking an implied endorsement exists is entitled to their misunderstanding.

Your s/o should consult with a qualified attorney if he has any doubts, because an online photography forum is not a reliable place to seek legal advice.

A portrait photo showing him in a typical work environment would add to his cred.
So, assuming it has sufficient image quality, I would use the photo of him in front of the courthouse.
 

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