By profession
Lawyer headshots
Legal clients are making a judgement about competence before they read a single credential. The portrait is doing real work.
Formality is the convention
Law is one of the few professions where the formal convention is still enforced. A suit, a tie or a formal blouse, a neutral background and a composed expression are what clients expect to see on a firm's page — and departing from it draws attention to the departure rather than to you.
The trap is stiffness. A formal portrait still needs a real expression: mouth closed, eyes engaged, shoulders relaxed. That combination is what separates a portrait from a passport photo.
- Dark suit, white or light shirt, tie or formal blouse.
- Neutral background: grey, deep blue, or a plain studio backdrop.
- Camera at eye level, shot from the chest up.
- Shoulders relaxed and angled slightly, not square to the lens.
Lighting for an authoritative portrait
The classic legal portrait is lit from the side at roughly 45 degrees, which puts a soft shadow on one side of the face and gives the face structure. Flat, frontal light looks like a staff pass; a strong shadow looks theatrical.
A window and a white card reproduce this exactly: the window is the key light, the card is the fill, and the result is the same light used in most firm portraits.
- Window at 45 degrees, white card on the opposite side.
- Keep both eyes lit — a shadow across one eye reads as untrustworthy.
- Avoid overhead light, which hollows the eye sockets.
- Keep the background slightly darker than the face.
A firm's worth of portraits, consistent
A firm's team page is judged on consistency. Partners photographed in different cities, in different light, at different times, produce a page that looks assembled rather than considered.
Applying one style to each person's own photos is how a firm gets a page where every portrait matches, without booking a studio and a photographer for the whole team.
How it works
Three steps from a phone photo to a finished image
Upload your photos
Six to ten selfies with different angles and expressions.
Pick a style
Business, editorial, black and white, cinematic — or a profession set.
Download the set
A consistent batch of portraits, ready for your profile.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What should a lawyer wear in a headshot?
The formal convention: a dark suit with a white or light shirt, a tie or a formal blouse. Law is one of the few professions where formal dress is still expected, and departing from it distracts from the portrait.
How do I look authoritative without looking stiff?
Keep the shoulders relaxed and angled slightly away from the lens, keep the mouth closed but the eyes engaged, and light the face from 45 degrees so it has structure. Stiffness comes from a square stance and flat light.
Can a law firm get consistent portraits without a studio?
Yes, by applying one style to each person's own photographs. That is how a multi-office team ends up with a directory where every portrait shares the same light, background and framing.
What background is best for an attorney headshot?
A neutral, slightly darker background: grey, deep blue or a plain studio backdrop. Keeping it darker than the face draws the eye to the person and reads as formal rather than casual.
Try it on your next photo
Free to download on the App Store. iPhone and iPad only.