Successful Headshot Photographers and Divorce Attorneys Share Similar Skills
I’ve been told that I probably would have made a good lawyer (I’ll take that as a compliment!), and truth be told I love good legal dramas on TV – Suits, LA Law, Lincoln Lawyer, The Good Wife, and when I was a lot younger, Perry Mason. I have a number of law firms as clients (as well as solo practitioners) – interestingly enough, most of them don’t watch legal dramas – they probably have their fill of it at the office.
You may or may not know that not every attorney goes to court and litigates. Some deal mostly with contracts, estates, real estate, etc.. But there are others who deal with more personal/family issues such as divorce, child custody.
Divorce is can be one of the most traumatic experiences one can have – though some are amicable, in best interests of both parties with minimal impact (ie, no kids), others can be contentious, complex, and traumatic, particularly in cases where children are involved. The statistics are interesting – in 2024, 40-50% of all first time marriages in the U.S. end in divorce, and the number actually climbs with 2nd and third marriages. Moreover, approximately 40% of children in the U.S. under the age of 18 experience divorce. The good news? The rate of divorce is actually dropping compared to previous decades – mainly attributed to people getting married later in life and better education about how to successfully manage relationships.
John Mainona is a divorce attorney was looking to update his headshot for his website. We quickly realized that we share some similar approaches in our respective work – while we’re both well versed in the “technical” aspects of our work (the law for John, the technical aspects of lighting/photography), we also need to have a wide range of people skills to achieve a successful outcome. For him, the deep emotions and difficult choices his clients experience – for me, the fact that few people actually have images they’ve ever liked of themselves and would rather have a colonoscopy vs. having their picture taken. Now to be clear, I am NOT equating the emotional trauma of divorce with having your picture taken (although it may feel that way for some when they step in front of the camera!).
He was great to work with and we got some great images – I’m particularly fond of this one – it shows both warmth/compassion combined with someone who looks like they will fight for your best interests. And after getting to know John during our brief time together, authentic – he’s the real deal.
