Surface photometry of 311 ellipticals from the 2MASS imaging database is analyzed with respect to the two most common fitting functions: the r1/4 law and the Sérsic r1/n model. The advantages and disadvantages of each fitting function are examined. In particular, the r1/4 law performs well in the middle regions, but is inadequate for the core (inner 5 kpc) and the outer regions (beyond the half-light radius) which do not have r1/4 shapes. It is found that the Sérsic r1/n model produces good fits to the core regions of ellipticals (r<rhalf), but is an inadequate function for the entire profile of an elliptical from core to halo due to competing effects on the Sérsic n index and the fact that the interior shape of an elliptical is only weakly correlated with its halo shape. In addition, there are a wide range of Sérsic parameters that will equally describe the shape of the outer profile, degrading the Sérsic model's usefulness as a describer of the entire profile. Empirically determined parameters, such as half-light radius and total luminosity, have less scatter than fitting function variables. The scaling relations for ellipticals are often non-linear, but for ellipticals brighter than MJ < −23 the following structural relations are found: L ∝ r0.8±0.1, L ∝ Σ−0.5±0.1, and Σ ∝ r−1.5±0.1.