On The Cover - Attorney General Ashley Moody // Tallahassee Woman Magazine
On The Cover - Attorney General Ashley Moody // Tallahassee Woman Magazine
Tallahassee Woman Magazine assigned us to photograph Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody for a cover feature in their August/September 2021 issue. The story, written by Erin Collins, was an in-depth profile, and our assignment took us to two locations: the Attorney General's Office in Tallahassee and a studio setup in the Florida Capitol.
Using two locations for a single editorial portrait session gives the publication a wider range of images to work with in the layout. The Attorney General's Office provided the professional setting; it's a formal environment with its own visual language, and photographing there means working within the constraints of a government building. You're coordinating with security, working around schedules, and being mindful of the space. Those kinds of sessions tend to move quickly, so preparation is everything.
The second half of the session at a studio setup in the Florida Capitol gave us a completely different canvas. While it wasn't our usual Garage Studio space, we could still control the environment in terms of lighting and feel. We set up Profoto lighting and tethered to our MacBook Pro running Capture One so we could review images in real time as we worked through the session. Tethering is especially useful for portrait photography like this because it lets you see the details on a larger screen while you're still in the moment; you can make adjustments to lighting, composition, and posing without guessing. Having that level of control in a studio meant we could take a more creative approach with the portraits compared to what the office environment allowed.
The combination of the two settings is something we do often as Tallahassee photographers for editorial assignments. You get the environmental context of the subject's professional world, and then you get the polished, controlled portrait work in a dedicated studio space. Together, they give the art director and the publication options for both the cover and the interior spread.
Political portrait photography is a significant part of our work as editorial photographers in Florida. Photographing elected officials and state leaders requires a consistent, professional approach regardless of who the subject is. You treat every session the same way: come prepared, respect the subject's time, and deliver images that serve the publication's vision for the story.
This feature was photographed by The Workmans for Tallahassee Woman Magazine and appeared in the August/September 2021 issue and was written by Erin Collins. The Workmans are a husband-and-wife photography team based in Tallahassee, Florida, and we work with publications across the state of Florida, in Washington D.C. and around the United States. You can explore more of our editorial photography in the archive, see more of our work across our website and connect with us on how we can best serve you!
