The
Alisandra Photography Blog

Most people would describe me as relaxed. A pretty calm easy going person. But, although I can take lots of stress, I’m actually a rule follower. I just love rules. I find them super freeing in some ways. They help me get through life. And I’m pretty similar when it comes to photography. There are so many rules when it comes to photography. And it is so hard for me to break them. Some are meant to be broken. I understand that as rule number 1. And I dabble in breaking them, but mostly, I’m thinking, “Rule of thirds. Balance. Correct exposure. Look for symmetry.” One of my biggest “MUSTS” are about the eyes. I have a pet peeve about focus. It has to be dead on. Jose Villa spoke about this. Totally shattered my world when he said one of his favorite images isn’t in focus. And it was on the cover of Southern Weddings. For me? Soft images are like nails on a chalk board for the most part. Here is my HUGE rule when it comes to portraits:

I shot a series of shallow depth of field portraits at Sarah and Ilya’s wedding. I nailed a few, but because I was shooting at 1.6, I was off in a few as well. I thought I’d use it as an example! Both of these images are usable in my opinion, but only one was delivered. Another photographer may enjoy this “mistake” and even consider it beautiful. For me, I need to see definition in the eyelashes, unless I’m TRYING to focus on something like… her necklace, or her earrings.