Hi, friends!

About Alisandra Photography

Hey friends! My name is Ali, and welcome to my blog!

I am a Wedding Photographer based in Richmond, Virginia. I try to keep this baby as up to date as I can with recent shoots, personal thoughts, and the random, fun little things life brings. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to visit. I really appreciate it. Please make yourself at home and enjoy your time here!

Questions or Comments? ali@alisandraphoto.com

Archive: ‘Portrait’



Location | Engagement Shoot Style

Thursday, May 10th, 2012

I just want to throw this out there. Into the mix of really good advice when it comes to engagement shoot locations. I’m not saying this is really good advice, but I just want to mix it in with the rest. There are a few things that really MAKE your engagement shoot, and I want to focus on LOCATION.

I see so many fields. Grassy, hilly, country fields. And I love them. For real. I grew up riding horses. Open fields are in my blood. But are YOU a couple who wants their shoot to be in a grassy field? Or were you not able to think of any other option and figured the photos would be pretty? I’m here to bring you a few off the beaten path engagement shoot location ideas to hopefully spark your creativity when choosing a location.

Things to think about when it comes to location:

1. What do we like to do together?
Cook? Go out to eat? Why not do that for your session? Or have it in a kitchen where you’re making something together. Sing? Are you musicians? Think about asking your favorite venue if they’d let you in and turn on the stage lights. Read? Snuggle up with a good book? There are plenty of cafe’s or book stores that would love to open their doors for you.

2. Check your PDA levels.
One of my main goals is to get some relaxed, romantic, real images. Are you a couple that can be romantic and “into each other” with other people around? Or do you want a nice quiet little spot? When I ask you if you can kiss each other or whisper into each his/her ear, will you be feel comfortable doing so?

3. WHY are you choosing the location?
Is it because it represents you? Does it hold a special place in your life? Did you meet there? Is it where he proposed? Try not to land on a place because you can’t think of anywhere else…

I went out a few days ago and drove around, snapping a few “engagement shots” without a couple, and with a point and shoot. I love to have suggestions to tell people when they ask, “where should we go?” As much as I want my clients to choose their own location, sometimes it helps to have ideas thrown at you! Here are a few of my own:

Ball Park //  Loves sports. Competitive couple. Met during intermurals in college. Plays softball. All American.

Nursery // Going green. Love gardening and growing. Met at the farmer’s market. Loves the spring time. Big on flowers.

Urban Landscape // City people. Met in the club. Up for the unexpected. Love an urban feel.

Acoustic Remedy

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012

“I put an offer on baby Clair and they accepted it.”  An 11 word email, and my dad added another guitar to his collection. A few months ago, my dad asked me to come and photograph the cases for Acoustic Remedy, a Wisconson based company that specializes in free-standing instrument displays that incorporates humidity control as it’s primary function. Amazing. I also got a few close ups of my dad’s collection.

Well he’s hollow in the middle from the shape that he’s in.
He’s either filled up with music or locked in his shell again.
And it takes some fine tuning to make him come around,
But he’s a huge piece of me, and I’ll never put him down.
~ Zac Brown,
Martin

1967 Martin D-28

Left to Right: Martin OO 42 [45 Front], Martin 4 OOOO/M [Shawn Colvin with slight alterations], Martin 1969 N20 [Willie Nelson]

Brian + Marcy | Richmond Virginia Portraits

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

I microwaved Friday’s left over curried chicken. Chad might be upset when he gets home because the house will, yet again, smell like curry. Sitting on the couch under my fleece Redskins blanket, I went back and forth between blogging Marriage Monday or blogging Brian and Marcy. I think because I miss them already, I chose to blog the sweet couple.

Brian and Marcy are not engaged. In fact, their first date was right around the time Chad and I moved to Charlottesville which was almost one year ago. But this couple is one of my favorites. When Chad and I moved away to Richmond, we only had a few things holding us back from actually making that decision. Marcy and Brian were one of them. Marcy is a photographer, and Brian is a graphic designer/audio tech guy for Portico Church. They are intentional with each other, and I love to see the ways in which they encourage each other, build up one another, and stay spiritually connected. At the same time, they are SO able to joke around with each other. They make whatever room they’re in, funner [yes... funner].

I expressed the desire to want to practice posing and Marcy said she and Brian wanted some professional portraits together! So, the obvious was planned. They came over the other night to have dinner and allow me to shoot their portraits. Although, I didn’t have much to practice with because they are SO comfortable in front of the camera. You’ll see what I mean. They just WORKED it. B&M, miss y’all already!

I love it when guys know when things are being taken too seriously…BAHAHAHA. [Brian, don't hate me. This brings joy to my life...]

Marcy doesn’t have a “good side.” EVERY ANGLE is good.

As I was walking away, Brian decided to pick up Marcy and spin her around. I’m so glad I decided to snap these next two. The second one MIGHT become a canvas…

Jacqueline | Richmond Virginia Portraits

Thursday, March 29th, 2012

The girls I met at CDIA are such an encouragement. I don’t know how to appropriately express my love for them, how much I love their work, and how much I want to keep them in my pocket so that we can share jokes, photography stuff, and, because we’re girls, clothes. We’re so different in our styles, but I have such a deep appreciation and love for their work!

Jacqueline one of these ladies. She is a wedding photographer based in DC, getting ready to make a huge move with her husband across country in a few months. I had the huge honor of shooting her wedding [it was one of the most beautiful weddings I've been to; Style Me Pretty picked it up!], and when it came time for her to update her portraits on her website, we decided to swap sessions. We used Richmond as our backdrop, including Can Can, a little french cafe in Carytown. Be sure you check out her work. Not only her wedding portfolio, but also her travel and lifestyle work. Girl’s got skills.

*Just as a note, some of these are edited with VSCO Film Presets. I’m still playing around with them, but let me know what you think!*

I was so inspired by this Anthropologie skirt! Such great movement.

Had me at hello…

Sneak Peek | Jacqueline

Wednesday, March 28th, 2012

We walked toward the woods to finish our last bit of shots in the golden light. At the sight and sound of them, we looked at each other and giggled, “The Hunger Games!” And then I shot this. And then I died. I can’t wait to show more of this fun tomorrow!

Marriage Monday | Proverbs

Monday, February 13th, 2012

The preparations of the heart belong to man,
but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
~Proverbs 16:1

I’m a dork. I was SO excited about marriage counseling. I couldn’t wait to learn more about Chad, fill out worksheets together, and talk about our feelings.*PUKE*…I know. We met with Dr. Hap about 4 times. [He has his PhD. in Hebrew. This man was smart.] And it was NOTHING like I thought it was going to be. No worksheets. No feelings. No psychology. Pure scripture. Here was one of our assignments:

Read Proverbs. Yes, the entire book of the bible. Write down each verse that involves Family, Finances, Communication, and Sex. Go.

Now, if you are not the bible reading type of person, I understand that you might want to skim over this blog post. But give it a little longer. Look at what I found. IN THE BIBLE. Just for a little background, Proverbs was written for young men. Men who were soon going to be finding a wife. And when I think about that basic fact, I find it very intriguing that 30+ proverbs directly speak to communication, 26 directly speak to finances, 21 directly speak to family, and only 1 about sex [granted, they did have Song of Solomon...]. Clearly God is trying to say something. We need A LOT of help when it comes to communicating.

A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire. What if I retreated every time I had a fight with Chad instead of talking things out? Put perverse lips far from you. Don’t talk bad about your husband. Or with him. Or to him. A continual dripping on a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike. Don’t nag, ladies–it’s annoying. I just love the wisdom in these verses.

Miscommunication has been the culprit of most of my fights with Chad, and I was a Communication major in college. Whether we say one thing and mean another, or we don’t listen, or even aim to harm, that is the cause. I really think God was on to something when he put so many comments on this topic in the Bible. I’m constantly trying to improve in communication. If you feel the same way, look no further.

Tiffany | Great Falls Maryland Portraits

Thursday, February 9th, 2012

A little over a year or so ago, I met Tiffany. She is one of the most, if not THE most, stylish people I’ve ever met. The last time we hung out, we didn’t “get deep,” but during this shoot, we left the hair and make up and clothes, got in my car and went on a hunt for fake eyelashes. It MUST have been because it was Superbowl Sunday [clearly] that we couldn’t find them at three of the stores we went to. But I’m glad we couldn’t find them because while we drove the extra two miles to CVS, she explained how she was interested in shaking things up in her life. She sat in my passenger seat with her shiny maroon skinny jeans and her platform heals as she shared her passion for equality and justice on a global level. She has dreams of going overseas to work for people who are less fortunate in whatever way… and for some reason this blew my mind. You look at her and you think, “Clearly, she is going to start her own styling business.” Or something along those lines…but no.

She’s going for world peace.

The Other Side of the World

Thursday, December 1st, 2011

Do me a favor and help welcome these two, Riva and Brooks, to the blog world. They are some of my best friends, and they have started a journey to become full time missionaries to LITERALLY the other side of the world. They will be working with missionary families, specifically, MK’s. Not military kids, MISSIONARY kids. They will be there to support, encourage, and council children who’s parents are called to the field. HOW COOL? God has some real contenders on His side. Check out their blog: http://thecains.wordpress.com/  There, you can find information about where they are going and what they’re up to.

Abby | Charlottesville Maternity

Tuesday, October 11th, 2011

Abby and Josh are welcoming their little baby boy in November. I shot their wedding a little over a year ago, so I was so excited to do their maternity shoot. We ventured down Ivy Road and found some spots to capture Abby and her boy[s]. This is so wonderful — it is my first friend [who lives close by] to have a baby. I remember their wedding day. I remember when they told us they were pregnant. I remember watching her belly grow [not much else, though, Abby... not fair!]. I’ve enjoyed learning about pregnancy and babies, and I can’t wait to hang out with her little dude! Baby watch starts in just 3 weeks, and it’s going to be epic!!

Broken to Beautiful | Chesapeake Virginia Portrait Session

Monday, October 3rd, 2011

A few months ago, I posted about a luncheon that I attended. [Click to read about Broken to Beautiful.]

I auctioned off a portrait session with one Fine Art Print and a DVD of images. I heard, as they announced the winners of the 100 some items, that a girl named Ali had won my portrait session. Soon after, she emailed me–she wanted to do an engagement style shoot because her and her husband had opted not to spend significant money on a photographer for their wedding. Ali and Derrick lived in Chesapeake, VA, and wanted a farm-ish feel. We took the portraits at a beautiful equestrian farm, Pam Herman Farm. The owners were SO nice to let us romp around with a camera, cute clothes, and a little yorkie named Sammy. And, a day late, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY you two!!

By the way. This adorable yellow skirt is from the thrift store. She looks like she walked out of a Banana Republic catalog. Ali, can I shop with you?

 

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