Portrait photography can run the gamut in type and style—everything from the traditional “head and shoulders” shot to lifestyle and environmental, candid and street, glamour, boudoir, maternity sessions and much more. View some of the eye-catching portraits and photos of the week that caught our attention, and read the backstories on the how they were created.

L.A.-based photographers Dan and Nardia of Foolishly Rushing In ventured to a loft downtown for a creative shoot for Reev Bridal, a modern wedding wear designer. They do a shoot like this about every few months in order to stay creatively tuned up.

“I need a creative outlet where I have no client, no one to impress, and no other vision for the shoot than my own,” Dan says. “It’s an essential part of being a creative and staying fueled for years and years.”

These shoots can also serve a purpose outside of that creating refueling, the duo note. “Some personal shoots will be to market ourselves into a new region, to learn a new skill or style,” says Nardia. “I can’t suggest this habit enough. I have made a habit of getting my best girlfriends together whom I love to work with for hair and makeup, florals, etc… and create a day of shooting where we can all simply enjoy being creative again.”

Daniela Villarreal was waiting for the bride just as the floral designer put her finishing touches on the arrangements. Focusing on the table settings, Villarreal turned to see the bride’s little niece pick up and smell a single rose. “I immediately got closer and asked her what was the smell of those roses,” the photographer recalls.

“She looked at the flower again, smelled it again, and I clicked. She told me she was choosing the prettiest flower to give to her aunt, the bride. Moments after, the bride arrived, and this little girl ran to her aunt to give her the flower.”

Villarreal was thankful she had caught the moment, especially because ones like this can be so easy to miss at weddings. “These kinds of moments happen in a matter of seconds, and sometimes you don’t even notice them. The best you can do is just act, don’t think that much and just capture what you are looking at.”

Damion Mower had the pleasure of photographing a bubbly couple for their wedding day who were “very much in love and comfortable with each other.” Mower noticed that the groom often stood behind the bride with his hands on her waist, “just slightly tucked in behind her,” he says. “It was clearly a position that came naturally to them and one that was familiar and comfortable, so I wanted to replicate it when it came time to photograph their portrait.”

Mower waited until the evening, around 7:30 p.m., as the wedding was on a hot July day. They were situated at a school with bright, multicolored playgrounds and climbing structures, which didn’t match the couple’s vibe at all, so Mower posed them against a dark bush to make them pop. “I then positioned them into their relaxed posed and just tried to work more on the connection between them, asking them to bring forward their hands and get close with their temples,” Mower says. “I had a few images with their eyes open but felt the connection with the hands was emphasized in the shots with eyes closed.”

What began as a casual couples portrait session became an engagement photo session, with Ale Rivera Celis behind the camera. Sabina had written Celis to set up the session, and her then-boyfriend, Rafa, wrote her right after suggesting that he’d propose to her during their session to get the whole thing on camera. “Just try to imagine my emotion,” Celis says. “I was really excited!”

Of course, the whole thing needed to be planned so that the surprise wouldn’t get spoiled somehow. They decided to have the session at a picnic in a forest in Guadalajara, Mexico, where they all live. The light was harsh, and Celis wanted soft light, so she decided to kill a little time just talking to the couple about their relationship.

“Rafa was very nervous, so I tried my best to act natural,” Celis says. “When I saw that the sun was finally on its point, I told Sabina that she was looking so pretty, and that I wanted to take her a picture alone. After photographing her, Rafa approached Sabina with the ring in his hands, and asked her to marry him. She was shocked and surprised, but mostly happy. Everything was magical.”

Celis wanted to keep an appropriate amount of distance, so she used her medium telephoto 85mm lens.

It may not look like it at first glance, but this getting-ready photo by Tina and Anže was actually captured through a mirror.

“At the time, the groom came to meet her for the first time as a bride and she did a sneak peek to the yard,” Tina says. “The interior was not very photogenic, that is why I did a bit covered version as a reflection in the mirror on the opposite side of the room, to get rid of the all old-fashioned and not so styled furniture.”

Dig into our Photo of the Day archives for even more compelling imagery.