Photo of the Day


Eye-Catching Portraits and Photos of the Week

November 8, 2021

By Jacqueline Tobin

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, glamourboudoirmaternity sessions and much more. View some of the eye-catching portraits and photos of the week that stopped us in our tracks this week, including dramatic portraits shaped by a drone, rainy weather, rising tides, a kaleidoscope—and even a cat.

When Melbourne-based photographer Glen Nicholls went location-scouting for this spot, he originally pictured this eloping couple right under the peak—but the tide took its toll when it came to the big day. “Being in winter, the tide came in much earlier than we had anticipated,” Nicholls says. “With things running behind by the time we got there, the water was rising faster and faster.”

© Glen Nicholls

The couple jumped right in, taking off their shoes and walking over to the highest point above the rising tide. Nicholls centered them in the frame to achieve some visual symmetry and a dramatic portrait. “Within minutes of taking this, the spot that they were standing on was under water,” he says. “The timing was perfect!”

Sabrina Warnick, a photographer and makeup artist based in Florida, shot a styled elopement at Cohutta Overlook in Georgia. She was expecting better weather than this to get some clearer blue hour portraits, but the rainy day gave off an eerier vibe.

a dramatic portrait of a wedding couple in the mist.
© Sabrina Warnick

“Looking away poses are always a fave to do just because they are so dramatic, and I feel like this time it really took drama to a whole new level in this environment,” Warnick says of this dramatic portrait. “Editing the photo looked really gorgeous in color as well, but when I decided to make it black and white, it took the photo instantly to cinematic, and looked almost like a movie scene.

Photo duo Barbara and Federico of Studio Fotografico Bacci, a Tuscan duo that was chosen as 30 Rising Stars of Wedding Photography in 2020, did a creative shoot with a pair of sisters—one of whom is a makeup artist that’s friends with the photographers. They came up with a concept called “Sisterhood of Dark and Light,” one that echoed Barbara’s love for yin and yang.

© Studio Fotografico Bacci

“I wanted to represent the chaos that ensues when two forces distance themself from each other,” says Barbara, who used a kaleidoscope filter to get a “disorienting effect” and a dramatic portrait. She relied only on natural window light coming through a big window in their studio—as well as an RGB LED wand light for a few portraits with one of the sisters.

A kaleidoscope filter on this image of a woman adds a disorienting effect on a dramatic portrait.
© Studio Fotografico Bacci

At a Tennessee resort, photographer Leah Moyers took a moment to grab some photos of the couple’s rings when in came a wandering cat. Unperturbed, Moyers says, “It was a great opportunity. I shot various photos with the cat, even a few with her sitting next to the rings or trying to swat them off the table. This one was my most favorite though.”

© Leah Moyers

In Acapulco, Mexico, photographer Fernando Agundis went to a rather touristy spot for this couple’s portraits because, unlike previously, the pandemic prevented too much crowding. He sent up a drone for a dramatic portrait of them from above.

“The boyfriend confessed that he had never imagined in his life lying on the floor and getting his clothes dirty for a photo,” Agundis says, “however he was very happy with the result.”

© Fernando Agundis

Dig into our Photo of the Day archives for even more compelling and eye-catching imagery.