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. Discover the eye-catching portraits and photos that stopped us in our tracks this week, highlighted here for the way the photographers captured directional light and silhouettes, movement and connection.

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

“Sunset light moves quickly so we had to act fast here,” say Portland wedding photographers Jos and Tree Woodsmith of Jos & Tree. “After capturing directional light on our couple coming into the cave, we walked deeper inside the cave seeking more depth to the composition.”

The photographers decided to combine the blue hour sunset light with a complimentary red gel pointed against the edge of the cave wall. “We invited our couple into a free flowing dance while we moved our cameras and light to square up with their bodies, hands and faces,” says Jos. “Since we prefer an authentic look and unscripted moments, we had to shoot a lot while our couple enjoyed their experience. For us as photographers this was tricky, especially when crawling on our chests over rocks to get low on the shot for the sky and for their clean silhouette against the wall to pop. But as they say, “hard work beats talent” and our couple loved it!”

[Read: A Colorful Silhouette]

Jos and Tree say they also love the clean separation between the hands, profiles and the couple’s bodies for a fast read. “Since this was captured during a fluid moment it has an authentic feeling and look.  We also love how the complimentary colors of blue and red pop.” 

Traci Edwards of Adventure and Vow says she loves this image because it’s the only moment the bride had to herself that morning while getting ready.

“It’s the calm of the day just her in this soft beautiful room with reflecting and writing the words she’s about to say to her partner,” says Edwards. “I love the light that was coming in the window and there are no distractions in the space or the moment.”

[Read: How to Strengthen Wedding Photography Client Relationships in 2021]

Edwards adds that the bride had finished getting ready with her family and still needed to write her vows. “The only prompt I gave was in reference to what directional light I wanted for her face; everything else about the shot was natural. I photographed her writing the first couple and last couple of pages, but other than that stepped out to give her some alone time.” 

Josh Olson, of J.Olson Weddings, says that shooting wedding dresses on their own has always felt a bit ghostly to him, so it’s not something he shoots often. “It’s my opinion that fashion looks best when worn, and that pieces have a hard time speaking on their own,” says Olson. “I decided I would lean into that feeling for these wedding dress shots. Rather ironically, that ghostly feeling was expressed by giving these photos life through movement.”

The dress was hung on a black velvet hanger by a large open door where the midday sun could create enough contrast between the white dress and the dark interior background to isolate it in the frame, creating a natural-looking light falloff and black background, says Olson. “Strong winds came in through the door and pushed the dress around as I handheld my Fuji GFX and took these photographs (above and below) with a slow shutter speed to create the spectral motion in the shot.”

“This shot was taken by my wife, Mary Williamson, who is my second shooter and assistant at every wedding,” says Jonas Seaman. “Mary is my secret weapon!”

Jonas adds that when he is shooting, Mary is often photographing the same subject from a different angle and focal length. “At the time this photograph was made, I was shooting with a 24mm lens. My intention was to have the bride and groom be a very small shape, silhouetted within a large landscape. Meanwhile, Mary was shooting with a 50mm, being closer, and getting a more intimate look at the bride and groom. This was actually one of those ‘in between moments.'”

[Read: Knowing the Wedding Party’s Name: A Wedding Photographer’s Secret Weapon]

The plan was to have the bride and groom stand facing the photo duo, holding hands, and then to turn to each other and kiss. “We wanted them to be two shapes, isolated in the landscape and making a pattern with the palm trees,” Jonas explains. “Mary made this image as I was directing the couple to where they should stand. So, in a sense, this was really a candid moment. The couple happened to be walking to the spot I had picked for the more posed photo.”

Technically speaking, Mary says she had to get down low to the ground, shooting wide open at f/1.8. This balanced the couple within the thin line of light between the mountains on the horizon and the dark clouds in the sky. Also, by being low to the ground and shooting wide open, she was able to get the small bushes in the foreground blurred into the frame, as well as having the mountains in the background out of focus. “This creates a sense of depth in the frame, and makes the couple and the palm trees pop out even more as a silhouette,” says Jonas. “Mary says what she loves about the photo is the couple’s body language—the boldness of the bride leading the way. She also likes this particular sunset, how it can only be seen as a sliver between the horizon and the dark clouds.”

[Read: 7 Steps to Making Your Brand a Photo Empire]

Kristi Odom says that under the full moon, whale sharks gathered en masse in Cenderawasih Bay, Papua, Indonesia.  

“While swimming with them, I noticed that the bright sun was causing the light rays to bend around my body. I swam faster to put my shadow on one of the giant animals, so that the stripes would meet the amazing spotted pattern on its back,” says Odom.

[If you are attending WPPI in Vegas this week, Feb. 27-March 3, make sure to catch Odom’s seminar, “Introduction to Slow Motion Video“, with filmmaker George Bucur, 8:30-10:30 a.m. at The Mirage.]

Kelly Brown photographed these sweet triplet girls at 10-weeks-old in her Brisbane, Australia, studio.

“I love the beautiful connection in this shot,” says Brown, a renowned newborn and portrait photographer who is also a Grand Master at WPPI. “This is a moment of tangled arms and sibling love in the most beautiful way.”

Dig into our Photo of the Day archives for even more compelling and eye-catching portraits and creative imagery that features directional light and silhouettes, movement and connection.