This week, we present five portraits that captured our attention—from intimate wedding moments in the great outdoors to portraits of liberation and visibility. Read the backstory on each one below.

For this illuminating and eye-catching portrait, the brides were posed in a small clearing of florals on a “full sunlight day” says photographer Sabrina Guyton-Wright.

“While the lighting was still quite harsh, it created beautiful light leaks through the tree foliage,” Guyton Wright explains. “This made the pretty wisps of light that bathed the couple in stunning backlighting. An opportunity rarely presents itself where the right time and place align and create this image, but I will forever treasure this moment. I have such a love for nature, and combining it with portraiture makes for perfection.”

[Read: A Photographer’s Guide to Creating All-Day Elopement Packages]

Traci Edwards of Adventure + Vow took this image on a rainy elopement day in Washington state, right after the couple’s First look before leaving for their ceremony.

“They loved the cabin they rented and were spending a lot of time in it during the weekend,” says Edwards, “so I wanted to showcase the space and outdoor area, along with how it felt.”

[Read: LGBTQ+ Senior Portrait Clients: A Case for Inclusivity]

Born in Mexico and raised in Spain, Colombian photographer Camila Falquez creates photographs that harness the traditions of fashion and portrait photography to honor a “contemporary spectrum of social and gender diversity,” according to the Hannah Traore Gallery in NYC, where the photographer’s first solo exhibit Gods That Walk Among Us is on view now through July 9.

“Channeling the conventions of surrealism and a painterly color palette, [Falquez] creates an empowering vision that ushers in the narratives of community, humanity, liberation and visibility.” [Shown above, “Qween Jean, She/Her, Activist | Brooklyn, February 2022.”]

“Gods That Walk Among Us” includes 28 photographs that shot in the last four years between Cuba, New York, Puerto Rico and Spain. The works are a combination of personal and commissioned work, depicting a range of activists, friends, muses and performers with whom Falquez has developed long-standing relationships. In the image above, for example, it came after Falquez saw Liz Vanette dancing bomba, an ancestral dance of the enslaved. After watching the dance, Falquez felt compelled to take this portrait.

“I have a deep admiration for these incredible humans I photograph and interact with. Even though it was just a tiny second, we share this intimacy. It’s something I can’t explain, but we are in love,” Falquez summed up to i-D magazine.

[Read: Insider’s Guide to 5 Travel Hot Spots for Photographers]

Cara Fuller of Cara Mia Photo says Jenna and Cody’s seaside wedding took place at Rocabella Hotel in Santorini, Greece.

As bride Jenna recently told online magazine The Lane, “Something that has always been extremely important to us is capturing moments. [Groom] Cody and I both have a creative eye and really wanted to find the perfect pairing to shoot our wedding. We wanted people who could capture the emotions of the day, but not just portraits of us. We wanted them to include everyone who traveled all the way to Greece to celebrate with us too.”

She continues: “Cara is one of the most talented photographers with the kindest heart. We couldn’t help but gravitate towards her. Her photography radiates light and raw emotion and is so captivating. Everything fell so perfectly into place. Cara brought her amazing second shooter, Hannah, to help capture the day. I think in total there were about 20,000 photos taken and over 30 rolls of film to develop…a DREAM!

Fuller says she went full-time with photography just last year, but shot her very first wedding sheerly on accident in winter 2017 when she was helping out a stylist friend set up for a wedding and the photographer never showed up. “I had a camera, and the rest was history. It changed the whole trajectory of my life!”

Erum Rizvi says that after reading these grooms’ vows, her approach was simple: “to create images that would celebrate them together.”

Here, she recounts their vows: “For the last 15 years of my life, I had kept a secret l to myself. It was something I didn’t know how to explain to others or where to begin. I asked myself, what would happen if it was revealed. Thinking about it felt like a nightmare and I just wanted to go back to sleep. I lived in constant fear. Fear of what my friends would say. Fear of the reactions from the South Asian community. But most of all, fear of disappointing my family.

“All of these feelings gradually went away when I met you, Sanjay. You made me feel safe. The feelings of fear slowly turned into courage. The feelings of angst turned into serenity. The feelings of loneliness turned into pure happiness. You just give me all the feels.”

Dig into our Photo of the Day archives for even more compelling, eye-catching portraits and photos you won’t want to miss out on!  Send your wedding and portrait, editorial, documentary and commercial image submissions to: jacqueline.tobin@emeraldx.com