This week, we highlight five cool locations and landscapes that our featured photographers captured standout wedding and family portraits in. Kudos to Robin Goodlad, Lisa Digiglio, Samantha Everly and Mirona Ciungara. Enjoy!

UK wedding photographer Robin Goodlad says couple Lucy and Johann had a small elopement wedding in the Langdale Pikes in the English Lake District, Cumbria UK, which aligned well with his ethos on adding a “sense of place”’ to his images. “It’s a fusion of my love for landscape photography, cool locations and weddings,” he says. “I know the mountains well, and how weather patterns can change in minutes. So whilst it was a cloudy day, I knew there was a glimmer of a chance for a sunset, and only one place we could go, out of the valley and up high into the mountains.”

The photographer explains that Lucy and Johann were really into ballroom dancing and had done their incredible first dance a little earlier in the day. “I suggested we head out quickly and drove up into the hills to a point where I knew we could access the hills easily,” he says. “The stars began to align, and as I thought, the sun would eventually drop below the band of cloud above, and bathed us in some incredible light. I asked them to head across to a point, and to simply go through their moves from their first dance again, knowing communication would be difficult because of the distance and the wind. I love the fact that I wasn’t asking them to pose, I was asking them to do what they loved and was natural to them—to dance, knowing the photo was something they would recognize as true to themselves.”

For Goodlad, it’s the layers that make it the image, he adds—the intersecting lines of distant mountains, each one more faint than the next, which gives a sense of depth and perspective. “The Langdale Pike mountains in the background are iconic, which gives that sense of place I look for, and to tell the story of who they are with their free spirits, love of dance and a ‘let’s do it’ approach, combined with where they chose to get married because it was so important to them.”

Talk about cool locations. “What I love about this image [below], taken at Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon in Iceland, is that it is completely spontaneous,” says Lisa Digiglio, “Even though it was very cold, they were so happy and it shows in the image.”

She continues: “My focus is always 100 percent on the couple. I need to connect with them in a deeply intimate way that helps me to create images that reflect the real them.”

This next image is also by Lisa Digiglio, taken at Skogafoss Waterfall in Iceland. “What I love about this picture is the way they look at each other. It was so crowded at that moment but if you look at them they are completely alone in their bubble of love.”

Of course it doesn’t hurt to have a cool location and stunning background for these types of images but Digiglio emphasizes that trust is the key to creating timeless images. “I’m inspired by people and their stories, and nature, of course,” she says. “I put myself in every picture and give myself completely to my couples so I can build trust.”

Samantha Everly of Everly Collective says that what speaks to her in the image below, taken in Chicago, is the composition and the feeling of movement taking place. “These two are on top of the world with their little boy. They need each other, they balance each other, they complement each other,” she describes. “They walk hand in hand and are each others partners for life, and always making sure they put their son’s needs at the forefront of everything. Their dynamic is balanced and united. Families are beautiful.”

Last but not least is this image by Mirona Ciungara, taken at a same-sex wedding in Lotbinière, Québec, Canada. “We were in the middle of taking group portraits and the brides had so much fun playing with the kids at their wedding,” she explains. “This was taken right after their emotional ceremony by the water. The love the brides had for their children was palpable—they made a joint entrance at the ceremony and held each other tightly, crying as they recited their vows. It was a beautiful thing to witness, and seeing them celebrate together at the end was truly heartwarming.”

She continues: “Overall, I love how perfectly ‘them’ it was. The emotion right after getting married was palpable and it was so fun seeing them being completely carefree with their guests.”

Dig into our Photo of the Day archives for even more eye-catching portraits, impactful photo compositions, as well as cool locations and landscapes. Submit your wedding, editorial, documentary and other interesting photo genre images to: jacqueline.tobin@emeraldx.com.