The bride often spends days choosing her wedding dress, accessories, hairstyle, and makeup. The bridal portrait not only capture those details, but the emotions of the bride as she prepares to walk down the aisle. This week, we’re featuring four stunning portraits of the bride by herself. Find inspiration in this week’s Photos of the Week by Lauren Hixson, Mike Wakefield, Arno and Nina de Beer, and Will Taylor.

Lauren Hixson, LoHi Images

Inspired by the soft light and the bride’s dress, Lauren Hixson of LoHi Images captured this stunning bridal portrait. The umbrella adds contrast to the door in the background, while the soft light highlights her makeup and expression. Hixson took this photo with the Canon EOS R6 and a 35mm lens.

“For the best bridal portraits, make sure you communicate with the bride and allocate enough time to avoid feeling rushed,” she says. “Know and highlight her favorite features, accessories, and parts of the dress.”

Mike Wakefield, Yeah Mike

Because the bride is a tattoo artist, Mike Wakefield of Yeah Mike wanted to capture a bridal portrait featuring some of her body art. He wanted the focus to be on the bride, so he stripped everything else away by keeping the background simple greenery to draw the eye to the bride. He took the image with the Sony a7 III and an 85mm f1.8 lens.

“Take risks,” Wakefield encourages. “Try poses. Try new things. If they don’t work, then move on and try something else until it does work. It doesn’t have to be complex. Just a gap in the bushes next to the road can give you everything you need.” 

Arno & Nina de Beer, A Bear Photography

When Arno and Nina de Beer of A Bear Photography relocated from South Africa to the Netherlands, they had to adapt their style. South African weddings traditionally hold portraits during golden hour while the Netherlands tradition is to photograph the couple before the ceremony. This shift, however, encouraged the husband and wife photography duo to incorporate more of their creative ideas into the shoot. For this bridal portrait, they decided to try direct flash in the forest because it’s opposite of the soft, whimsical feel that’s typically associated with the location. They took the shot with the Nikon D780, a Sigma 35mm lens, and the Nikon SB5000 flash.

“Courage is key,” they say. “When the inspiration to get creative hits you, your courage is what will make or break the idea. If we are too scared to try new things, we will only be holding ourselves back. Creativity takes courage and optimistic confidence. Sometimes an idea will work and sometimes it will not — and that is okay. We still learn and grow, despite the results.

“Boosting the bride’s self-esteem during the ‘trial’ of your idea is also crucial! Most of the time they are already feeling vulnerable in front of the lens; make her feel like a celebrity walking the red carpet. Let her know that she is the reason you are feeling so inspired today. Your confidence in yourself will show up in her face.”

Will Taylor, William Avery Photography

As soon as Will Taylor of William Avery Photography saw the bride’s beaded veil, he knew he wanted to feature it in her portraits. One of his favorite ways to feature the veil, he says, is to drape it over the bride. Asking her to look out the window both created flattering light on her face and helped to build the mood of the image. He captured the shot with the Sony a7R IV and a Zeiss 55mm f1.8 lens.

“First and foremost, ask your bride why they chose their dress,” he suggests. “What are their favorite attributes of the dress? Maybe it’s the veil. Think of ways to highlight that as you’re preparing for the session. Maybe it’s the back of the dress. Prepare poses where that is highlighted as well.

“Also, make the most of each pose. Once you have your bride placed in a specific location, think of how you can provide a number of different photos within that one location without the bride moving. In this situation, we had the bride look out the window, look at the camera, look down over her shoulder, hold her flowers in one hand and look at them, etc. It allows you to provide a lot more photos in your gallery and keeps you from having to move a lot which can be key when working with certain types of dresses and trains.”

Dig into our Photos of the Day Archives for even more timeless photos, eye-catching portraits and wedding photos. Submit your wedding, editorial, documentary and other interesting imagery (up to five images at a time) to: [email protected].