Photos of the Week


Eye-Catching Portraits and Photos of the Week

August 9, 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 caught our attention, and read the backstories on the how they were created.

When Tally thought she had booked a regular portrait session in the Scottish Highlands, photographer Bernadeta Kupiec did not correct her—she knew, however, that Tally’s boyfriend Jacek planned to propose. “We had a ‘password’ to say when he was ready,” Kupiec notes.

The couple wears vintage clothes fairly regularly, which Kupiec knew would pair nicely with a black-and-white filter. “There is a kind of magic in these shades,” Kupiec says. “When I see Tally and Jack together wearing their gorgeous outfits, I go back in time. I can see old photos from the early 1900’s before my eyes.” It was a rainy day, which only amplified the nostalgic mood.

© Bernadeta Kupiec

“When we arrived, Tally and Jack moved a little closer to the river,” Kupiec recalls. “Tally started to dance, twirling in her dress. As she stood with her back, Jack dropped to one knee. So when Tally finally turned to him and saw Jack, she was completely taken aback. I still remember how at one point she looked at me with amusement and said, almost shouted: ‘You knew.'”

Leah Moyers got the chance to photograph a bride in her great-grandmother’s wedding dress on her big day. After exchanging vows at the event space Firehouse Chicago, they invited Moyers for some time alone in the loft with Champagne and snacks to enjoy there first moments as a married couple.

© Leah Moyers

Moyers worked fast to get photos of them without taking up too much of this time together before joining guests during cocktail hour. “The light in the room was very dramatic and lovely for casual portraits,” Moyers says. “To keep the image simple and the light dramatic, I exposed for the highlights and left the entire scene slightly underexposed. I love how the exposure accentuates her delicate veil.”

When Caleb North is photographing graduation portrait sessions, he always likes to ask toward the end for the subject to pose as if the photo would be found in a box of photos or memories decades and decades in the future. At this critical turning point of these portrait sitters lives, how would they like to be remembered?

“It always feels special to capture those kinds of images,” North says. “My favorite kinds of photos are the ones where you get to be in a vulnerable space with genuine human connection. I’ve always been drawn to warmer tones and negative space within portraits.”

A pre-wedding portrait of a bride-to-be
© Caleb North

For this pre-wedding session in Macau, China, Zabrina Deng used the painter Edward Hopper as a source of inspiration. While we’ve seen photographers reflect Hopper in their work much more directly, as fine-art photographer Richard Tuschman has been known to do, he’s not an obvious touch point for wedding photography.

After all, Deng says, “Hopper has a unique way of depicting tension in a couple.” While wedding photographers really only post romantic moments between couples, she explains, “I think it’s interesting to depict the difficult part of the relationship. All relationships have their ups and downs, and we all know those down-but-defying moments make a relationship last.”

Wedding portrait by Zabrina Deng.
© Zabrina Deng

Deng approached the shoot with an editorial fashion sensibility. She worked quickly in this outdoor space lest a security guard approached her to tell her to wrap it up and keep moving. Luckily, Deng’s background in wedding photography has taught her to grab portraits quickly. “I have to always prepare to act fast and prep the client about alternative shooting locations if it doesn’t work out.” She advises photographer to think of a Plan B location should Plan A not pan out, and avoid trespassing onto private property. “But if trouble comes, finish clicking the last frame and apologize while moving your feet to get going,” Deng says with a laugh.

When Hong-Kong-based photographer Hyggeland is capturing bridal portrait sessions, he’s always trying to think of ways to change perspective and thread an element of curiosity in his work.

eye-catching photo of week includes bridal portrait by Hyggeland.
© Hyggeland

“That’s one of my secret tip for this portrait,” he says. “Don’t showing the full face of the model! It is human nature to be curious when viewers don’t see all of it.” 

Dig into our Photo of the Day archives for even more compelling imagery.