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 some of the eye-catching portraits and photos that stopped us in our tracks for their motion and blur, lens flare and other photo techniques.

Sonja and Ivan of Paspartu Photography say it was a very hot Saturday in July in Belgrade when this wedding took place, but the overbearing heat did not stop the party. “Everyone was dancing; friends and family finally together after lockdowns and travel restrictions,” says the photo duo. “You could see that they were having the time of their lives.”

Sonja and Ivan were in the middle of the crowd, doing a little bit of dancing and a little bit of photographing. “When photographing wedding parties, we like to be a part of it, blend in and be in the middle of all this energy,” they explain. “By moving as well, we were able to achieve the long exposure motion and blur technique, and the feeling of a captured memory. We just followed the interaction and felt when the time was right to make this shot.” The motion and blur effect make the image even more real.

[Read: Powerful Storytelling Techniques in Wedding Filmmaking]

Lindsey Michelle of photo brand Lensy Michelle in Boston says that it’s not often that anyone gets the opportunity to be inside the infamous Boston Red Sox Fenway Stadium all by themselves. That’s why, when couple Kat & Eli—who are, unsurprisingly, HUGE Red Sox fans—scored their dream venue she wanted to take full advantage.

“Kat and Eli weren’t even planning on having an “official” wedding at all until a family friend scored them Boston’s Fenway Park for a venue,” the photographer explains. “Kat messaged me two days before her last-minute dream wedding was about to happen! My mind immediately started trying to brainstorm ideas of how to tell a fun story that went beyond simply documenting their day as it unfolded. We wanted to create a series of staged shots (that looked candid) inside the stadium, as if the whole wedding was watching a live baseball game.”

Since the couple’s wedding group was small, Lindsey thought it would be fun to set everyone up in the stands as if they were watching a baseball game. “I asked everyone to pretend that the Red Sox just hit a home run and to react accordingly. This picture is a composite of two images taken about half a second apart, to combine the most expressive faces of everyone in the group.”

[Review: Canon EOS R6 for Sports Photography]

And since she was standing on the stands below the group, she had to angle her shot upward. “I did my best to hold my camera up as high as I could to get a dramatic, straight-on shot, but I ended up doing just a little bit of perspective correction in post to bring it back just a bit.” This wedding was so out of the ordinary, she adds, that Boston’s NBC 10 channel ended up featuring it on a live news special about elopements and traditional weddings, which you can find here.

This photo, says Pedja Vuckovic, was taken during a small informal wedding of 50 people. “Everybody was casually dressed without any formalities, except for the marriage ceremony,” says the Belgrade, Serbia-based photographer.

“I took this shot with a Nikon D810 and Sigma 35mm f/1.4 Art lens,” says Vuckovic. “I focused on the front of the table and waited for something to happen. I wanted it to be blurred because most of the candids I take and like most are the ones that are out of focus but clearly showing what I want to show.”

Stephanie Keegan says she loves the way the window light in this image hits the subject’s skin softly and accentuates her beautiful curves.

“I also love the way that she is gazing out the window, not directing her attention to me as the photographer,” Keegan explains. “Without any context, the photo by itself makes me think this girl might be lonely, bored or waiting for someone. Storytelling is the usual approach I take with boudoir. I don’t like to over pose and make the photo feel staged or contrived. My posing tip would be to imagine realistic scenarios for the subject to be in and to have the subject make slight movements while you shoot. In this photo, the girl was actually doing the motion of sliding her hands along her hips.”

[Read: Boudoir Photography Posing Guide: How to Flatter Every Client]

Emma Studley loves the natural silhouette created by the sunset here, and the slight sun flare encompassing the lower left corner of the image.

“This type of shot is all about your positioning with the sunlight,” says Studley. “If the sun had been higher (or I had been standing, even, as I was kneeling here), the sun may have completely blown out the subject. But if you can adjust yourself to get the sun in a spot where it’s mostly blocked by the landscape (in this case, the rock), but still overflowing enough to get that hairline effect, you’re golden.”

Dig into our Photo of the Day archives for even more compelling and eye-catching portraits and creative imagery that features motion and blur, lens flare and other interesting and well-executed photo techniques.