Have you seen our most recent Photos of the Day on social media? Each day on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, we feature a wedding photo or portrait that strikes us as one of the most interesting in its genre, and we ask the creatives behind the photos to detail the image’s backstory and their technical approach. Here’s what caught our attention this week.

DRESSED UP DETAILS

“I know how important bridal prep is for brides and having the photographer get a shot of the dress. I much prefer to take the shot when the dress is being worn rather than on a hanger,” says London wedding photographer Rik Pennington. Here, bride Rong wore her dress so elegantly that she made my job easy!”

Photographed in Luxembourg near Chateau de Bourglinster, this is exactly the kind of environment Pennington says he loves to photograph in—soft, shaded light in the woods, with an uninterrupted background to eliminate any distractions.

“The ferns frame the shot and draws the eye to the bride. I asked Rong to turn her shoulder slightly towards me to create a relaxed and flattering shape, which also allowed me to capture her face in profile as well as her earrings. Holding the flowers down to one side at an angle creates symmetry with the other side and allows the flowers to be in the shot as well. These are all important details which any bride would want captured. Also, as a destination wedding photographer, I shoot regularly in France, so Luxembourg was a fantastic, new experience for me.”

[Read: Tips for Wedding Detail Photos]

NEWLYWEDS CROSSING PATHS

From Serbia, Djokovic & Djordje are two photographers with the same name and surname: Djordje Djokovic. Together, they photograph in their city of Valjevo, a place they say is surrounded by “extraordinary nature.”  And as in any small town, there are certain iconic spots and special locations for photography.  

“Upon arrival here, we had to wait with our newlyweds (in the foreground) for the previous ones to finish (in the background),” they say. “We had already settled on where we would take couple portraits from, but then we noticed this great moment unfolding on the path leading to the place with the best view. We told our newlyweds to head down that way and this just happened. Luckily the camera had a 35mm lens on it at the time! The photo may be a bit blurry, but the moment is eternal.”

DADDY-DAUGHTER DANCE

“Take a look at this daddy-daughter dance,” photographer Ameirfikri says with excitement. “There’s no better gift than this moment for a father to give to his daughter on her wedding day.”

Ameirfikri says he especially loves how the bride really enjoyed this moment with her father. “She smiled, and pulled up one of her heels as she danced. I feel like it was an incredibly special moment that took place, especially given where we were. It’s very rare to see a daddy-daughter dance in Malay-Wedding.”

BRIDAL PREP PERFECTION

Bridal prep is one of photographer Andrea Verenini‘s favorite times to shoot at a wedding because, he says, there is a totally unique energy which you will not find anywhere else. “It is a blend of tension, happiness, a pinch of fear perhaps, bubbling excitement, some tears too…pure emotion. It is also the time when the biggest transformation occurs—from woman to bride—which really fascinate me. It is often a chaotic situation and a time which I am usually in fly-on-the-wall mode, taking on the role of a quiet observer shooting in a highly reactive way to capture what unfolds in front of me.” 

Verenini says the light that day was very harsh, the room very dark, and bridal prep was at an hour when the light was at its hardest. But even more challenging, he admits, was creating a composition out of many independent elements which could have very easily worked against each other. “Like too many chefs in a kitchen can ruin a dish, too many subjects in a frame can destroy the picture,” he explains. “Through a considered positioning that allowed me to try and make the most of the people in the room, the room itself, and the light, the result is a documentary photograph which, at least for me, has a lot of elements working together to create a strong visual story.”

Being from Italy, the home of many great artists and painters, Verenini says he’s always been inspired by the light and shadows of the masters. “This is what I try to strive for and bring into my photography as well—freezing moments in time and giving them a particular emotion and feeling through the drama light and shadow can bring. This photograph reminds me of the work of Caravaggio, the way the natural light kisses the subjects and filters through the room. The deep shadows it also creates give a sort of calm and order through composition in an otherwise highly chaotic and frantic moment in time.”

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

This image, from one of David Katzenstein‘s Politics & Protest series—Climate Strike NYC—was, he says, repurposed to help “get out the vote,” emailing the image to recipients with the words “Vote! Vote! Vote!” above it.

“The photograph succeeds on a number of levels in relaying the message
of protest and positive action,” says the NYC-based documentary photographer. “The central figure is iconic, and stands out even more with the blue bullhorn. The child in the foreground seconds the message of protest and compositionally leads the viewer to the main character. Energy abounds.”

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