We investigate two Lagrangian models of nonlinear electrodynamics (NLED). These models lead to two different sets of nonlinear (NL) Maxwell equations. The first case deals with the well-known Heisenberg-Euler (HE) model of electromagnetic (EM) self-interactions in a vacuum where only the lowest orders in EM Lorentz invariants are considered. The second instance proposes an extension of the HE model. It consists of a NL Maxwell-Dirac spinor model where the EM field modifies the dynamics of the energy-momentum operator sector of the Dirac Lagrangian instead of its rest-mass term counterpart. This work complements our recent research on NL Dirac equations in the strong EM field regime.