Lauri Novak

Chicago, Elgin

Fine Art Photographer at Freelance

Fine Art - Photo Tours - Mentor. Fine art photography for home and office decor. Shop for prints, mentoring & tours: https://t.co/HkM0lWnrdo

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Articles

Peace: Find Being Within Stillness

5 days ago | medium.com | Lauri Novak |Vidya Sury

Self CareBreathe. RelaxBreathe. Relax. These two words and the word peace keep appearing in my morning writing. I’ve found that some days, instead of needing inspiration, I need peace and calm, which can be inspiring differently. Throughout the day and especially as I start my days, I make sure I ground myself; not just think about it but take a few minutes to sit with both feet on the floor, close my eyes, and connect to the earth, to myself, and remember that I can be peaceful and calm.
Perspectives - Photography & Writing

1 week ago | laurinovak.substack.com | Lauri Novak

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B is for Belgium - Brussels, Bruge & Ghent

1 week ago | medium.com | Lauri Novak

The A to Z Challenge — Picture ThisIt’s been six months since I started my A to Z stories journey. Hopefully, it won’t be six more months until I get to the letter C!If you don’t remember, I decided to stick with a travel theme for my A to Z. Going through these images for Belgium reminded me that I have yet to finish going through them to pull out favorites and ‘the good ones’ to edit. It’s only been 11 years, not sure what I’m waiting for.
Juicy January Random Questions

1 week ago | laurinovak.com | Lauri Novak

Lynn L. Alexander asked some intriguing random questions for January over on Medium and I thought it would be fun to share my answers here. It had been a while since I’d responded to a random questions story, so here goes. Ugh, lettuce. I wish I loved lettuce. At the moment, I happen to be back on a plan that includes a salad every single day. I will try to keep it up for more than two weeks, but I can not promise that. I don’t think I have a favorite type.
Beauty in Everything

2 weeks ago | medium.com | Lauri Novak

Member-only storyApril Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Rust”Lauri Novak·FollowPublished inSix Word Photo Story Challenge·2 min read·--Spring hopes as winter rust decays. I am drawn to certain color combinations. I'm not sure whether that comes from art classes and learning color theory or is just an innate sense I have/had about what works together. Likely, it’s a combination of both. This rusty pipe is at a location I visit often in all seasons.
Perspectives - Photography & Writing

2 weeks ago | laurinovak.substack.com | Lauri Novak

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Sometimes You Have to Photograph Flowers

2 weeks ago | laurinovak.com | Lauri Novak

I’ve been sitting in my house, at my desk for far too long. Days, weeks, and months have gone by with no road trips or travel. It is making me antsy and irritable. I’m a wanderer, I would be quite happy to live the nomad life (my dream). Life doesn’t allow for that type of lifestyle at the moment. Yes, it’s a choice but the alternative is not an option for me. Could I make that decision, sure. Would I be happy? Doubtful.
My 2011 Photo-A-Day Project

2 weeks ago | medium.com | Lauri Novak

Here I am again with this very old project. Today, as I was pulling the images off of Facebook, I noticed how random I was with my photography. Yes, the DSLR was still new to me and I was still operating on Auto and shooting JPGs. I had not yet learned or even owned Lightroom or any editing software. After all, I never ‘edited’ my film images. At most, the photo lab likely did a bit of color correcting and exposure correction. The vast variety of subjects kind of blows my mind, in some ways.
Hearts Are Everywhere

2 weeks ago | laurinovak.com | Lauri Novak

In February, I suggested this prompt for one of the Medium publications I contribute to:Go on a scavenger hunt for hearts. Take pictures of the hearts you find, then share the photos and tell us about where you found them. Funny, when I suggested this prompt back in February on Medium, I knew I had images in my archives to share, but this past week, I’ve found a few new hearts to add to the collection. Why do people feel compelled to deface nature? Ugh.
How seeing faces everywhere can help your photography

3 weeks ago | laurinovak.com | Lauri Novak

You’ve seen them, I know you have. You’re walking by a doorway and there it is, smiling right back at you. A face. Faces. They are everywhere and I guarantee once you start looking for them you won’t be able to stop seeing them. Seeing faces in inanimate objects is common, and it has a name: Pareidolia. It’s a psychological phenomenon that causes the human brain to give significance and facial features to random patterns.