Michael Novo Photography

Really what caught my eye was that what I saw in Mikes portfolio was just something different than everywhere else. He took almost as much time to plan the engagement session with us as the wedding. His work, the attention to detail and his eye for seeing the beauty anywhere we went were amazing.

Michael was the first photographer we interviewed when looking for a wedding photographer. I didn’t want the typical happy and bright wedding photos you see. And when I saw Michael’s portfolio, he had the dark, romantic, and artistic aesthetic we were looking for. We had no idea what to expect when we met, but we definitely didn’t expect to sit down and basically hang out for two hours. He was sarcastic and witty and right away I knew we would get along great and I wanted him for our wedding. He came up with an amazing nerf gun photo shoot idea for our engagement photos and we were sold. We interviewed with a couple other photographers, but no one came close. Due to covid, we ended up having three photo shoots with Michael. An engagement photo session and a first and second wedding session. Throughout all the sessions, he came up with unique photo ideas that blew us away. And he always included us in the process. He would show us shots and take our ideas for other ones. Hiring Michael was one of the best decisions we made for our wedding(s). His attitude and sarcasm fit right in with us and made the wedding day fun. Our photos looked like they came out of a magazine. Everyone was raving about how amazing he and his photos were. If you are looking for a unique photographer who will make your photos look like pieces of art, look no further than Michael.

We are very excited we discovered Michael Novo and his beautiful, unique photography. From the start, Michael was easy to work with, made us feel comfortable, and entertained us with his quick witt and dry humor. His philosophy that a wedding should be many things first and foremost - celebration, family reunion, etc. - and not just a photoshoot was aligned with our values of capturing the special moments, but also being able to be present for those moments to happen with family and friends. He not only helped guide us with our photography location choices and flow of events, but he supported us in developing our day of timeline as well as the design of the "east coast style" ceremony flow - which was a hit!! Overall, Michael helped things flow smoothly, was fun to work with, and we love our photos!

I cannot recommend Michael Novo photography enough! The most important decision to us was the phtographer. We interviewed several photographers and Michael blew them all out of the water. His technical skill, along with his artistic eye was what drew us to Michael, and after meeting him, we knew he was the right fit. We then had an incredibly fun and unique "caddy shack" style engagement session with Michael. This further confirmed that Michael was the perfect choice. He is very good at communicating how to pose and we all had great chemistry. The engagement pictures turned out spectacularly. Friends and family were laughing while signing our guestbook, it certainly did not contain the typical stiffly posed shots! The editing of the images was beautiful and we currently have a large print hanging in our dining room. Our wedding day was about as stress-free as a wedding can get in regards to the photography. Michael arrived early to set up, got all of the pictures in the time we allotted, and there was even time for more fun photos. We asked Michael for a few sunset shots in the middle of the reception time and he made sure to let us know when it was time to go outside for those. We now have very fond memories of the quiet moments we got to spend together while doing the sunset shots. Our photos turned out better than we could have dreamed and we feel incredibly lucky to have our beautiful pictures from Michael to remember the day by. To summarize, Michael produces extremely beautiful images whether they are traditional wedding shots, fun storytelling moments, or unique playful poses. He is so easy to work with and you will not regret hiring him for your day!

Michael is beyond professional and his input is invaluable. What Michael can do with your ideas is make them into dreams. Sounds cliche? That's what the best in class photographers can do, take your ideas and bring out the visuals you desire because its the most important day of your life. We had Michael do both our engagement and wedding and we were amazed how he can create a story for us that works so well within our city. We live in Chicago and that's part of our romance, and Michael captured each moment perfectly. Michael's style is also something that he's refined and perfected. Lighting, scenes, etc are all rendered in a clarity that made us feel like celebrities. I cannot recommend him enough and hope you consider a consult with him to see the variety of palettes and styles he offers. I'll leave you with this. You don't want to worry about the photographers and what they are doing during your wedding. You want it to just work perfect without having to touch anything. That's what Michael does, he brings that sense of ease and professionalism to those moments so you can enjoy your big day. The classic moments are those you never saw sometimes and reviewing the photos years later, I still laugh at what he captured. Check him out. You won't regret it.

Beyond amazing! It was so great working with Michael, he had some great location suggestions and made our engagement session easy going and fun. We absolutely love our photos, so creative, unique and he sure made us look good! Can’t wait for our wedding and its nice to have confidence that our photos will be awesome.

I had my engagement and family portraits shot by Michael. He suggested very good locations for both which was a big help. I was worried about family portraits because there were over 10 people including kids but Michael kept everybody in check to get things moving and he was very patient which made it less stressful for everybody. We really like the standard shots but also some creative setups that Michael suggested. I will definitely use Michael's services again.

My fiance and I were in great hands with Michael and his team during our engagement shoot. He is a true professional, took his time to direct us for really interesting and unique shots. We had a great time in the city, even grabbed drinks after! Overall, It was a fun experience, well worth it, with album memories that will last for a lifetime.

My photos are better than yours! Yes, truly! Michael Novo offers a unique and creative approach to photography. If you are looking for something unusual, out of the box, yet timeless for you and your family to enjoy and cherish than look no further. My wedding photography is my most favorite thing about my wedding and I definitely won the lottery with this amazing vendor!

Mike is seriously the best. His whole life is photography. If you get the chance to visit his studio, you will understand what I mean. He has the most creative visions - I mean really out of the box ideas, but can also accomodate the pickiest bride! He’s easy to work with, punctual, witty (which is great for making you smile when he needs you to) and just a breath of fresh air. Highly, highly recommend him! Oh, and my husband thought he was pretty cool, too.

Mike with Novo is amazing. He’s been our photographer of choice for years and helped capture many beautiful, poignant and pivotal moments in my family’s life over the last decade. He is responsive, adaptable and honest. He works well in any setting, with subjects of all ages. He handles unexpected changes with ease and flexibility. He has an genuine gift and a really wide range, capturing raw, tender moments as beautifully as posed, artsy shots. He also is timely with his communication and delivery. Bottom line - he loves what he does, is really darm good at it, and it consistently comes through it his work. Mike is the perfect choice to entrust with your special moments, big and small!

I am so glad we chose Mike to be part of our wedding! My Husband and I aren't very traditional in general so he was very accommodating to make sure his services and skills fit our needs. We really appreciate his time, patience, hard work and humor for making our day and experience working with him special. Highly recommend!

When we met with Michael during our initial consult, one of the questions we asked him was what he loves about wedding photography. His response was "I don't love it at all, in fact I dislike it a lot." This was a bit of a surprise to me and he then explained that wedding photography shouldn't just be a collection of things that I've seen already done on the internet repeatedly and that our images should be a reflection of our personalities. It wasn't until I saw our engagement photos that I really understood what he meant. He captured exactly the look and feel that my (now husband) and I wanted. From our meetings, to the phone calls and shoots he was right there with us. I can safely say that if you want art and something that truly stands out from the crowd, you will not regret having Michael capture your wedding day.

While not a wedding, Michael photographed our son's first birthday which is a big event in the Russian community. Photos came out fun and captured the day perfectly.

Working with Michael was the perfect fit for us right out of the gate. He is very easy going, professional, and uber-creative. He listened to our ideas and found ways to build upon them which took the images way beyond what we ever could have dreamed. Not only is Michael a talented photographer, he's just a good guy. We laughed a lot during our shoot (both engagement and wedding) which made our photos turn out very relaxed and genuine. If you want engagement/wedding photos that equally capture genuine romantic vibes, as well as light-hearted goofy moments, then Michael Novo is your guy. We honestly couldn't have been more happy.

One of my distinct memories from my parents is their wedding photos. Each of them had a different photo of that day on their desk and every anniversary we would go over the album and they would tell me new funny stories from their years together. While memories fade and change, photos capture a moment. put them in a time vault and allow you to re-live that moment again and again for ever - what else can do that... So while I was a pretty silent partner throughout the planning phase, selecting the photographer was “my project”. This industry is plagued with mediocre craftsman with fancy websites so I knew I’ll have to comb the web to find one that I can trust. I went through thousands of reviews, hundreds of photographer's website which eventually led me to interview 5. Until I found to Michael. I loved working with Michael and knew I made the right decision from the first email exchange. Beyond being a master with the camera, he’s a master at getting the most of his models. I was camera shy, but after working on positioning and just chatting with us, he made us feel instantly at ease. Slowly it changed from a yet another wedding task to a fun bonding experience. He was able to be capture the true essence of us while looking oh-so good! Beyond the classic photos and poses he'll get really artistic with you. He has this look (it's pretty easy to spot) and then you know that the next photo is going to be really unique and not cliche. My favorite part of the whole process was seeing the end result. The quality was out of this world, the album was an artistic creation and I feel very fortunate for finding and working with a talent like Michael. -- I refer all my friends to him and I would totally have another photo shoot with him ... just for fun.

Amazing engagement photos! I can't say enough great things about Michael, his unique style, and unquestionable talent for capturing emotion and personality in each photograph. My fiance and I felt very comfortbale talking with Michael and developing some ideas. He was incredibly professional and was able to quickly get a true sense of us as a couple, which reflect beautifully in our photos. Thank you!!

Michael is a wonderful choice for wedding photographer! Both him and his assistant are great! We had terrific communication with him since we booked with him, he ended up being extremely flexible with staying later when our venue site was delayed, and he was just great to work with all around on our wedding day! We have not yet seen our wedding photos, but I am 100% confident they will be amazing. Our engagement shoot photos got more compliments than I could've imagined! He is great at balancing very artistic shots while capturing the personalities of the people he is photographing. I would recommend him as a photographer for any event!!

I loved our engagement photos. I am still waiting for the photo from the big day. However, I can already tell I will like them. Mikes likes to run with themes, which always tell a better story than posed pictures. He is really great to work with and is so much better than any other photographers work I've seen.

Michael Novo shot our engagement session a few weeks ago. We shot outside in Chicago and had so much fun - my fiance and I didn't really know what to expect when we showed up, but Mike had a ton of ideas and gave us great direction with positioning through the whole process. Even after we thought we were done taking pictures, he would see something that inspired him and then pull us back for a couple more shots. We had so much fun through the whole process. When we went to see our photos at his office a couple weeks later, we were floored with how great they all looked. Out of all the photos he shot, there were barely any that we didn't like. The editing was phenomenal and we are so excited to use them for our save-the-dates (or even wallpaper our whole house because we love them so much!) All our family and friends keep commenting to us about how great the photos turned out too. We would love to have him as our wedding photographer if he wasn't already booked! We highly recommend him and hope to get a chance to work with him in the future.

Mike has an amazing eye and is so careful with the images he creates. He truly made us look like king and queen.