Today we’d like to introduce you to Gary Lapietra.
Gary, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My journey started in NYC back in 2016, when I received a DSLR camera for my birthday. I got started in photography because I knew I always had it in me. I just needed the tools. I would go around the Big Apple and just start taking photos of anything to practice my skills, and learn my camera. I would be so inspired by the work of my friends, and I’d tell myself, “I can do that. I just need a camera”. Ya, we all have smartphone cameras, but it feels like I’m cheating with my iPhone. I like the process of precision you need to learn while shooting in Manual mode.
During my three years in NYC, I would meet up with some awesome people through my jobs and through photography. My work started to get noticed and it landed me some freelance work down in Miami actually. I flew down and completed two shoots in 3 days with my friends, some other great creatives, and models I’ve met through Instagram. The energy consumed over those three days was a huge turning point for me, and it ultimately led me to move down to North Miami Beach a year later.
Get your sunshine in people!!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
NOT EASY. NYC was very difficult, considering I had moved there a few months after graduating college with a Recording Arts degree. I would have to do the local grind of a restaurant gig on top of my six-month internship in audio post-production.
I eventually said goodbye to that two job life and landed a job in the world of Live Events. It was a change of pace, in a good way, and I learned a ton about my work-ethic and future career path through this job.
Moral of the story…. get an apartment you can afford 🙂 lol
Then I moved down to Miami on a decent job offer and moved in with some of my best friends. It was a wild time and we would laugh every day. I found a new career opportunity a few months later and I jumped on it.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
I consider myself a small jack-of-all-trades kind of creative. I started off in photography first and then jumped to videography. I shoot my photography mainly freelance, and my videography falls under the corporate umbrella. I’ve held full-time gigs as a Videographer for a Dermatology office down in South Miami, and as a Team Videographer for high-school sports. I also work in Graphic Design as well. I’m always eager to learn and elaborate on my skill-set.
I would say I’m known for my photography more than anything else I shoot. Friends and Family reach out and give me business, and the word would just spread to more people. The creative process is such a calming one for me. I love pre-production, shoot days, getting the camera ready, setting up a shot list, finding inspo online, editing, etc. It’s beauty and a “good” madness all at the same time.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was always around music and sports. I would listen to music when I was doing basically anything, whether it was cleaning, playing video games, downloading it online, cutting the grass, homework, etc.
Sports are a huge part of my life. I started playing soccer at age three and continue to play now at age 27 whenever I can. The best part about how sports background is that I got to work around NBA, NHL, NCAA, and UFC athletes at my NYC job.
My personality isn’t set in stone to be completely honest.. Yes, we all have personality types. I get that. I’m saying that it depends on the environment. If I’m around people, I can vibe with and converse with. Then I’m gonna be more social than in a room full of people who like talking about things like politics or how much they hate Mondays.
Pricing:
- Photos – starting at $100 for mini shoot
- Video – 60 Instagram spot for $200.
Contact Info:
- Website: garylapietra.com
- Phone: 5852021434
- Email: glapietra097@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/garylapietra
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GaryLaPietraVisuals
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