Search Results for: dragstrip

  About My Business

I have three areas of expertise and experience. I am an accomplished events photographer with over 2 decades of experience. I have successfully covered all kinds of group gatherings. I can photograph most standard events like weddings and bar mitzvahs but prefer to serve the LGBTQIA community.  My favorite thing to cover is drag shows at clubs in the Los Angeles metro area. I also am a technology consultant with a specialization in websites and social media. I have a college education (master degree in Information Technology) but rarely consult on technology. I just help occasionally with small biz Website development for friends and relatives. I am also an astrological chart analyst and adviser. I perform astrology chart evaluation sessions on an individual basis. I have been out of this for a few years due to Covid pandemic 2019-2022. Please check my galleries in my blog posts which mainly are Flickr albums and Instagram posts.  I have not done Astrology for many years but if people show interest, I would relearn it and consult regarding the topic again.

  My Camera and My Main Art

I use a high-end digital camera (Canon R5 Mirrorless Full Frame camera 50mpx) with amazing clarity. I have a range of lenses for all different situations such as studio shots (with a seamless backdrop, for example) or for a club setting like Micky’s (LA Gay Nightclub) for example. I also use a 70-200mm lens for certain events. Click on photos in the blog posts to see samples of all of my photo work that spans over 2 decades. I do sessions for individuals, couples, and groups depending on what I am hired to do. I do not use a studio for most of my work. I prefer natural outdoor lighting. However a studio can be rented/arranged in situations where it is appropriate. I have rented studio space to shoot professionally as can be found in these examples:   I am an expert with flash usage for indoor photography. My specialization is event photography at live events (Performances) such as drag shows or live music events (Gay Pride , etc). Check out my Pride photos and other street events such as Sunset Junction(no longer held). Many of my blog posts are Flickr albums displaying samples of my event work.  I try to be creative with other shooting locations.  Please see the main blog for all kinds of samples of the types of things I shoot.  Below is a link to one of my first portrait sessions with a cute boy named Marty.  He now would be about 40. I wish I knew his full name so I could contact him.  Not sure if he is Str8 or Gay or Bi but would love to know. Enjoy the gallery.  –PL

Portrait Samples – Click Here

Dragstrip Galleries – Click Here

Biography

   Biography (abridged)  of Photo Larry

I grew up in Saint Louis Missouri. I have one sister who has two daughters. My folks also still live in Saint Louis. I went to college many years ago and was awarded a master’s degree in Computer Science. My first job was a dream come true since I love trains. It was at Union Pacific Railroad headquarters in Saint Louis. I later moved to Chicago and had various technology jobs and traveled extensively. After I became tired of the cold winters, I decided to move someplace warmer. I was offered two jobs. One at Walt Disney Company in their consumer products division as a Database Administrator and one  in San Diego at utility company. This had become my specialty (Databases–Oracle MS SQL and Sybase). I took the job at Disney and they graciously relocated me to LA.  I lived in Toluca Lake for a month at a long term hotel while I found an apartment in the city.  I found a place in Hollywood area near Runyon Canyon. It was a great location that was centrally located.  I had a convertible mustang and lived the high life for about six months.  After only six months, I was laid off from DCP via their voluntary layoff program(severance package for 2 months salary was granted).  I enjoyed the summer of 2001 and started in September to submit my resume to many local companies in Los Angeles. Suddenly on 9/11 as everyone knows, life in USA was disrupted for all of us.  I still have vivid memories of that dreadful day.  But that is a tangent to what happened next in my life. Since I could not find tech work (other than if I accepted jobs outside of California) I did a lot of soul searching and decided to get into photography and become a creative. I never imagined such a thing would ever take place in my life.  I started growing a mohawk, dyed it green(and later every other color you can imagine), and began taking pictures of nightlife in Los Angeles. Dragstrip 66 was a monthly event which is the venue where I was given my “break”.  I met the two men that ran this event and negotiated a job to be their photographer. Note that I started with a small travel camera that was 1 megapixel.  Currently I use a 50mpx mirrorless Pro camera (Canon R5) with a few lenses. A few years after covering the LGBTQ scene I was noticed by an editor of a local magazine mainly for my work at dragstrip66 , and became a full time professional photographer working for IN and Frontiers as well as staff photographer at Micky’s in West Hollywood. I still do publication work occasionally.  You can see my work now on gaycities/queerty sites but mostly now I freelance and go to local drag and LGBTQ events.  You can see all of my work on this website.  Just explore the different posts which are flickr photo galleries which date back to approx 2005.  Thanks for reading.  If you want further detail you can always send me a message Here 

These are some links that illustrate some of my interests

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Aldo Nova – Music Video Classic