Hi there! My name is Lara Rios (Formerly Lara Dominguez) and I’m originally from Venezuela. I moved to the United States 12 years ago just 3 years after graduating with an Associate Degree in Graphic Design. I worked in a couple of advertising agencies for a while until I realized that I wanted something more. I needed to be in a country where I could grow professionally and where personal safety wasn’t that big of a deal. So I moved to Orlando, Florida in 1997 and I went to UCF for a year while I studied English as a second language. Then I moved to Fort Lauderdale to go to The Art Institute for a few years where I’ve got a bachelor degree in Computer Animation. During this time I’ve got married and I also had a wonderful son, Carlitos! I also got divorced short after he was born. During the time I was going to school I kept freelancing in graphic and website design and not too long after graduating I’ve got a job with a big landscape architecture firm, EDSA, where I worked until January 2009. During those years working for EDSA I had the opportunity to grow as a professional and to manage big clients. It was a great opportunity and learning experience but the corporate world is definitely not for me. So moving on, my department was closed on January of this year and a part of the team (me included) opened a new firm called Gerbino & Associates and that’s where I’m currently working as the art director and website designer. I do like some aspects of my job, like the part that is creative and I get to design and manage great projects. However, I’ve been unhappy for a long time and I’ve been yearning for something else. I didn’t know exactly what that something else was until I discovered wedding and lifestyle photography. And now there’s nothing else in this world I rather do. So, how did this happen? It happened when I was planning my own wedding this past summer. I was fortunate enough to find my soul mate in my best friend of many years (yes, he was my best friend as in “My Best Friend’s Wedding”) and after being together for almost 6 years we finally tied the knot. Having an understanding of what love feels like and being able to relate to other people in this same bubble is what drives me to this passion for lifestyle and wedding photography. I’m in love with LOVE and I’m obsessed with weddings so that’s what makes this new horizon so promising. I want to share these moments with my clients and capture their magical moments forever. I have the tendency to see the world from a very artistic perspective and that’s exactly how I would like my photography business to evolve into:
GLAMOROUS, SOPHISTICATED, SEXY, MODERN AND FUN!
I just started taking my first steps to learn photography. I think I have a small advantage with my background in the arts and also with my experience in the creative field but photography it’s totally new to me and there’s still so much ahead… the path is unknown and it seems so exciting! I can’t wait! Please join me in this journey, I promise to give you an entertaining visual experience along the way.
.
