Lara Grauer, PPA Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) Serving The Seattle Area Since 2008.
[email protected] | 206-724-2177
It's great to meet you!
Hi, it’s nice to meet you! I’m Lara Grauer, Seattle photographer, Certified Professional Photographer and member of the PPA Professional Photographers of America and the Professional Photographers of Washington. I’ve been a photographer since 1996 and over the past 24 years I’ve photographed countless children and families, pets, weddings and events. I also specialize in headshots for professionals of all stripes including actors, attorneys, executives, and people improving their social media or dating profiles. My specialty is providing the best photo shoot experience in Seattle Portrait Photography and I am also considered one of Seattle’s leading Pro Headshot Photographers.
I do on-location photo sessions all around Seattle, including Downtown, South Lake Union, Magnolia, Queen Anne, Capitol Hill, Fremont, Wallingford, Ravenna, Magnuson, out across Lake Washington to Bellevue, Redmond and Issaquah and, phew, all the way up North to Everett. I’ll come to you, because you’ll look your best where you’re most comfortable. I also do studio sessions by appointment in my studio or in a larger remote studio as needed on a per project basis.
People ask me what my hobbies are, and most of the time all I can think of is photography! I live and breathe my business every single day. But I have to admit there is more to life than my photography business.
At the top of my list of things I like is my family! Art and I have been married over 20 years, and we are proud parents to 2 awesome teenagers. They are pretty self-sufficient at this point, but they never stop being the two shining beacons of my life. We laugh a lot together, and we especially enjoy the trips we take to places we haven’t seen before. We had family portraits taken in Hawaii recently, and I know those photos will be cherished for quite some time.
I also really really like our dog, Odin. He is a dopey dog who makes us laugh every single day.
Here are some random things you might like to know:
1. I’ve got a thing for journals. I buy them often and I actually tend to fill them up. If I don’t have a journal with me, them I’m probably thinking about where it could have gone (I lose things often too).
2. I love dogs to pieces. If you have a dog, I want to meet it! Growing up, my cousins had a Saint Bernard, and I have always dreamt of having one of my own someday. I don’t know if that dream will ever come true, but I want to meet as many Saint Bernards as I can in my lifetime. They’re the best!
3. I love fashion, makeup, and lots of girly beauty things. But I rarely give them time in my life. I’m the queen of clothing and makeup hacks. Please, tell me your short-cut secrets, so I can spend more time with my family and working on my business!
4. When I was a kid, I wanted to be an orthodontist.
5. Chicago is my hometown, and a piece of my heart will live there forever.
I never really meant to become a photographer. It just sort of turned out that way, and I’m so glad it did. Because of my job, I get to meet so many amazing people, and help them feel proud and confident. I’m so grateful for my world, and all the things and people in it.
I use my skills to bring people closer to the essence of this thing we think of as life. I know we all have it inside of us: the ability to truly live in each and every moment and I see it prominently in the subjects I photograph. That sparkling radiance is there in all of us. I aim to uncover it in those who have forgotten.
I want to wake people up to the magic of living fluidly and freely, so that they can rekindle the childlike radiance that glows within them. From there we will discover the incredible gift of happiness and prosperity that lies in store for all of us – as long as we are willing to claim it.
When it’s time to get to work, I prepare myself by engaging with the shimmering stillness that lives in the now. I let my guard down, and allow the fluidity of the moment guide me. What is it around me that wants to be seen? Does it want to play, or perhaps it needs some space? I stay open to surprises and I follow them when they appear. I’ve learned to trust my intuitive process because a playful approach consistently yields beautiful imagery.
Along the way to my current life as a photographic artist, I earned my bachelor of science degree at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. I majored in both Theatre and Linguistics. While I was at NU, I enrolled in every photography class I could find. All of my courses focused on black and white film photography, with a brief introduction to Photoshop during my sophomore year. It was the first – and last – time I used a film scanner!
In 1996, I began shooting publicity photographs for student theatre productions and a cappella groups; thus beginning my professional career. Since I graduated in 1998, I’ve been a photographer in a variety of settings. I’ve worked on pet portraits, professional headshots, children’s and family portraits, high school senior pictures, maternity photos, weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, women’s boudoir portraiture, newborn photography, along with some food photography, product photography, landscape images, and unique pieces of mixed-media art that depict the world as I see it.
Over the past several years, I have served on the board of the Seattle Professional Photographers Association as Secretary, and then President. I am currently a member of the Professional Photographers of America, as well as the Professional Photographers of Washington. I’ve produced several winning images in various print competitions in my professional organizations, and I’ve enjoyed displaying my work in art shows and businesses around Seattle, Shoreline, and Tacoma. I am currently on the board of directors for the Shoreline Chamber of Commerce, and I am serving as President for the Seattle Sunrise Toastmasters club in Seattle. I’m always looking for ways to serve the community and benefit others. You can bet that I am always studying business and various art techniques.
As a leading professional Seattle photographer, I can promise that each photo shoot receives my very best. I’m available for regular bookings at my Lara Grauer portrait & pro headshot photography studio located on Seattle’s northside. Use the form below to email me with any questions you might have about your professional photography session. I look forward to hearing from you!
Here’s an on-location behind the scenes photo of Lara standing on a counter-top, arranging items for a product shot. It was one of those moments that I just couldn’t pass up. Lara was standing on our client’s marble-topped kitchen island organizing roses, eggs, fancy napkins and assorted ingredients for an overhead top-down shot. The kitchen island…
In late 2016, I earned my professional photographer certification (CPP) from the Professional Photographers of America. I was excited to receive this distinction; especially because I had worked darned hard for it. In order to be certified, a photographer must pass a written exam about the technical aspects of photography, and then she must submit…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Seattle Photographer Earns Certification Lara Grauer of Lara Grauer Photography joins prestigious group as a Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) SEATTLE, WA, – Lara Grauer, CPP of Lara Grauer Photography in Seattle, WA has earned the Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) designation from Professional Photographers of America (PPA). Lara earned this designation after completing an intensive program that measures her artistic…
