Today we’d like to introduce you to Ken Pagliaro.
Ken, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Prior to moving to Los Angeles in 2002, I was working as a carpenter building homes on the east coast of New Jersey where I grew up. I would always carry a little point and shoot camera to document our work and take pictures of my co-workers. They would get annoyed with my constant shutter clicking.
Once I had the film processed I would show them the images and they’d always be stoked to see themselves and the before and after images of our projects. One day I was given, as a gift, a 35mm Fujica SLR. As soon as I researched how to use it I bought some film and started shooting. Once I realized the control I had over the look of the final image with this new upgrade in equipment I was hooked! I took a beginner class at a local community college and then another and another and so on.
In 2002 the opportunity to move to Los Angeles presented itself so I went. I quit my job as a carpenter and made a decision that when I got to LA I would pursue a career in photography. So I did. I enrolled in the Art Center at Night program at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. I learned quite a bit and I met some very talented people who gave me advice and shared their techniques with me. Over time I gained the confidence to consider myself a photographer and beyond that a professional photographer after a few years of shooting and building a client list…
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Definitely not a smooth road. As soon as I made the decision to rely strictly on photography to make a living and told my wife (at the time), she decided that she was going to move out. Ha!
To be fair this wasn’t the only thing that ultimately led to our divorce but she did express to me later that it was the final straw. As painful as this was I knew that I had to continue to follow my dream of becoming a professional photographer. Going through a divorce in the beginning stages of establishing a business that relied on my creative outflow was difficult at times but also a source if I was conscious enough to allow it.
Please tell us about Ken Pagliaro Photography.
I’d say I’m most known for my surfing/lifestyle photos. I also have a real desire for adventure. I find myself blindly saying yes to anything that has a hint of danger. I was asked to photograph a summit of Mt. Rainier in Washington state with no experience in mountain climbing at all.
I was also called with just a few hours notices to shoot a Coors Light commercial in Alaska for 10 days. I was surfing in southern California on the morning I received the call and by 8 pm on the same day, I was unloading my gear at the airport in Anchorage in subzero temperatures. I also shoot regularly out in the ocean which is always challenging and adventurous.
Most recently I’ve been photographing cars for Chevrolet which I landed because they saw photos from a shoot that I did with the U.S. Coast Guard. The feedback I get most from my clients is that I’m easy to work with. I try to keep my ego in check, have fun, and focus on delivering a great product that we can all be proud of.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Honestly? I wouldn’t have done anything differently.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kenpagliaro.com
- Phone: 310-739-2750
- Email: kenpagliaro@me.com
- Instagram: @kenpagliaro
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