Contact

For prints or portrait inquiries:lainasydney@gmail.com

About

I was born in South Florida in 1990, spent half my life in Colorado between Denver and Aspen, had brief chapters in both NYC and LA, and now call Encinitas home. My very first camera was a Spice Girls Polaroid and honestly it still might be my favorite. I’ve been shooting both film and digital photography for over 20 years, with work shown in galleries and art shows in Denver and Aspen.

These days I focus mostly on lifestyle and portrait photography with a love for honest, story driven imagery. I care way more about capturing something real than having the “perfect” settings or the sharpest lens.

My work is rooted in composition, emotion, and connection. I’m not into stiff poses or overly polished moments. I want people to feel comfortable, seen, and fully themselves. The best photos feel timeless to me. My style lives somewhere between documentary and dreamlike with natural light, organic moments, and a little nostalgia woven in.

Nothing means more to me than someone looking at a photo I took and saying, “I actually love this of me.” That’s the whole point.

“Laina has been a great friend and inspiration of ours for a long time, far before we put any of these misadventures to print. I’ve always been impressed with her penchant for experimentation and general disinterest in following any script or trends. It’s a noteworthy part of why her work stands out in, to put it mildly, a very crowded space.” Michael Goodwin, Ritual of Sin Magazine