Gary Brainard was born and raised in Hermosa Beach, California. Photography interested him starting at a very young age. As far back as he can remember, He always had a camera in his hands. Shooting small, medium and finally large format film, Gary converted a kennel building into darkroom for processing and printing. He hand built most of his darkroom equipment.

After high school, Gary's passion for photography turned into his occupation. He became a photojournalist, eventually shooting 16mm film for television. Gary grew with the technology switching from film to video. As a news photographer, Gary has access to shoot many subjects and events in the news, sports and entertainment world. He has accumulated over 3000 hours shooting from KCOP UPN helicopters. Gary has been recognized byhis peers with 8 Emmys, 3 Golden Mics, 1 Associated Press award and numerous PPAGLA awards for his work.

Gary likes to escape the reality of news coverage, by returning to his roots in fine art photography. Working in his studio at Woodland Hills, California, He enjoys slowing down to create images rather than capture them using medium and large format films as well as digital formats.