Tara is an award-winning photographer, cinematographer, and accomplished rock climber, who was born and raised in Bend, Oregon. Though she now lives in Boulder, Colorado, her heart is in Oregon’s Smith Rock State Park (also known by the Northern Paiutes people as Animal Village). Tara picked up her dad's film camera as a kid and has been creating amazing images ever since. She discovered rock climbing in high school and now, more than a decade later, her enthusiasm and dedication to photography and adventure sports have established her as one of climbing’s most sought-after storytellers. 

Although Tara learned to climb in the volcanic tuft of Smith Rock, Oregon her accomplishments span many disciplines and continents. She’s climbed benchmark routes including Vesper 5.14a in The Fins, Idaho and El Sendero Luminoso 5.12d Sport, 1500 ft (flash/onsight) in Mexico. Tara’s real strength, though, is her ability to be a dedicated climbing partner, a motivator, a mentor, and above all a photographer. 

Today, Tara balances her passion for adventure photography and filmmaking with stories that honor Indigenous people through Natives Outdoors. In some of her recent work, Tara received a grant from National Geographic to bring an Indigenous led perspective to the COVID-19 crisis on the Navajo Nation with Len Necefer. She is also an active National Geographic Adventure contributor and the director of Slaydies, an award winning short film about some of America’s top female climbers.