Meet Tara Arrowood
San Francisco Photographer
More than 26 years behind the camera.
Still completely in love with the work.
Sometimes this job has very little to do with photography.
THE PART YOU DON’T SEE IN THE PORTFOLIO
After more than two decades of photographing weddings, families and events, I know that taking care of people is part of the job.
At a wedding, I might fix the dress, carry the flowers, find the missing family member or quietly solve the little things that inevitably happen. With families, I know that children don't always listen to their parents, so I engage them, get their attention and make being photographed fun.
At a conference, I'm looking for far more than the expected speaker at the podium. I'm finding interesting angles, genuine interaction between colleagues, happy faces, great groups and the moments where people and company branding naturally come together.
Every situation is different, but the instinct is the same. I know how to read the room, when to give direction, when to create some energy and when to simply let a moment happen.
Because the best photographs happen when people are engaged in the experience, not thinking about the photographer.
Experience changes how you see a room.
I've photographed more than a thousand weddings and events, from intimate ceremonies and multi-day Indian celebrations to corporate conferences, milestone celebrations and family sessions. After that many, very little surprises me.
I know how to find beautiful light in a hotel ballroom, adjust quickly when a timeline changes, photograph a large family without turning portraits into an ordeal, and anticipate moments before they happen.
Experience doesn't make me rigid.
It allows me to be calm.
And calm is contagious.
Present when you need me. Invisible when you don't.
Some moments deserve direction. Others deserve to be left completely alone. I photograph both.
Portraits should feel effortless rather than overly posed, whether it's a couple at golden hour, a family together, or an executive between sessions. I'll step in when direction makes the photograph better, and step away when something real is unfolding.
I don't interrupt genuine moments to manufacture better photographs.
My work is true to color, rich in black and white, and intentionally timeless. I want your photographs to feel just as relevant twenty years from now as they do when you first see them.
Artist’s daughter.
Engineer’s daughter.
Somehow, I became both.
HOW I GOT HERE
I finished an engineering degree in 1993 and spent the next few years quietly certain I'd chosen the wrong half of my brain. I moved to San Francisco, started assisting a wedding photographer in 1999, and by 2004 I'd left engineering behind entirely.
Photography turned out to need both: the technical precision I inherited from my father and the artist's eye I got from my mother.
HORSES
Photographing horses grew into passion projects, fine art, and work that helps bring awareness to horses in need.
My happy place
HOME
El Granada, California, with Travis and an unreasonable number of French bulldogs.
Our Family
Burning ManFOLLOW YOUR HEART
We met, fell in love, and three years later went back to get married at the scene of the crime.
YOUR STORY, IN MOTION
Meet Martin.
Martin Meyer has been my trusted filmmaking partner for years. His cinematic eye and quiet approach complement the way I photograph a day, allowing photography and film to work together rather than compete for the same moments.
Together, we offer one cohesive visual team for weddings and for events that deserve to be remembered in motion.
I still believe photographs become more valuable with time.
AFTER ALL THESE YEARS
A wedding, a milestone, a company’s biggest year. These photographs become part of someone’s history. I never lose sight of what they may come to mean.