Tara Ruby captures the emotion and honor behind America's military families with the Tamron 75-300mm lens.

By Jenn Gidman
Images by Tara Ruby

Tara Ruby has a long family history with the armed services. "My mom was active duty, my grandfather was active duty—basically all of my family going back to the Civil War," the Texas mom explains. "I joined the military myself right out of high school and spent some time in the Air Force; my ex-husband was Army, and my husband now is Army, We're currently stationed at Fort Bliss."

She took up photography as a hobby, partly because her three kids had ADHD, and getting their pictures taken in a photo studio ended up with everyone in tears. "I decided to just learn how to take their pictures at home myself," Tara says. "From there, I started volunteering to take pictures for the Freedom Crossing outdoor shopping center we have here on Fort Bliss, and that soon grew to taking pictures, for pay, of playdates with military families. That opened up even more doors for me, and I started photographing homecomings, deployments, and military ceremonies as well. In 2010, I quit my job, got my insurance and business license, and became a photographer full time. I haven't looked back since."

The story of how Tara got her Tamron 75-300mm lens is just as powerful as her military history is long. A friend of hers was close with a soldier who had been deployed numerous times, and each time he went overseas, he brought his camera gear so he could take pictures while he was away. "He came back after one deployment and was staying with my friend and her family, but he was having a lot of problems," she says. "One night he went out into the desert and took his own life. He had asked that all his photography equipment continue to be used, so my friend gave me the lens because she knew I would put it to good use. That's why even though it's an older Tamron lens, it was really important to me to keep it working. Tamron's been great at helping me out with that once they knew the story behind the lens."

Managing the emotion behind the photos of military families, whether it's a joyous homecoming, a solemn ceremony, or a deployment, can be challenging. "I have definitely had moments where I've had to walk away," Tara says. "I think I get into a zone, and I can now usually make it through an event or session without crying. It's usually when I come back home to edit the photos and I'm by myself in front of the computer when I fall apart."

One of the most emotional photos Tara's ever taken ended up nabbing top honors in the 2014 Army digital photography contest. "Some of the soldiers were coming home on a plane, and one little girl was waiting behind the ropes for her dad," she explains. "I don't think society as a whole understands what these kids go through after not seeing their parents for so long. They are so excited when they come home."

The dad was the last of 300-plus soldiers to disembark from the plane, so the little girl was waiting anxiously for more than an hour. "When she finally saw him, she did what she wasn't supposed to do and went underneath the ropes so she could run to him," Tara says. "We were cheering her on. The photo of her reaching up to embrace him was one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments. I've tried to re-create images like that since, and I just can't."

It didn't even matter that the picture wasn't technically perfect. "I look at that picture and see her hand is blurry, but that's because I was crying," Tara says. "I'm not afraid to get emotional, and I think clients like to see that, too—they see you're a real person just like them, and it helps you make a connection."

There's an area in El Paso called Red Sands, which literally is covered in red sand and serves as a popular gathering spot for off-roading, bonfires, and other family events. "The day I was taking pictures there, it was 105 degrees," Tara says. "I wanted to take a picture of this family—the dad, the mom, and their three young boys—but it was so hot, and I wanted to give them a timeless photo they could hang on their wall where they weren't looking uncomfortable from the heat."

It was shortly before sunset, so Tara decided to capture the family in silhouette. "It's what I like to do when I can't get a 2-year-old to look at me," she laughs. "I simply turned them around, had them hold hands, and captured them at this moment in their life. I love doing silhouettes, especially when there's an American flag in the picture. Plus this is probably one of the last times those boys will hold hands together. They were so full of energy that we let them jump off the dune when we were done."

On Fort Bliss, there's a huge, garage-like building where many of the homecomings are held, with the soldiers marched into the building after coming off the plane. "They open these huge garage doors and the soldiers come in, and there's cheering and clapping and screaming," Tara explains. "The first thing the soldiers see is this 20-foot-tall flag on the stage. It's become a tradition to get homecoming pictures in front of the flag."

One mom brought her kids to welcome back their dad, and Tara decided to capture them in black and white. "They were actually all wearing bright yellow, and I understood the symbolism of the yellow ribbon that welcomes soldiers home," she says. "But black and white is so classic. And the fact that not everyone is looking straight at the camera—that's a snippet of real life. Everything looks controlled here, but I call it controlled chaos. They're excited to see Dad, and Mom is excited to hand them over to him. She's been taking care of them for a year by herself, and it takes a very strong woman to do that, especially with multiple children."

For a photo of a husband and wife reuniting, Tara describes the scene as everyone tries to find their loved ones. "For about 20 minutes, it's like being in a big cornfield trying to locate everybody," she says. "Then they come together in an embrace. In this photo, as you can tell by the various arms in the image, you've got the husband and wife, plus their two daughters in there, too! What I love about a photo like this is that this is a commander, so he's used to always being in charge of his soldiers, while his wife is always running around making sure everyone has everything they need. For just a moment, they had this chance to be vulnerable, this time to themselves. They're entitled to this moment."

A military ceremony that showed a changing of command also gave Tara the chance to show a different side of a top military officer that she knows outside of the job. "The man on the right in this image is in charge of all of Fort Bliss, which landwise is about the same size as Rhode Island," she says. "So he's a pretty intense person. But I'm friends with his wife, and at the end of the day, he's still a person, and I usually see him in a more relaxed atmosphere."

For this image, though, she was able to show him in his official role as he handed the reins over to the man on his left, who was taking over the command. "The way they're standing at attention shows them in control, with all of the units from Fort Bliss all gathered there to watch the changeover," she says. "I stood where I was to not only not be disruptive during the ceremony, but also to show them in this stance, with such a powerful view of the general. I was far back enough that I was able to show a good number of the service members who were there."

Besides her time in the military, Tara has also spent time in the State Department ("I worked down the hall from Colin Powell when he was in office"), as a government contractor, and at a law firm—but in the end, she always comes back to the military. "When you're born and raised in that community, that's where you feel like home is," she says. "Every time I got out, I'd feel like I needed to get pulled back in."

And Tara's work has led not only to an ample portfolio, but also change within the military community. "In September I took a picture of 10 active-duty moms breastfeeding with my Tamron lens, and it went viral globally," she says. "Two weeks later the Army had a breastfeeding policy that supported breastfeeding in uniform, so we actually helped make some changes in the community. It's wonderful to not only just capture portraits for families, but actually to effect change in a positive way. That's a great feeling."

To see more of Tara Ruby's work, go to https://tararuby.com or www.themilitaryphotographer.com.

The 75-300 is a discontinued lens, the newer model is the SP 70-300mm (model A005)