TANNER, Continued on

“Went back to the roots a few weeks ago and shot some photos @enduro_cross in Prescott, Arizona.” Mason Ottersberg, 23, competes in professional offroad races. This photo by Yeager garnered this comment from Otterberg: “ Without a doubt, the best photos I’ve ever gotten.” Resolution Copper. “Down in the Bowels”.

Tanner, Continued from page 1

where he had access to stuff he was curious about. Green screen. Video editing. He learned how to teach himself things.

By 21, he was shooting rodeos around Globe and Arizona. He took photographs of his friends in the team roping event and earned his first $300. He traveled to rodeos and dirt bike races and got more business-like –a booth with six computers that displayed photos as they were shot. Photos printed on site. But he wasn’t earning enough for his effort, Tanner determined, and he didn’t want to sit in one spot and not move.

He was working in a furniture store and “still learning to be a photographer” when Instagram came on the scene.

“Friends started investing their time to show me how to use light, what each lens does,” Tanner says, “the fine art side of photography; how to shoot manual.”

Tanner got hired by a guy in Phoenix to shoot events for his motocross news website – 10 in the first year. This led to catalog work, first class flights and investment in better gear and lights. At 22, CEOs and Creative Directors were looking over his shoulder and Tanner wondered if he belonged in their world. By 23, he was earning a month’s wage for a single shoot.

“That was when I knew I could do this,” Tanner says. “This is my career for the next 10-15 years.”

Dirt Bike Racing

The dirt bike industry was the perfect niche for the emerging photographer. To this day, it remains his “bread and butter.” His brand.

“Something they’re passionate about and I’m passionate about,” he explains.

Tanner grew up racing dirt bikes every weekend. Some kids he competed with became Olympic champions with big name sponsors. Tanner took note of how they navigated their careers.

“It was a matter of putting myself in the right place,” he says.

He shot dirt bike races outside in the desert and inside stadiums and was tested to the full extent of his capabilities. Bike breakdowns. Camera breakdowns. Dealing with those elements, Tanner says, is what taught him to be a good photographer. He was the Official Photographer for the Enduro Tour from 2016 - 2019, shooting dirt bike races inside poorly lit arenas with culverts and rocks and speed, and chaos.

“It was very dangerous to be on the floor shooting,” says Tanner. “I learned how to shoot in dark situations.”

That made what came next seem much easier.

Country Music

Tanner Yeager shot his first concert in 2017. It was a band called Midland out of Phoenix. They had just released a song that was #1 on the radio and Tanner messaged them through Instagram. They invited him to their show – in Phoenix – on the date of his girlfriend’s birthday – in Las Vegas.

“I knew I needed to do that show,” says Tanner.

He drove from Vegas to Phoenix, shot the concert, and drove back to Las Vegas. The decision paid off. Midland’s album went double platinum, They were nominated for country group of the year. Tanner’s photos got a lot of attention.

“That’s how it went,” says Tanner, reflecting on his career, “taking random opportunities and hoping for the best.”

Before the pandemic took hold, Tanner was on set with Carrie Underwood. He went on tour with Carly Pearce as her personal photographer. In 2021 she won the Country Music Award (CMA) for Female Vocalist of the Year. The artist that opened for Midland won American Idol and became his best friend.

“I like working with people who are big,” says Tanner, “but honestly, seeing someone’s dream come true…an emerging artist, is better.”

The world of music and motorbikes came together when Tanner assisted on a music video shoot for Brantley Gilbert. The producer got sick. He handed Tanner his $150K camera and asked, “Do you know how to use this?”

Tanner did. He shot two men riding motorcycles in a big metal ball and became the musician’s videographer. He got connected with management and a place to live for three months. He was about to go on tour with another musical artist when covid shut things down.

Landscapes & Beyond

“I don’t like things holding me back,” Tanner says. “I’ve never had a very normal job.”

Around the time Tanner got his start in the music industry, he bought a van. His goal for the last five years was to take as many photos as he could. He would find a “random event” to shoot and see as much as he could along the way. He also set out to travel to national parks and take photos for fun, meeting up with other photographers he met on Instagram.

“Having a van in Arizona was the best thing ever,” says Tanner. “We take sunrise and sunset hikes and create as much as we can.”

His landscape photos draw bigger numbers on Instagram than the music ones, but dirt bike action shots still elicit the most response from followers.

After some time in Scottsdale during the pandemic, Tanner is back in Nashville, where the opportunities are bigger. The challenge, he says, is finding the people that he really wants to work with and who want to work with him, and not being manipulated by smooth talkers.

“In motocross I found my little group of people,” Tanner says. “Now I want to find other people that fit with my lifestyle and I want to tell their story as they go through their journey of their artistry as a musician.”

Through it all, Tanner considers Globe and Arizona his home base.

“I wouldn’t be in country music if I had not grown up in a country town,” says Tanner. “That cowboying and rodeo stuff, and mining and all of it… it definitely sculpted who I am.” u

Studio vibes with @therealkhiry in Scottsdale, Arizona. The Real Khiry is an alternative hip-hop artist from Atlanta, GA.

Tanner Yeager shot his first concert in 2017. It was a band called Midland out of Phoenix. They had just released a song that was #1 on the radio and Tanner messaged them through Instagram.

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