Tampa Wedding Photographer, Tampa Photographer, Tampa Family Photographer, Tampa Senior Picture Photographers, Tampa Maternity Photography » Award winning Tampa photographer, Andi Diamond, captures Tampa weddings, Tampa newborn photos, maternity photos of Tampa moms, family pictures, senior portraits and more!

I am back from my conference in Phoenix- and full of ideas, inspiration, motivation, and excitement.  Professional conferences tend to do that to most people and Imaging USA was no exception!  I went with my friend Robin of Robin Highsmith Photography (her hubby set it up for her as a surprise Christmas gift…so sweet!)  The days were very long- we left our hotel before the sunrise and got back long after the sun had set.  We did not even realize our hotel was completely surrounded my mountains until our last day in the shuttle to the airport!  So sad!

Just wanted to share some snapshots with my faithful blog stalkers.  Excuse the poor quality- leave it to a photographer to put her point-n-shoot camera on the wrong settings! ha!  Gotta admit- I LOVE being in front of the camera- even if I am just being silly!  My best girlfriends have teased me about this since middle school!  Pull out a camera and I will strike a pose!

The trade show rocked!  I love all of my vendors- my lab, album company, canvas company, etc.  And they were all there (along with 6,000 other photographers and 600 vendors!)  So we had to grab some shots in their booths!  One of the biggest treats was seeing Anne Geddes speak- what an increditble artist!I did miss Pete and Ethan so much- so when I walked into my lab’s booth and saw that they were using an image of MY BABY in their display, my heart melted!  MELTED!  I have to give credit where credit it due.  This image was captured by my photographer who I LOVE during our last family session.  (Yes- even professional photographers use other professional photographers for their family sessions.  It is an investment that is well worth it for everyone who apprecaites photography as art…but that is another diary entry!  ha!  Thanks Alycia of Alycia Alvarez Photography for your beautiful work and constant words of wisdom…and for submitting this image of Ethan- it made my day!)And last but not least- we had to cut loose on the last night at the closing party.  So fun!  (Are you diggin’ those red eyes?!  Nice!)  We met some great new friends, including Gregg Martin of Gregg Martin Photography in South Carolina (Go Gators…sorry Gregg!), and danced until they kicked us out.  We missed the light rail and took a scary taxi from 1981 back to the hotel.  But as always, there is no place like home!  (but what is with this cold weather?  burrr!!)

I will be out of the studio until Thursday, January 15 at Imaging USA, the Professional Photographers of America’s national conference in Pheonix.  I am very excited!  I will be available via cell if you need to reach me.  Otherwise, I will be in touch when I return.  Have a great week!

A

Orange and Blue….let’s Go GATORS!  And they sure did!  WOW!  What an amazing game!  I was nervous enough to be one of the players!  Pete lost his voice.  We were both in and out of our seats all night with excitement, anxiety, and happiness!  We had such a fun day/night!  My sister and brother-in-law organized a charter bus for about 40 of us.  We met at Hard Rock and caravaned to the game for an all day tail gate!  It was like Mardi Gras!  (By the way, my sister-in-law owns and operates a great online store with adorable Gator accessories!  Check it out at the Pink Gator.)  I had a really good feeling about the outcome of the game- and a couple of events helped that feeling.  Besides that fact that the Gators have the strongest team in the nation and Tebow:

1.  I found a $10 bill as soon as I walked in the stadium.  I picked it up and told Pete, this is a lucky $10 bill…I can feel it.  We are going to WIN by 10 points..I just know it!  Sure enough…..we did!  (Though I have to admit, I did get nervous a few times!)  I actually almost spent it when I when to go buy a $10 hamburger and a water, but decided to break a $20 instead.  Thank goodness!  (So technically 1/1,000,000 of that trophy is beacuse of me! ha!)

2.  The curse of the Heisman.  It seems as though whoever wins the Heisman, loses his bowl game (except for Danny Wuerfell!)  Sorry Sam Bradford…go ahead and hand over the trophy.  You know why….

3.  We scored first.  One of my best friends, Kelly Hite of Pure Sugar Studios, and I have this theory.  (And we have had this theory since before we went to our first national championship game together in New Orleans over 10 years ago!)  Which ever team scores first, wins.  Simple.  And 50% of the time it is correct! ha!  Actually it is more like 90%.  Realy, it’s true!  So after that first TD, I knew we were golden!   As the old saying goes……IT’s GREAT TO BE A FLORIDA GATOR!

So now I am home, only to run off again today. This time to Phoenix, Arizona.  I will be at Imaging USA, the Professional Photographers of America’s national conference until Thursday.  If you need me, I can be reached via cell and will probably have limited e-mail access.  Thanks for reading my diary.  I will post more pictures when I get home and am not running around like a headless chicken (which I do quite well!)

I mean WIN the national championship!  I am so excited!  It is going to be a great game and I have a very good feeling about the Gators bringing home the title!  I will be out of the studio until Friday, January 9 in Miami.  I will have limited access to e-mail.  All phone calls and e-mails will be returned when I get back.  GO GATORS!!

I cannot believe 2009 is here!  It seems the older I get, the faster time flies by (ok….now I sound like my mother!)  Being the “big” gambler that I am, we went to Hard Rock for new years because now they have Black Jack!  Love it!  I was actually starting to win back some of the money that I had lost on the Let It Ride table (I swore I knew the game better than I really did), when we got a phone call from my mom…at 11:55pm. Ethan got sick and wanted his mommy and daddy.  So off we went.  Of course by the time we got there he was asleep but I could feel the fever.  Fortunately he is on the mend now (only to pass the cold along to me).  We all need to be healthy asap as we are headed to watch the Gators WIN the national championship game on the 8th!  (that is not my only motivation for our health….but you know us crazy Gators!   )

Like most people, the new year brings new goals- both personal and professional for me.  It also allows me to reflect back on the past and the amazing year I had- both personally and professionally!  Thanks to all of my wonderful clients for allowing me to capture your art.  I look forward to seeing you again in 2009 and to meeting new clients as well!  I hope the new year brings you health, happiness, and a ton of fun!

xoxo, Andi