Ana Brandt International Certification Program - Tina Alaniz

Martina (Tina) Andrade was born in the early 60s in Juarez, Mexico. She is the middle child of seven siblings. Born to migrant parents who brought her and her siblings to the United States in the 70s, her father was a chef at a popular restaurant in Southern California and later started his own successful restaurants and bars. Tina’s mother worked as a housekeeper and eventually found that it was more beneficial to be a stay-at-home mom caring for her children full-time. Today Tina remains close to her large family, siblings, nephews, and nieces, and holds a very strong bond with her mother.  Tina’s father passed away in 2023 due to cancer.  

Tina’s love for photography comes as a result of her love for people. She is passionate about relating to people and telling their stories visually. Being from such a large family, at some point she ended up being the designated photographer after being gifted a camera by a close friend.

Tina’s professional journey started when she began working in the corporate world as a staffing recruiter and quickly climbing the ladder within the industry starting out in business administration and project management, being promoted to office manager, branch manager, corporate trainer, and director, managing multiple accounts for the organization. Her most recent position was as a 1099 independent contractor compliance specialist. Unfortunately, during her tenure at this position, Tina was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer where both her regular job as well as her photography were both put on hold for two years as she recovered from her battle.

By mid-2022, Tina was ready to go back to work, and at this point had decided with this second chance at life that it was important to stay focused on what she truly loved: her family and photography. She quit her corporate job and is now focused on photography full-time. She specializes in all things portraits with maternity and newborns being her core niches.  

As Tina’s daughter would say, “You come alive when you’re behind the camera!,” and she really does exhibit that passion through her drive as a perfectionist; she always goes above and beyond for her clients. Her customer service skills are superb as this was key in her previous experiences in the corporate world. Tina is the driving force for Tina Andrade Photography and continues to educate herself any way she can to keep growing and honing her craft as well as teaching others her passion for photography. Tina has won photo awards of which she is very proud and never thought this direction in her life would be possible; but here she is, taking it one day at time and not giving up on her dream to own her own studio and teach people of all ages.     

Tina balances it all by ensuring that she spends quality time with her loved ones, making this a priority, and knowing when to devote her time to her professional career as a photographer. She loves crafting and traveling the world, and currently resides in Los Angeles, CA with an extremely loving, supportive partner, two beautiful daughters, and three granddaughters.

Tina’s passion, creativity, and dedication make her unstoppable in this very saturated industry; however, she truly believes there is room for everyone at all levels.