Sky High

Colette Eddy must pay close watch to the weather before she heads to work. Grey clouds can throw a day's work off kilter.

Instead of sitting down in front of a computer screen, as CEO and owner of Tampa-based photography firm Aerial Innovations, Eddy flies 1,500 feet in the air in one of her rented aircrafts snapping shots of rumbling herds of buffalo, towering skyscrapers and most notably, construction projects.

Her passion for flight and photography pushed her firm from a happenstance startup in 1987 to a $1 million company this year. She's up 50% for 2011, to $1 million. She hopes to keep the momentum going into 2012.