Craig Minielly

Glossary

Craig Minielly started with his first camera at 7, was first published at the age of 13, hired as a press photographer at 15, and feels he’s been living the Light Life ever since.

A consummate traveller and always with an eye to the next adventure, he’s earned his multiple photography Masters and Photographer of the Year honours in Canada, the US and Internationally. He’s the youngest recipient of the Yousuf Karsh Lifetime Achievement Award, and as one of the original digital pioneers, has consulted to Adobe, Apple, Epson, Nikon, the Dept of National Defence and countless other companies over the years. To this day, many programs, and photographers all over the world still make use of his innovations from his early days as a creative and technical leader to the digital realm.

Whether for the pages of Vogue, the studios of Hollywood, from the sands of the Sahara or to the unexplored corners of the Arctic, Craig has always been impassioned with all opportunities he’s had behind the camera and to be fortunate enough to share those experiences with others. Even now, every published moment is still just as exciting as his very first one so many years ago.

His specialties behind the lens include films stills, corporate, industrial, underwater, architecture, editorial assignments and expedition travel, to name just a few. His corporate client list and editorial features have seen him published globally for the last 35+ years, and you’ve likely seen his images on your TV, at the theatre, in the stores and throughout the magazine world and internet.

With a natural comfort in sharing and educating with others, he’s been a much sought after presenter to events, shows, as an photo expedition leader, and as a juror to image salons across the globe.

An avid sailor and passionate diver, Craig has a natural affinity to the water realms and our great outdoors. He is driven to ensure that we can preserve and restore our beautiful world and the importance in better educating ourselves to fully appreciate its natural wonders. 

He credits his appreciation for visual awareness and ongoing career behind the camera, from the support and guidance of those who first helped him along in his "young Craig Minielly” days or as he was referred to, YCM, during his formative period as a press photographer. It was their wide-ranging skills and utmost dedication to their storytelling craft, that ignited what has become his lifetime pursuit in capturing and sharing the stories of others—be they industrial or corporate clients, film productions, or any of the ongoing personal projects he is always pursuing in his spare time. It’s the combination of all these experiences and especially those of his earliest influences, that bring him to where he is now and in what he is heartfelt in being able to offer to others. He is humbled and dedicated in the opportunity, to be one of the founding Ambassadors with Nikon Canada.

Even when without a camera in hand, he can usually be found “On Assignment”, as he spends much of his free time on his 40’ sailboat enjoying the waters of our most beautiful pacific west coast.

I see my time with the camera as an opportunity to dance with the light. The dance may be fast or slow, moody, or wild… I never know, and that’s what makes it all the more exciting.  There is beauty everywhere and in everyone, so I’m just happy to be there, watching the light and the dance, perform their magic in front of me.

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