Bio – Craig Minielly

I love what I do.

Really, that’s what it all comes down to… I’m a photographer, it’s what I do, and I truly enjoy it.

I was first published when I was 13, and have been doing it ever since. From an early start in Editorial, then continuing on my own (after Sheridan College) when I was 20, taking on Commercial and Advertising assignments and clients. Portrait services followed, and since then it’s been a continuous adventure of whatever’s next…

Why I enjoy it so much, is the people that I get to meet, the cool things I get to see, and the places that they all take me to. Everyone has a story they want to be known, and I’ve  been fortunate enough to be the one to tell it for them. My medium is the image.  Whatever form that takes, for whatever presentation is required – That’s  what I do.

My biggest fear… almost conquered. It’s a bizarre sensation when you're standing on deck of the dive boat, looking into the waters with sharks swimming all around – and realising you are about to jump in with them.

Hanging from a bucket 150′ in the air… keeping my breath steady underwater while 40 sharks circle all around me… juggling agencies in three different cities with their AD’s in studio while I have two vogue models in parallel studio sets (the sharks were easier to handle)… holding my camera to the horizon (while upsidedown) as the helicopter I’m in does a near loop over an offshore powerboat race… I could go on, but that’s what I can think of right now.

Centropolis Water Sculpture at Night

Perhaps somewhat less exciting, but still a big part of my world, are the cool things I get to see and document for the companies that created them. Open space multilevel architectural achievements, home & office interior cozy creations, turbine engine assemblies & multipractic food processors (engines are easier) , and then there’s the hidden things –  The insides of High Temp Vacuum Furnaces, 16 story Explosion Chambers,  city-block size Concrete Mixers, Test Aircraft & Hydro Station inner workings, Forestry & Marine Field Operations for industry and the Military… Chances are if you’ve ever wondered how something was done or who did it, I’ve been part of how that story was told at least once, at some time in the past 25+ years.

Therapeutic Riding Centre, Horse and Child

There’s also the less obvious moments that are lasting ones for me… Watching a couple dancing slowly & silently in my darkened studio for his final session… the smile that passes between teacher and child in a moment of achievement, the spark in someones eye as they’ve finally realized their ultimate personal (and life changing) fitness goal… or the hush of the crowd, as they gaze on a single image on stage of someone taken away far too young… I was there for those moments, they will always be with me. That I have been able to create the images and preserve those moments for others is what makes my “job” worthwhile.

On Assignment, Sailing in Gulf Islands

I am a photographer. It’s always been more than what I do…

It’s what I am.

Craig Minielly

Professional Accomplishments…

Craig Minielly is an internationally accomplished photographer, and not just to one style of client, as he is Nationally Accredited in over 15 Specialty Fields and has been published worldwide for the last 30 years.

With a passion for light styling and a flair for location opportunities, his image creations are a combination of diverse influences from the editorial world he started in, the commercial world he thrived in, and the portrait world he has always been a part of. As a pioneer within the digital revolution, Craig was, and still is, one of the influential forces in creating and developing workflow techniques and habits that are still being used by individuals, studios and corporations all over the globe.

As the only Certified Professional Photographer to have his Masters & Craftsman of Photographic Arts in Canada and also in the US, he’s also the recipient of Five Photographer of the Year Awards in Canada, the US and Internationally.

In 2011 Craig received the Yousuf Karsh Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Professional Photographers of Canada.