About Tad Craig

Greetings & Thank you so much for visiting!

 I was born in Aspen, Colorado, but moved when I was just four years old to Telluride, Colorado. In Telluride, I spent most of my days (about 150 days a year!) skiing all the way until my graduation. My love for the mountains and all their beauty shaped my life. For high school graduation, my stepfather gave me a Nikon FE2 camera, which unbeknownst to me, would later become the instrument that would dictate my life.  Growing up in the mountains you become accustomed to seeing the most magical moments and incredible vistas. One local Telluride Photographer in particular, Ace Kavale, was most influential in my pursuing photography as his photos captured the richest and vibrant moments of the mountains and sporting life we all lived. His photos regularly graced the pages of The Patagonia Catalog and I was hooked!

Throughout college and into the future, I pursued my adventurous life of windsurfing, mountain biking, skiing, rock climbing, and a host other adrenaline sports. In 1994 I moved to Maui and fell in LOVE with everything I saw. Hawaii is absolutely one of the most jaw-dropping locations in the world.  It offers so many incredibly beautiful vistas and amazing moments that you can’t believe they are actually real! It was seeing all this beauty that got me in the darkroom at The Hui No Eau Arts Center, where I worked tirelessly to print my B&W manually in a dark room. This was the time in my life when my love and natural connection with photography captivated me so greatly and defined my future. Now it has been 19 years here on Maui working as Wedding and Portrait Photographer, and the excitement about my craft has remained just as strong as it was all of those years ago creating with that old manual camera.

Photography is a career where experience counts, one where learning and becoming better is paramount to being the best! I am so excited about the path my photography journey has taken, and how it has resulted in growth to a standard of perfection and creativity that I commit to each and every time.

My Mission

My Mission every time, is to not only wow my clients with gorgeous imagery but to do it candidly and real. I consistently use all of the knowledge I have learned over the years to create images that tell YOUR STORY! I document your most important moments with great care, vast experience, and enthusiasm and it is not only an honor for me but deeply personal. I absolutely love the genuine connections and friendships that transpire from being in the midst of such powerful moments. These moments become the foundations of people’s lives and I truly cherish and value that, it means everything to me!

I’ll tell you a story of one particular family & what the pictures meant to them. It was actually a thirty year vow renewal on the beach at Five Palms in South Maui. I had developed a really nice re pore with the bride & she had told me that originally her & her husband had got married in a court house with just a few people watching. For THIRTY YEARS she dreamed of having an actual wedding with her now grown kids standing with her & ALL of her most important people in attendance. Was one of those magical days with a gorgeous sunset & her grown sons weeping as they hugged & congratulated them. Truly heart stopping to witness this! Later that evening after the sunset had completely slipped behind the horizon, I was showing her images on the back of the camera & she was full on crying & holding me & thanking me for capturing her dream in images! This is exactly why I LOVE MY JOB!!!

MY LOVES

On December 15th, 2018 I planned a surprise engagement to my girlfriend Cory Michelle at her VERY favorite place in the world, The Art Institute of Chicago. In front of her very favorite Pablo Picasso, “The Red Armchair”  with our families present and of course our daughter Taylor and granddaughter Olivia, and our little doggie Eloise. She said “YES”! It was absolutely one of the greatest moments in my life and very emotional! Finally, after thousands of weddings and making other dreams come true, it is MY TURN!

Gratitude

I am very thankful for all my many many clients & the kind words that they leave for me. November 2018 I reached what I think is a very important milestone with 100+ FIVE STAR REVIEWS on theknot.com & then  later the “BEST of Weddings 2019″ on theknot.com. This is the Eight Time I have won this award.

More recognition came from Weddingwire.com with the “Couple Choice 2019”, making it the Ninth time I have won this award.  Of course earning these awards is exciting, but more imporatly this recogniction backs up the entire reason in WHY I do this & LOVE this so much.

Providing not only an Amazing Experience, to my clients, Gorgeous Imagery, but also backed up by quality service each & every single time! That is my mission!

Tad Craig Photography  |  715 Hana Hwy, Paia, HI 96779  |  808.579.9571  |  Established in 1999

  tad@tadcraigphotography.com  |  ©Tad Craig Photography  LLC