Colleen Miniuk

Colleen Miniuk

Creativity, Freedom, and Fulfillment + Outdoor Adventures

Colleen Miniuk Photography & Writing
Chandler, AZ, on the ancestral homeland of the Hohokam

Topics Include:

  • The Big Life with a Capital L: Finding Your Own Freedom and Fulfilment
  • Uncharted Waters: Transforming Fear of Uncertainty into Adventure
  • Miles of Meaning: Healing and Growth in the Wake of Loss

More on her website

Last updated on September 27th, 2024

Colleen Miniuk is a corporate-America-escapee turned full-time freelance outdoor photographer, author, instructor, and motivational speaker, specializing in nature and outdoor recreation. Through my workshops (including Sheography), classes, presentations, books, blogs, bubble loving, and pie eating, I aim to inspire adventures in the Great Outdoors and encourage others to live their most fulfilling life, “the big Life with a capital L,” with or without a camera in hand. Because you can sleep when you’re dead…

In 2023, Carolyn was named one of the most influential women in travel by TravelPulse for her work advocating for women over 50 in travel. She has been featured in the New York Times, Toronto Star and Conde Naste as a solo travel expert, and speaks at women's travel conferences around the world. She leads JourneyWoman's team of writers and chairs the JourneyWoman Women's Advisory Council, JourneyWoman Awards for Women 50+ and the Women's Speaker's Bureau. She is the chair of the Canadian chapter of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW), board member for the Cultural Heritage Economic Alliance (CHEA) in support of Black and Brown businesses, a member of Women's Travel Leaders and a Herald for the Transformational Travel Council (TTC). Sometimes she sleeps. A bit.

Recent Speaking Engagements

Hundreds of camera clubs and outdoor groups across the United States plus these major events:

  • 2023 Mid-Atlantic Photo Visions (Closing Keynote Speaker)
  • 2023, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2016-2010 Outdoor Writers Association of America Annual Conference
  • 2023 Out of Olympic
  • 2023 North American Nature Photographer’s Association Summit (NANPA)
  • 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2020 Out of Chicago LIVE! (Closing Keynote Speaker in 2022 and 2023)
  • 2023 Out of Desert Botanical
  • 2023 Coastal Camera Club’s Virtual Beach Bash
  • 2022, 2020, & 2017 Out of Acadia (Keynote Speaker all years)
  • 2022 Women with Vision sponsored by Hunts Photo & Video
  • 2020 Out of Great Smoky Mountains
  • 2022 Out of Death Valley
  • 2022 Northern California Camera Club Council (Keynote Speaker)
  • 2021 Florida Camera Club Council Annual Conference
  • 2020, 2014, & 2010 Arizona Camera Club Council (ACCC) Fall Round-Up (Keynote Speaker in 2020 and 2014)
  • 2020 & 2017 Great Smoky Mountain Photography Summit
  • 2020 Out of Chicago In-Depth
  • 2020 Out of Yosemite
  • 2019 Wisconsin Area Camera Club Organizations (WACCO) Photography Seminar (Keynote Speaker)
  • 2018-2014 Moab Photo Symposium
  • 2018 New England Camera Club Council
  • 2017 Photocon Capture!
  • 2014 & 2012 Photographic Society of America (PSA) Annual Conference (Keynote Speaker in 2012)
  • 2013 Garden Club of America Photography Section Conference (Keynote Speaker)
  • 2012 Cooperative Communicators Institute (Keynote Speaker)
  • 2012 Arizona Professional Photographers Association (AZPPA)
  • 2010 & 2012 Sedona PhotoFest

Books, Podcasts, Articles, and More

So Said the River: Life, Loss, and Pie on the Colorado
The Current Flows: Water in the Arid West
Photographing Acadia National Park: The Essential Guide to When, Where, and How (1st and 2nd ed.)

In The Media

For a full list of my media appearances, please click here.