As a professional photographer, Myles Minishotta runs through a checklist in his head before taking a photo.
Does he have the correct settings on his camera? What is the best position? What is the best angle? Does he need any more information to make the photograph as accurate and colorful as possible?
Minishotta does this all — at the age of 13.
Rather than feeling encumbered by the pressures of his chosen career, Minishotta long ago embraced photography as part of who he is.
“I really do see it as a calling for me,” he said.
On Thursday, Minishotta made his debut at the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association men’s and women’s basketball tournaments at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore. After attending as a fan in 2022 and a photographer in 2023 and 2024, the Washington native took photos of the women’s quarterfinal between No. 2 seed Fayetteville State and No. 3 seed Virginia Union that tipped off at 6 p.m.
Afternoon rush hour traffic delayed Minishotta for almost 30 minutes after the game’s start. But when he did arrive, Jacqie McWilliams-Parker, the CIAA Commissioner, welcomed Minishotta back with a warm hug and some words.
“I love Myles. I feel like I’m his auntie,” she said. “We brought Myles on when he was trying to get started, and that was a few years ago. We really wanted to get him an opportunity to do some of his work and learn his craft and be around young men and young women who play ball and learn professionalism. Myles is doing really well. He’s been at a lot of events getting photos and growing his craft, and that’s what it’s about.”
Minishotta, whose legal surname is Campbell, discovered photography through his mother Shay Moore. Moore said she got her first camera — a Kodak — when she was 4 or 5 years old and became a professional photographer.
When Minishotta was 2 years old, Moore arranged for a photo shoot of him through a friend. While Moore and her friend ran through some ideas, her son picked up a camera, began taking pictures, and directed them to strike certain poses.
“Because I was a single mom, I would have him come with me to all the photo shoots,” she said. “I would put the camera down, and he would tell them how to pose. He would pick my camera up trying to take pictures, and I’d be like, ‘Little boy, please stop.’ But he took a liking to it, and it’s history ever since.”
Moore said she tried to give her son a cheap Canon camera, but he refused to use it until she gave him her Canon Rebel when he was 3 years old. She said the first camera he bought with his own money was a Canon EOS 80D when he was five.
Moore said she has since given up her career as a photographer and currently works in human resources. She also coordinates her son’s professional schedule, chauffeurs him to his engagements, and manages his social media accounts.
“I put it down ever since he picked it up,” she said. “There’s no way I could do both. I have literally passed the torch down to him. I can if I want to, but I think that he takes the cake.”
Minishotta enjoys playing video games such as NBA2K and Fortnite, participating in basketball games with friends, and doing some coding. But he said those interests pale in comparison with photography.
“I think anything else that I do, I do it for fun,” he said. “But photography, that’s really what I love to do.”
Minishotta’s resume is already enviable. He was invited to cover New York Fashion Week in 2018 when he was 5, Black Entertainment Television’s Fan Fest in Los Angeles in 2019 when he was 6, and Miami Fashion Week and InvestFest in Atlanta in 2023 when he was 10. He has met a number of celebrities, including rapper T.I., comedian Steve Harvey and music producer Jermaine Dupri.
Minishotta’s presence did not go unnoticed Thursday. He was greeted by several CIAA Tournament staffers, who told him, “We were waiting for you,” and “We have a spot for you.”
If he feels like a celebrity in his own right, Minishotta does not brag about it. In fact, he said he is more comfortable behind a camera.
“I’m actually a very shy person,” he said. “I don’t like being in front of the camera. I’m just behind the camera and behind the scenes.”
Moore though was grateful for the treatment her son received.
“It’s exciting to see that he is being loved here,” she said. “I think the best part about this is, he loves what he does. You’ll watch him cheering teams on and rooting for players. So he’s as involved in this as he is taking pictures.”
At the CIAA Tournament, Minishotta sat along the baseline with fellow photographers who have more years of experience in their craft than their younger colleague has been alive. But Minishotta said the reception from other photographers has been positive, and McWilliams-Parker said the CIAA Tournament is delighted to partner with him.
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12-year-old Myles Minishotta, shown with mother Shay Moore, works as a photographer at this week’s Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association men’s and women’s basketball tournaments at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff)
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12-year-old Myles Minishotta, shown with mother Shay Moore, works as a photographer at this week’s Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association men’s and women’s basketball tournaments at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff)
“We have photographers who have been with the CIAA for maybe 40 tournaments or more. So this tournament is a lifetime tournament, and once you’re in, you have a lifetime access to some of the best in the industry,” she said. “So it was cool to watch him talk to athletes who loved on him and encouraged him. He inspires us, and he’s probably been inspired, too. Just to see a person do what they love to do, it’s pretty cool.”
Minishotta said he enjoys the camaraderie extended by the nation’s oldest historically Black athletic conference. Moore said she appreciates the opportunity the CIAA gave to her son.
“No matter the age, they actually brought him in and have given him something with sports photography, and they’ve shown him something different and they’ve embraced him very well,” she said. “And I think vice versa, Myles brings a lot to them and shows that, ‘Hey, I am actually partnering with somebody that cares about me and cares about my future.’”
After the CIAA Tournament, Minishotta is scheduled to take photos at BET’s Fan Fest in June and InvestFest in August. As thrilling as those events are, he said his first love is nature photography, which explains why his dream would be to work for National Geographic or the Discovery Channel as a photographer.
Moore gave her son the Minishotta name because he mirrored her movements and instructions during photo shoots. But as he gets older, would he consider changing the name?
“I don’t think I’ll change it just yet,” he said. “I do like the name Minishotta, but I don’t know. We’ll just see what the future holds.”
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