---
name: "Dale Elena McCready"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/dale-elena-mccready"
roles: ["Cinematographer"]
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-18T10:48:08.228868+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Dale Elena McCready

Cinematographer. Born in New Zealand.

## Details

- **Work:** Cinematographer
- **Also known as:** Dale McCready
- **Elsewhere:** https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0566961/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1271457

## Streaming the US now

- **AMC+:** [*Doctor Who*](https://film.one/tv/doctor-who-2005.md) (78)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Dale Elena McCready is a New Zealand-born cinematographer based in the United Kingdom. She is a member of the British Society of Cinematographers and the New Zealand Cinematographers Society.

McCready began her career in New Zealand in the early 1990s as a lighting assistant on the soap opera *Shortland Street*, progressing to camera operator and Steadicam work before becoming a director of photography. She has since worked extensively in British television, serving as director of photography on 42 episodes of *Merlin* (2008–2012) and multiple episodes of *Doctor Who* (2005), including *The Curse of the Black Spot* and *The Rings of Akhaten*.

Her other credits as director of photography include *Tin Star* (2017–2020), *Belgravia* (2020), *The Witcher* (2023), *The Burning Girls* (2023) and *The War Between the Land and the Sea* (2025). She has received three awards from the New Zealand Cinematographers Society.

*Sources: dalemccready.com, imdb.com, nzonscreen.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Doctor Who* (2005), Fi1m 78, Cinematography — [page](https://film.one/tv/doctor-who-2005.md)

## Complete filmography (19)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The War Between the Land and the Sea* (2025), series, Director of Photography
- *Bury Your Gays* (2025), Director of Photography
- *The Burning Girls* (2023), series, Director of Photography
- *No Return* (2022), series, Director of Photography
- *Grace* (2021), series, Director of Photography
- *Belgravia* (2020), series, Director of Photography
- *HIM* (2016), series, Director of Photography
- *Agatha Raisin* (2016), series, Director of Photography
- *A Midsummer Night's Dream* (2016), Director of Photography
- *The Last Kingdom* (2015), series, Director of Photography
- *Blackwood* (2014), Director of Photography
- *Silk* (2011), series, Director of Photography
- *Dean Spanley* (2008), Steadicam Operator
- *Merlin* (2008), series, Director of Photography
- *Nothing Special* (2005), Cinematography
- *Doctor Who* (2005), series, Director of Photography — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/doctor-who-2005.md)
- *Boogeyman* (2005), Steadicam Operator
- *Love Mussel* (2001), Director of Photography
- *Topless Women Talk About Their Lives* (1997), Director of Photography

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/dale-elena-mccready