Director of Expedition Photography

Rich Reid

Award-winning photographer and filmmaker Rich Reid has specialized in environmental and adventure photography for over two decades. On assignment with National Geographic Adventure magazine, he cycled Alaska’s Inside Passage by ferry and explored California’s Gaviota Coast by bike and kayak. North American Nature Photography Association elected Rich as a Fellow for his significant contributions to the nature photography industry, and he was a finalist for the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year for his time-lapse video documenting forest fire ecology.

His start in photography was accepting the full-time positions as photo editor for the college yearbook and daily newspaper while pursuing his business economics degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara. This is where his love of the natural world and art merged to create a lifelong passion for the environment. His work to advocate the preservation of the Gaviota Coast in Southern California was highlighted in National Geographic magazine titled “New Park for California Coast?

Alaska captured Rich’s imagination early in his life as a camping guide leading guests throughout the state photographing wildlife and landscapes from the temperate rain forest to the arctic tundra. He has shared his photography passion as an Alaskan tour operator, Visual Journalism instructor at Brooks Institute in California, and now as a National Geographic photographer with Lindblad Expeditions.

Rich has served on photo expeditions to Antarctica, South Georgia, the Falklands, Svalbard, Galápagos, British Columbia, and the Columbia and Snake Rivers. When not aboard, Rich is using his multimedia skills to preserve open spaces with non-profit organizations and teaching students the fundamentals of garden-based learning. He is based in Ojai, California.