What will you create with top photographers to guide and instruct you?
The logic is simple—bring people who love making images to the planet’s most spectacular places and most thrilling subjects. Expedition Photography takes it to the next level by adding to the mix some of the world’s top visual storytellers who travel at your side and at your service. Not only are they deeply knowledgeable professionals versed in the technical aspects of photography and storytelling methods, they are also experts on wildlife—and sharing their knowledge sets you up to get some of the best images of your life.
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Go ‘on assignment’ with National Geographic Photography Experts
Every expedition aboard National Geographic Endurance, National Geographic Resolution, National Geographic Explorer, and National Geographic Orion sails with a National Geographic Photography Expert as part of the expedition team. Sharing in the journey, they will offer tips at the deck rail, share engaging stories during presentations in the lounge, and with a little prodding over dinner or drinks in the lounge likely share amusing anecdotes of their time in the field. They are full participants in the expedition and engaging travel companions.
Learn from Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic certified photo instructors
They have each been specially trained to assist you with your camera model and settings; the basic elements of framing, composition and light; and to provide shooting tips in the field to ensure that you return home with fantastic photos.
Unlike a photography class or workshop, an expedition is a highly dynamic environment, where an incredible sighting can occur at any moment. So, the fact that your photo instructor is also a skilled naturalist is invaluable. He or she can help you better understand the wildlife, so you can be at the right place at the right time to capture amazing behavior—whether you’re shooting from the ship’s deck, a Zodiac or on a walk. Take an expedition with us, and you’ll not only have the experience of a lifetime, you’ll have the incredible shots to prove it.
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Photo Expeditions
On designated departures, a combination of CPIs and a National Geographic Photography Expert come together to provide a program that includes multiple photo presentations and editing sessions and is designed to maximize the best photographic conditions. They work closely with the Captain and the expedition leader to take advantage of sunrise and sunset opportunities (whether by foot, Zodiac, or ship) and unique wildlife viewing. Whether you’re a smartphone user, advanced hobbyist, or serious photographer, photo expeditions are select departures in remarkable geographies, designed by photographers, for photographers. Since these voyages also offer so many active options, you can invite a spouse, companion, or friend along, certain that they’ll have a wonderful time doing their thing, too.
Upcoming Photo Expeditions
Apr. 1, 2025
| Departure Date | Expedition | National Geographic Photography Expert |
|---|---|---|
| Dec. 7, 2023 | Costa Rica and the Panama Canal | Rich Reid |
| Dec. 8, 2023 | Galápagos aboard National Geographic Endeavour II | David Doubilet and Jennifer Hayes |
| Ask about our photo-exclusive pre-voyage extension to the Ecuadorian Amazon. Limited availability. | ||
| Apr. 1, 2024 | Baja California: A Remarkable Journey | Gemina Garland-Lewis |
| Apr. 17, 2024 | A Remarkable Journey to Alaska, British Columbia, and Haida Gwaii | Drew Rush |
| May 19, 2024 | Exploring Alaska's Coastal Wilderness | Gabby Salazar |
| Aug. 16, 2024 | Galápagos aboard National Geographic Endeavour II | Rich Reid |
| Ask about our photo-exclusive pre-voyage extension to the Ecuadorian Amazon. Limited availability. | ||
| Sep. 3, 2024 | A Remarkable Journey to Alaska, British Columbia, and Haida Gwaii | Mike Libecki |
| Sep. 27, 2024 | Galápagos aboard National Geographic Endeavour II | Lucas Bustamante |
| Ask about our photo-exclusive pre-voyage extension to the Ecuadorian Amazon. Limited availability. | ||
| Sep. 28, 2024 | Upper Amazon Aboard Delfin II | Federico Pardo |
| Oct. 13, 2024 | Panama and Colombia: Exploring the Caribbean Coast | TBD |
| Nov. 9, 2024 | Upper Amazon Aboard Delfin II | Tim Laman |
| Nov. 29, 2024 | Galápagos aboard National Geographic Endeavour II | Krista Rossow |
| Ask about our photo-exclusive pre-voyage extension to the Ecuadorian Amazon. Limited availability. | ||
| Dec. 7, 2024 | Upper Amazon Aboard Delfin II | Ami Vitale |
| Dec. 14, 2024 | Costa Rica and the Panama Canal | TBD |
| Jan. 10, 2025 | Galápagos aboard National Geographic Endeavour II | Michael Melford |
| Ask about our photo-exclusive pre-voyage extension to the Ecuadorian Amazon. Limited availability. | ||
| Apr. 1, 2025 | Baja California: A Remarkable Journey | Jennifer Davidson |
| Apr. 15, 2025 | A Remarkable Journey to Alaska, British Columbia, and Haida Gwaii | TBD |
| May 10, 2025 | Exploring Alaska's Coastal Wilderness | TBD |
| Sep. 9, 2025 | A Remarkable Journey to Alaska, British Columbia, and Haida Gwaii | TBD |
| Nov. 9, 2025 | Panama and Colombia: Exploring the Caribbean Coast | TBD |
| Nov. 30, 2025 | Costa Rica and the Panama Canal | TBD |
Photo Program Exclusives
Thanks to our partnership with camera manufacturer OM System (formerly Olympus), guests have the opportunity to field test top-of-the-line gear during their expeditions. Eager to try a powerful new lens? Researching a new camera purchase? Take advantage of the onboard OM System Photo Gear Locker with our compliments. The Locker is available on all National Geographic-flagged ships (except Galápagos). View a pre-voyage photo webinar and enjoy exclusive gear discounts as well! Ask an Expedition Specialist.
B&H Photo Video
Since 2014, Lindblad has partnered with B&H Photo Video to produce the popular photography event, OPTIC. Past speakers and presentations can be found here.
What I love about photography is how it invites you into a world of wonder and anticipation, where it's no longer about the camera but being in the moment.
Ralph Lee Hopkins, Former Director of Expedition Photography
Why Patagonia Is a Photographer’s Paradise
National Geographic Photography Expert Krista Rossow shares advice on photographing in Patagonia, one of her favorite destinations in the world.
Alison Wright: In Memoriam
We lost beloved photographer and humanitarian Alison Wright this year. This video serves as a tribute to her spirit.
Photography in Antarctica
Certified photo instructor Michael S. Nolan shared his favorite Antarctica images and his best photo tips for polar landscapes in a Facebook Live event. Watch the video here, or click "read more" below for more tips from Michael.
10 Photo Tips with National Geographic Photographer Ralph Lee Hopkins
The founder and director of our exclusive Expedition Photography program and a widely published National Geographic photographer, Ralph Lee Hopkins has circled the globe for nearly 30 years on Lindblad's ships. Here, he shares some of his top travel photography tips to help you capture all the incredible moments at the heart of your expedition.
Iceland Photography Tips: Capturing the Land of Fire & Ice
Naturalist and certified photo instructor Andrew Peacock shares some of his top tips (along with his stunning photos) for shooting in the land of fire and ice.
Capturing Galápagos: 7 Expert Photography Tips to Try
Everywhere you look in Galápagos there are incredible photo ops. Find out how to get your best photos with these expert tips from biologist, naturalist, and certified photo instructor Socrates Tomala.
Capturing Guanacaste: A Photographer's Top 12 Shots
Art director and staff photographer David Vargas recently returned from Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Check out a few of David’s favorite images from his trip and the story behind them.
Capturing Greenland: A Photographer's Paradise
Emmett Clarkin, a marine ecologist based in the North West of Ireland and a naturalist and expedition diver with Lindblad, shares some of his top moments from the wild shores of Greenland—and shows you how the region’s incredible facets keep this place etched on his memory.
National Geographic Photography Experts
National Geographic Photography Expert
Erika Larsen
For more than a decade, Erika Larsen has used photography to learn intimately about and document cultures that maintain strong connections with nature. She has been working with National Geographic magazine since 2011, and is currently a National Geographic Society Fellow and Explorer. Among her assignments, she followed Sami reindeer herders in the Scandinavian arctic and explored the significance of the horse in Native American culture. Erika was part of the multi-photographer team that produced the magazine’s 2016 single topic Yellowstone Issue, and she contributed to Y ellowstone: A Journey Through America’s Wild Heart , published by National Geographic Books. She is also one of the featured photographers in Women of Vision: National Geographic Photographers on Assignment , which profiles the lives and work of important photojournalists and goes behind the lens of their individual assignments. Larsen is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship, which sponsored her study of the North Sami language, and she published her first book of photographs in 2013 ( Sámi, Walking with Reindeer ). Erika’s work has been shown in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Fotografiska Museum in Sweden, and the Reggio Calabria National Archaeological Museum in Italy, as well as at Visa pour l'Image in Perpignan, France. Her images are represented by Nat Geo Creative. Erika looks forward to sharing her insights about creating images and expressing a personal vision with travelers on expeditions.
National Geographic Photography Expert
Jeff Mauritzen
National Geographic photographer Jeff Mauritzen's assignments and adventures have immersed him in vivid landscapes on all 7 continents and in more than 60 countries around the world. Whether photographing penguin antics in Antarctica or komodo dragons in Indonesia, Jeff’s work expresses an unwavering passion, respect, curiosity, and awe for the natural world. Jeff's photography has appeared in dozens of National Geographic books, several National Geographic Traveler magazine articles, the Wall Street Journal, and on the @natgeotravel Instagram account, where he’s a regular contributor. In addition to assignment work, Jeff enjoys traveling with National Geographic Expeditions, teaching photography on natural history-focused trips.
National Geographic Photography Expert
Krista Rossow
For more than a decade, Krista Rossow has worked as a photographer, photo editor, and educator for National Geographic. She began her career as a photo editor at National Geographic Traveler magazine, where she shaped compelling stories from world-class imagery. In her freelance career, she has shot feature stories as a contributing photographer for Traveler in Japan, South Africa, Morocco, Costa Rica, New Zealand, and various U.S. cities. She regularly judges Instagram contests for @NatGeoTravel and photo edits for National Geographic Books. Krista travels with National Geographic Expeditions teaching photography around the world–from the Galápagos Islands, Patagonia, and Peru to Alaska, Antarctica, and the Arctic. She sees the camera as a tool for understanding new cultures, meeting the locals, and exploring the natural world. Her images are represented by National Geographic Image Collection.
National Geographic Photography Expert
Todd Gipstein
Todd Gipstein has been a photographer, writer, producer, and lecturer for more than 40 years. He has worked with National Geographic since 1987. For many years, he was the Geographic’s Director of Multi-Image and an Executive Producer of Media. His photographs have been published in National Geographic and Traveler magazines and in many books. His award-winning documentaries for the Geographic have dealt with a diverse range of topics, including photography, nature, the environment, history, exploration, travel, and National Geographic itself. His work is known worldwide for its evocative storytelling. He continues to take photographs for the Nat Geo Creative image library. An enthusiastic traveler and teacher, Todd has lectured, presented his documentaries, and given photography workshops for the Geographic around the world. His photography has been exhibited internationally, and he regularly participates in photography and media festivals in Italy. Born and raised in New London, Connecticut, a graduate of Harvard, Todd has written three novels—Legacy of the Light, Magician’s Choice, and In the Shadow of the Light—all historical fiction. He is currently working on another, Elephant Island. Todd is also a magician and collector of magic memorabilia. In their not so spare time, he and his wife Marcia, a photo editor and yoga teacher, are restoring New London Ledge Lighthouse. It is a mile out to sea off the coast of their home in Groton, Connecticut. You can learn more about Todd at his website www.Gipstein.com and on Facebook/GipsteinBooks.
National Geographic Photography Expert
Macduff Everton
Photographer Macduff Everton has shot multiple stories for National Geographic Traveler , and covered diverse regions on projects from Patagonia to Japan to the Scottish Highlands. His other editorial clients include Life , LA Times Magazine , NY Times Magazine , Outside , and Smithsonian . Macduff’s photography focuses on sense of place, whether portraits of individuals or portraits of a landscape. His books include Patagonia La Última Esperanza (University of Texas Press), The Western Horizon (Abrams), The Modern Maya Incidents of Travel and Friendship in Yucatán (University of Texas Press) and Los Mayas Contemporáneos Incidencias de Viaje y Amistad in Yucatán (Universidad Intercultural Maya de Quintana Roo), the latter two he wrote and photographed over a period of decades. His work is in the collections of many public and private institutions, such as the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, the British Museum in London, the International Center of Photography in New York, the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Macduff has also taught workshops nationally as well as in Mexico and Tuscany.
National Geographic Photography Expert
Mike Libecki
National Geographic Explorer and National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, Mike Libecki, has an obsession with exploring and the world's most remote and untouched corners of the planet to climb world class first ascents/adventures, support science, conservation and humanitarian projects, and bring these powerful, emotional stories back with hopes to inspire us all to take care of our Mother Earth. Libecki has completed more than 90 major expeditions, from Afghanistan to Antarctica, to Greenland and Guyana, to Siberia and Socotra Island, Yemen and everywhere in between - taking him to over 100 countries. Libecki is a producer, director, videographer, photographer, humanitarian (has his own 501c3 nonprofit), conservationist and leads cutting-edge science teams. He is also a math and tech nerd at heart and uses the latest technologies (specializing in Virtual Reality, 3D, Artificial Intelligence etc.,) on his expeditions to succeed on and share these stories of the magic, power and beauty of our planet. "The time is now. Why ration passion? Dream big and climb those dreams! Embrace the joyage!" - Mike Libecki
National Geographic Photography Expert
Drew Rush
Drew Rush is a wildlife and natural history photographer with a passion for following wildlife in national parks around the world. Before embarking on a career in photography, Drew spent ten years guiding on the Snake River and taking people into the heart of Yellowstone National Park in the winter. Since he transitioned into a professional photographer, his work has appeared in numerous international publications and books, such as National Parks magazine and National Geographic: Complete Photography . Drew has a long history of working in and teaching about the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and Grand Tetons region on several long-term photographic projects for National Geographic magazine. He has also worked on collaborative projects studying long distance lynx migration through Alaska with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as monitoring wolf populations with the U.S. National Park Service. Drew’s images have been displayed at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming, and he is represented by the National Geographic Image Collection.
National Geographic Photography Expert
Ken Garrett
In a career spanning over 40 years, Ken Garrett has photographed more than 60 feature stories for National Geographic and National Geographic Traveler magazines, and has been involved with multiple National Geographic books and museum exhibits. Ken grew up in a world of photographers and spent his childhood traveling in Canada, Mexico, and around Alaska and the continental United States. He knew from an early age that he wanted to be a photographer, and he was offered his first National Geographic assignment in 1976 for the American Bicentennial. Ken sailed as a training cadet on the Polish tall ship, Dar Pomorza , to capture the story of the voyage from Poland to New York City to cap off with celebrations of the American Bicentennial. Building a career in magazine journalism, Ken worked for a variety of publications, including Time , Fortune , Forbes , Smithsonian , Audubon , Natural History , Science 80 , German GEO , Air and Spac e, as well as clients such as Marriott, IBM, Starbucks, UNC Aviation, and The Aluminum Association. With an academic background in anthropology and investigative inquiry, Ken’s work gradually focused on his passion for the Origin of Civilization. He has documented ancient cultures, archaeological sites, and dramatic landscapes worldwide. The subject of his work has ranged from Meso American civilizations and Egyptian history to human evolution stories and more. Ken has photographed on all seven continents, and he looks forward to sharing his photographic and storytelling insights with travelers.
National Geographic Photography Expert
Phil Schermeister
During the past 25 years, Phil Schermeister completed more than 40 major assignments for the National Geographic Book Division, National Geographic magazine and other National Geographic publications. He has photographed on assignment in more than 40 National Parks around the United States and has published six single-photographer books with National Geographic, including Range of Light, Our National Parks and America's Western Edge . Some of his other assignments have included coverage of Quechua Indians in the Andes of Peru, Tarahumara Indians in Mexico’s Copper Canyon and Native Americans across the Western United States. Phil is drawn to high-latitudes, and has photographed all types of natural landscapes from National Parks, Seashores, and Recreation Areas to Wild and Scenic Rivers and National Wildlife Refuges. In his search for “decisive moments” in nature, Schermeister seeks to find drama in the changing light and seasons as the forces of nature continue to sculpt an unfinished natural landscape.
National Geographic Photography Expert
Andrew Coleman
PHOTOGRAPHER ANDREW COLEMAN has traveled around the globe in search of amazing wildlife and landscapes. His images and travel stories have appeared online for National Geographic and in books and other media, and he is represented by the National Geographic Image Collection. Andrew has an insatiable appetite to be in the wild and, through his images, attempts to capture the extraordinary beauty of the natural world. Over the course of his career, he has traveled, camera in hand, to some of the world's most remarkable places, including Alaska, Antarctica, Iceland, Easter Island, Kenya, Patagonia, Peru, South Africa, Bhutan, and Uganda. Having been to all seven continents, he has joined National Geographic Expeditions from Yellowstone National Park to the Galapagos, and from Borneo to Antarctica and beyond.
National Geographic Photography Expert
Jasper Doest
Dutch photographer Jasper Doest specializes in conservation issues and wildlife photography, emphasizing the beauty and fragility of our planet. After his studies as an ecology major specializing in Arctic ecosystems, Jasper decided to become a photographer in order to bridge the gap between the human and the natural world. As a Senior Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers, his photographs have received multiple awards and appeared in numerous publications, including National Geographic, GEO, and Smithsonian. Jasper's photographs of Japanese macaques, popularly known as "snow monkeys," received recognition in the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition and appeared in the October 2016 issue of National Geographic. Over the past several years, Doest has also spent time on the Dutch island of Curaçao in the Caribbean, where he has family ties and has been focused on a long-term project about conservation issues surrounding local flamingos and island wildlife. His work highlighting a rescued flamingo earned two 2019 World Press Photo awards and was published by National Geographic. Jasper frequently lectures on photography, conservation, and global sustainability and has presented at venues such as the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bonn and The Royal Geographical Society in London.
National Geographic Photography Expert
Jen Hayes
Underwater photographers David Doubilet and Jennifer Hayes are married partners who work together as a team to produce National Geographic stories from equatorial coral reefs to beneath the polar ice. David estimates he has spent nearly half his life in the sea since taking his first underwater photograph at the age of 12 with a Brownie Hawkeye camera sealed in a bag. Between them, Jennifer and David have photographed and explored the ocean depths in such places as New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Tasmania, Scotland, and Antarctica. David has photographed stingrays, sponges, and sleeping sharks in the Caribbean, as well as shipwrecks in the South Pacific, the Atlantic, and at Pearl Harbor. He has produced more than 70 stories for National Geographic magazine and several books, and has received the Explorers Club’s prestigious Lowell Thomas Award and the Lennart Nilsson Award in Photography.
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