Shayne Sanders

The earliest memories Shayne has are exploring the natural world. He joined his dad on his first 24 hour bird-a-thon at the age of three and was so fascinated that by five he was able to properly identify 40 birds of North America by call alone. He had plenty of opportunity for discovery, growing up splitting his time between the temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest and the desert ecology of Southern California.

Traveling and experiencing cultures has always been a constant since childhood and he hasn’t been able to stop since. During a boat trip off the coast of Africa at ten, Shayne took a photo of a dolphin porpoising and it was then that his love of capturing the natural world through the lens was born. He attended University of San Francisco majoring in Psychology but never stopped photographing. It wasn’t until almost ten years later that he decided to take a chance on his dream.

Packing up his life into storage, he set out in a retrofitted camper van photographing National Parks and taking a year to immerse himself in wildlife, landscape, and astrophotography. Through this he has been published both online and in print and truly found his calling. Knowing that what he wanted most was to share this love of cameras and that natural world with others, he applied at Lindblad Expeditions. He jumped at the chance to be a part of the company and worked his way from a steward to bartender and is now in his dream job as a National Geographic Certified Photography Instructor.

When he is not on the ships, he can be found leading Audubon birding trips, honing his photography skills, traveling, and reading. Considered a generalist he has a desire to learn as much as he can about the places he visits and he can’t wait to share his love of the natural world with you.