Justin Gibson

At the age of eight, Justin saw his first wild bear. Decades later, his infatuation with all things ursine continues to grow. While attending the University of Alaska Anchorage, Justin spent his summers as a ranger in Katmai National Park. He has since extended his passion to wildlife and endangered cultures around the globe. A self-described "eco-nerd," Justin is fascinated with wild animals, botany, microbiology, birding, glaciology and scuba diving.

Justin has been an Expedition Leader and photography instructor in more than 20 countries over the past 20 years. In his decade-plus as a Nat Hab guide, he's led photo expeditions to the furthest reaches of Canada, Alaska, China, Ethiopia, Yellowstone, Finland, Russia, Norway and Borneo. In 2022, Justin joined Nat Hab's Adventure Operations team as an Alaska Field Operations Manager.

Justin's love for nature photography stems from his childhood when he would spend weeks at a time in Yellowstone with his family. He began his professional photography career guiding some of the biggest names in wildlife photography among the wild brown bears of Alaska's Katmai National Park. While these photography legends would lead on-location workshops, Justin would keep them safe and ensure they followed ethical bear viewing guidelines. He learned valuable artistic and technical secrets from these masters of photography and used those lessons to develop his own photographic voice.

Using a combination of in-camera techniques, intimate subject knowledge and advanced multi-layer post-processing, Justin has developed a unique style that he hopes brings the viewer a deep understanding of the subject, culture or wildlife he is photographing. He is passionate about teaching photography in the field, since he believes cameras are a remarkable tool for teaching conservation, sustainability and cross-cultural connection.

Justin has been featured in World Wildlife Fund magazine, Asia Geographic, Alaska magazine, AFAR magazine, multiple stock photo agencies and Nat Hab's marketing materials. View Justin's latest photography portfolio additions on Instagram at @cultureandwildlife.

When he's not working, Justin likes to travel and photograph some of the world's most beautiful places and cultures on trips to Jordan, Taiwan, Cambodia, Egypt, Thailand, Laos and Malaysia.

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