About NPPE

The NPPE Way for Creative Photographers

Founded by Bob Killen in 2015, National Park Photography Expeditions (NPPE) is dedicated to teaching expressive landscape art photography. What started with just 12 students in two national parks has grown into a thriving creative community—today, we teach over 120 students per year across 15 national parks, Bureau of Land Management sites, and private locations in the U.S. and abroad.

NPPE is a licensed and authorized photography education provider with the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Forest Service. Our workshops are fully insured, and our instructors are wilderness-qualified, ensuring a safe and enriching experience for every participant. In addition to teaching landscape photography as an art form, we launched our Fine Art Mentor Program in 2022, designed for students looking to refine their artistic voice and pursue photography at a professional level.

The NPPE Photography Workshop Experience

Our workshops offer so much more than a great adventure—they’re designed to fuel your creativity and help you produce images that express what you feel, not just what you see. Whether you’re photographing the front or backcountry of our national parks, public lands, or remote seascapes, we guide you through a complete artistic process that goes beyond documentation. Each Masterclass and First Horizon workshop provides an immersive experience where you’ll learn: ✔ Visualization techniques to shape your artistic vision ✔ A proprietary capture system for fieldwork ✔ Creative Segmentation, an easy-to-master post-production system using Adobe Lightroom, Camera Raw, and Photoshop Our small group settings ensure that you receive personalized instruction from expert photographers and fine art educators—in the field, in post-processing sessions, and through follow-up online discussions. We carefully research each location to give you the best opportunities for creative exploration, helping you discover and capture moments of extraordinary light, composition, and atmosphere. For added convenience, we arrange comfortable lodging, classroom space, and access to great local dining. All on-ground transportation is provided, often in 4×4 vehicles to reach remote locations safely. Your only focus? Enjoying the creative process and making powerful, artistic images. For more details, check out our FAQ page.

Safety, Ethics, and Stewardship

At NPPE, we take our responsibility to the land, its history, and its people seriously. We are licensed and certified by the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Forest Service, and we follow strict wilderness safety and cultural respect guidelines.

Our instructors are trained in:

✔ Wilderness First Aid
✔ Ethical photography practices
✔ Indigenous guiding perspectives
✔ Cultural resource management

We believe in respecting the land and its communities. Whether on public or private property, we obtain permission, honor local guidelines, and practice the “Leave No Trace” principles. Our team is mindful of fences, fields, crops, roads, wildlife, and people, ensuring that our presence as photographers is one of respect and stewardship.

Photography is more than an image—it’s a way of seeing and honoring the world. Join us, and let’s create something meaningful together.