Akari Photo Tours 2025 Year in Review

A year of wild light, wild places, and very polite chaos. If 2025 taught us anything at Akari Photo Tours, it’s this: you can measure a year in months… or you can measure it in sunrises, dust in camera bags, and the number of times someone whispers “don’t move” to a perfectly innocent tripod.

We did the second one.

Here’s our 2025—told through the places that left us grinning, freezing, sunburned, inspired, and occasionally wondering why our luggage weighs the same as a small moose.

We Started in Winter, Like Proper Photographers

We opened the year in full winter mode—the kind of light that feels clean and honest.

• Snowy Owls in Ontario: silent fields, soft skies, and owls with the confidence of royalty.
• Yellowstone in winter: steam, snow, wolves, bison, and that cold that makes your eyelashes file a complaint.
• Snow Leopards in Mongolia: big country, high patience, and the kind of searching that teaches you what “earned” feels like.

Baja: Grey Whales and the Unexpected Lump in Your Throat

Then we went to Baja to pet grey whales, which sounds made up until you’re there—hand on a whale’s head—trying to act normal while your brain quietly melts. It’s the kind of moment that resets you. The photos are great. The feeling is better.

France: Horses, Lavender, and Paris Being Paris

From winter light to French elegance—because why not.

• Camargue horses: splashing water, flying manes, and pure motion.
• Lavender fields: calm compositions, soft color, and the occasional mosquito that thinks you’re part of the scenery.
• Paris workshop: street life, architecture, night scenes—Paris doesn’t pose. It just happens. Your job is to be ready.

The American Southwest: Dust, Drama, and That Golden Hour

We ran workshops through the American Southwest, from Death Valley to Utah to Monument Valley—where the land looks like it was designed by someone who loved both silence and spectacle.

Also, if you didn’t get dust into at least one zipper you didn’t know existed, we can’t officially count it.

Kenya: The Black Leopard (and Everyone Holding Their Breath)

We went to Kenya to photograph the black leopard, and let’s be honest—this wasn’t a “casual stroll with cameras.”

This was focus, anticipation, and that quiet intensity where a group of adults becomes completely silent because something rare might happen any second. When it does… you remember the feeling as much as the frame.

Newfoundland: Five Weeks of Seabirds and Salt Air

We spent five weeks running workshops in Newfoundland, which is basically a masterclass in:

• dramatic cliffs
• moody weather
• seabirds doing aerobatics
• and photographers slowly accepting that wind is, in fact, a personality

Newfoundland doesn’t hand you easy. It hands you real. And that’s why we love it.

Namibia: A Full Month of Desert Light (With Two Groups)

After Newfoundland, we swapped salt air for sand dunes and spent a full month in Namibia running two groups, which is a polite way of saying we lived in a world of sunrise alarms and “just one more dune ridge.”

Namibia gives photographers everything:

• endless shapes and shadow lines
• skies so big they make your phone feel unnecessary
• wildlife that appears like it’s been briefed by a film crew
• nights so clear you start making life promises you may or may not keep

It also teaches you to respect dust. Not fear it. Respect it. Like an old rival you’ll never defeat.

Point Pelee: Songbirds and the Art of Being Ready

Point Pelee gave us the opposite kind of challenge: small, fast, bright, and gone before you blink. Songbirds don’t wait for you to adjust settings. They’re like, “You should’ve been ready,” and off they go.

It’s the best kind of training—because it makes everything else feel easier.

Morocco + Mongolia: Color, Tradition, and Big Horizons

We ran workshops in Morocco, where texture and color are everywhere, if you slow down enough to see beyond the obvious.

And back to Mongolia for Eagle Hunters and the Gobi Desert—a blend of tradition and vast space that never feels ordinary. Mongolia has a way of making modern life feel very far away (in the best possible way).

Costa Rica: Ending the Year in Green Light and Wild Sound

We closed out 2025 in Costa Rica, where the rainforest wakes you up before your alarm does. Birds, monkeys, frogs, and that soft green light that makes everything feel alive.

A perfect ending.

The Quiet Work You Don’t See: Scouting New Locations

While all that was happening, we also spent time scouting new locations in Canada, Africa, and the U.S.—because the best workshops aren’t built on luck. They’re built on homework.

Some of those new experiences have already been announced. Others are still in the “we’re smiling to ourselves” stage. Let’s just say: we found a few places worth getting up early for.

New Instructors: Expanding the Team (Without Losing the Heart)

2025 also brought growth on the guide side. We added three new workshop instructors—James, Mindy, and David—each bringing their own strengths, vision, and teaching style.

And right before Christmas, we added one more seriously talented leader you’ll be meeting soon.

We’re not collecting names. We’re building a team we’d trust with our clients, our standards, and the kind of experiences that deserve to be done properly.

Looking Ahead to 2026

As we head into 2026, our focus is simple:

Make our existing tours even better. Better flow. Better shooting time. Better teaching moments. Better logistics. The kind of improvements you feel in the field—not just read on a webpage.

And we’re also scouting more locations in direct response to what you’ve been asking us to develop. When enough of you say, “Kevin… you should take us to ____,” we don’t just nod politely. We go check it out properly. The old-school way: boots on the ground, eyes on the light, and a lot of notes.

Many 2026 workshops have already been announced. Others are on deck.

No hype. Just good places, good timing, and doing it right.

Thank You

If you joined us in 2025—thank you. For the trust, the effort, the patience, and the laughs.

And if you’re thinking about joining us in 2026 and 2027… keep an eye on what’s coming. Much of it’s already out in the world. Some of it is waiting for the right moment to be shared—like a good photograph.

Until then: charge your batteries, format your cards, and bring a lens cloth.

(And yes… You still lose a lens cap. We all do.)