Mongolia Naadam Festival Photography Workshop 2026 – Our Trip Report

More Than a Photography Workshop

Sitting at Toronto Pearson Airport before our departure for our latest Mongolia Photo Workshop, I found myself reflecting on the last 14 years of leading photography workshops in Mongolia. This year’s Naadam Festival workshop would be our 33rd journey through this incredible country.

From eagle hunters in the Altai Mountains to camel herders in the Gobi, from reindeer herders in the north to photographing Pallas’s cats and the elusive snow leopard, Mongolia has become much more than a destination for us. We’ve explored countless corners of the country, but more importantly, we’ve built friendships that span generations.

At some point, a place stops feeling like somewhere you visit. It starts feeling like home.

One of the unexpected rewards of returning year after year is that my own photography has become secondary. I find myself looking forward to seeing Mongolia through the eyes of our guests. Watching someone experience these landscapes, traditions and people for the first time has become just as rewarding as creating another photograph of my own.

That realization would become one of the biggest takeaways from this year’s workshop.

Starting Before the Mongolia Photo Workshop Begins

Like many of our Mongolia adventures, everyone arrived on different days.

Some guests wanted to explore museums and the streets of Ulaanbaatar. Others added extra travel to see more of Mongolia before joining the workshop.

David Topping and I arrived early as well—but for different reasons. We wanted time to recover from the time change, reconnect with friends we’ve made over the years, and do one final run-through of the workshop.

One lesson Mongolia has taught me is that flexibility almost always creates a better experience.

The itinerary is important. But sometimes the best opportunities appear at the last minute. And this year we called another audible.

Two unexpected photography opportunities became available in Ulaanbaatar, allowing us to add a pair of unique cultural photo sessions that perfectly complemented the rest of the workshop. Sometimes the best plans are the ones you never planned.

A Personal Shift

This workshop also confirmed something I’ve been feeling for quite some time. For years, I travelled the world searching for the next great photograph. The next better composition. The next better light. The next better moment.

Then one morning, while helping everyone photograph a scene I have photographed countless times, I stepped back.

Instead of raising my own camera, I watched our guests review the images on the backs of theirs.

One smile became another. Then another.

It hit me.

For me, it was a photograph I’d made hundreds—probably thousands—of times. For them, it was the image they had dreamed about since registering for the workshop.

That moment affected me more than taking another photograph ever could.

I realized something had changed.

Knowing these locations so intimately—and already having a lifetime of photographs I’m proud of—has taken away the pressure to always press the shutter.

Now my greatest reward comes from watching someone else create the photograph they’ve travelled halfway around the world to make.

Maybe that should have always been the goal.

I guess you really can teach an old dog new tricks.

Two Instructors. One Goal.

On this year’s Mongolia Photo Workshop, I also had the pleasure of sharing the workshop with fellow instructor David Topping.

If you’ve travelled with David, you already know what he brings to a group.

If you haven’t, imagine someone who approaches every sunrise, every portrait session and every wildlife encounter like it’s Christmas morning.

His enthusiasm is infectious.

Whether he’s helping someone master camera settings, improve a composition or simply encouraging them to try something new, David has an incredible way of making photography approachable and fun.

Don’t just take our word for it. Warren on this trip had this to say about David, “David is a gem. I didn’t need to use him much for field work. Greatly appreciated his help with the Milky Way. He was also very, very good in setting up the portrait work. He is a keeper.”

Having two instructors also means every guest receives more individual attention. While one of us is helping someone with exposure or composition, the other is already spotting the next opportunity.

Our goal has never been to create the best photographs ourselves.

It’s to help every guest create theirs.

A Conservation Success Story

One of our first wildlife stops took us to Hustai National Park.

Home to the world’s last truly wild horse, the Przewalski’s horse—or Takhi as it’s known in Mongolia—Hustai represents one of conservation’s greatest success stories.

These horses disappeared from the wild in the 1960s.

Today, thanks to international breeding and reintroduction programs, they once again roam the Mongolian steppe.

Knowing when to visit the valley made all the difference.

As the evening unfolded, family groups began descending from the hills to drink.

Soon there were horses everywhere.

Foals stayed close to their mothers while mature stallions watched over the herd.

By the end of the evening we’d photographed roughly 50–60 horses.

There are moments when photography becomes secondary.

Watching a species once declared extinct in the wild thriving again is one of them.

Experiencing Nomadic Mongolia on our Mongolia Photo Workshop

Our visit to Mongol Nomads brought us face-to-face with the traditions that still define life on the steppe.

We photographed horse herders separating hundreds of horses by colour before sending them thundering across the valley.

The sound of hundreds of hooves echoing through the hills is something you don’t just hear.

You feel it.

Dust filled the air.

The horses raced toward us.

Every photographer instinctively checked one thing…

“Did I remember to raise my shutter speed?”

Fortunately, most did.

We also photographed herders demonstrating how mares are separated and expertly lassoed for milking—a skill still used today throughout rural Mongolia.

It wasn’t a performance.

It was everyday life.

And that’s exactly what made it so compelling.

A Private Performance Created Just for Our Mongolia Photo Workshop Participants

One of the advantages of returning to Mongolia year after year is the relationships we’ve built. Those relationships allow us to create experiences that simply aren’t available to the average visitor. This year was no exception.

As I mentioned earlier, we made a last-minute change to the itinerary after an opportunity presented itself that was simply too good to pass up.

We rented an entire theatre exclusively for our group. Not for a performance. For a private photography session.

Waiting for us were professional Tsam dancers wearing elaborate ceremonial masks, traditional performers in beautifully detailed Mongolian costumes, a professional model, and dancers who helped bring the culture and history of Mongolia to life in front of our cameras.

The theatre’s professional stage lighting became our studio.

Instead of rushing to capture whatever happened during a public performance, we were able to work slowly and deliberately. We directed poses, refined compositions, experimented with different perspectives, and gave everyone the time they needed to create photographs they simply could not have made anywhere else.

The Tsam dancers were especially mesmerizing.

With their richly coloured robes, intricate masks and dramatic presence, they looked as though they had stepped directly out of Mongolia’s history books. Every movement told a story. Every costume carried centuries of Buddhist tradition and symbolism.

It was impossible to take a bad photograph.

The beauty of a private session like this isn’t just the access. It’s the freedom. Freedom to move around the stage. Freedom to change lenses. Freedom to slow down, try something different, and wait for exactly the right expression or gesture.

By the end of the session, memory cards were filling up, smiles were getting bigger, and more than one person commented that this had become one of the unexpected highlights of the entire workshop.

Moments like these are why we continually refine our Mongolia workshops.

After leading more than 30 tours here, we’re no longer interested in offering the same itinerary everyone else does.

We’re interested in creating experiences that are uniquely Akari—experiences our guests will remember long after the photographs have been edited.

Mongolia’s Biggest Celebration

If Mongolia has a heartbeat, it beats during Naadam.

Dating back to the era of Chinggis Khan, Naadam celebrates the country’s history through wrestling, horse racing and archery, surrounded by music, dance and extraordinary cultural performances.

Nothing prepares you for the opening ceremony.

Hundreds of performers.

Traditional music.

Brilliant colours.

Perfect choreography.

The closest comparison is the Olympic opening ceremonies.

Actually…

The Olympics are bigger.

Naadam feels more personal.

One of the greatest advantages of our workshop is our media credentials.

Rather than photographing from high in the stands, we work from the stadium floor, moving among the performers and creating images impossible to capture from the crowd.

It doesn’t feel like you’re watching the ceremony.

It feels like you’re part of it.

Every direction offered another photograph.

Everywhere you looked there was colour, movement and emotion.

At one point I looked around at our group.

Everyone wore exactly the same expression.

The expression photographers have when seventeen amazing photographs are happening at once and you only have one camera.

Living with the Eagle Hunters

The final chapter of our journey took us west to spend several days living with eagle hunters near Sagsai.

After more than a decade of visiting these families, they no longer feel like people we photograph.

They feel like friends.

Our guests slept in traditional gers, shared meals, drank tea, laughed despite language barriers and experienced life at a pace very different from home.

Comfort?

Let’s just say the thermostat was a wood stove and your morning alarm clock occasionally had feathers.

Photographically, we worked with five eagle hunters, creating everything from environmental portraits to dramatic action scenes beneath golden evening light and storm-filled skies.

The photographs were wonderful.

The friendships were even better.

Beneath Mongolia’s Darkest Skies

We intentionally schedule this workshop around the new moon.

Western Mongolia has some of the darkest skies I’ve ever photographed.

As darkness settled over the valley, thousands of stars slowly emerged until the Milky Way arched gracefully above the mountains and our ger camp.

Night photography can seem intimidating.

Until someone takes their first successful Milky Way image.

Then comes the smile.

Then the inevitable question.

“Wait…my camera actually captured that?”

Yes.

Yes, it did.

Standing beneath one of the darkest skies on Earth reminds you how small you are.

It also reminds photographers why losing a little sleep is sometimes completely worth it.

Why We Keep Coming Back

Every year we leave Mongolia wondering whether it can possibly get any better. Every year it proves us wrong.

The landscapes are remarkable. The wildlife is unforgettable. The culture is unlike anywhere else on Earth.

But none of those things are why we continue returning. We come back for the people. For the friendships.

For the privilege of introducing photographers to a country that has become such an important part of our lives.

Watching someone create the photograph they’ve dreamed about for months has become one of the greatest rewards we could ask for.

Those smiles last much longer than any photograph sitting on one of our hard drives.

To everyone who joined David and me on this Mongolia Photo Workshop, thank you.

You trusted us with your time, your cameras and your dreams.

As always, Mongolia gave us far more than photographs.

It gave us memories.

And those are the ones that never fade.

Please consider joining us in Mongolia for one of our Mongolia Photo Workshops.