Photograph of the Month March 2023 Pallas Cat in Winter

The photograph of the month for March 2023 comes from my recent expedition to Mongolia to photograph the elusive and rare Pallas Cat in the Steppe region of Mongolia in Winter. This is my favourite photograph from this expedition as it captures the Pallas Cat in a wonderfully dramatic moment as it bounds through the deep snow. Shot with the Canon EOS R3 and the Canon RF 600mm F4L IS, this photograph would have been virtually impossible prior to the incredible autofocus found in the latest generation of mirrorless cameras. Although the cat is not coming directly toward the camera (the most challenging scenario for the camera’s autofocus), it was moving extremely quickly. With only a shallow depth of field set, it was critical to nail focus on the eyes. Before mirrorless and eye tracking, I would have stopped down the lens significantly more to ensure adequate depth of field and a safety margin for missed focus. With eye tracking, the camera could track the eyes of the cat as it bounded up and down through the snow.