The photograph of the month for April 2021 comes from my scouting trip to Mongolia in Winter of 2019 to photograph the Pallas Cat (Read the Trip Report). One of my main goals for this field trip was not only to find the Pallas Cat, but to be able to photograph it in the snow. Generally, Pallas Cat do their best to stay out of the snow when possible. Their short legs makes it difficult for them to move quickly in deep snow. This photograph was taken right at the very end of the expedition on my very last day.  When exposed and out in the open like this, Pallas Cat will often make itself very flat on the ground to make itself as inconspicuous as possible. Although the Pallas Cat is a predator, it is not at the top of the food chain and can end up as prey for some of the large Eagle species found across the country.

This isn’t the first time I am late with the photograph of the month; although this time it does seem a little embarrassing as I am in COVID lockdown here in Melbourne, Victoria at the moment and there really isn’t a good excuse for not being up to date! With that said, I have been up to my arm pits in both home renovations and AIPP Board work and I am sticking to those excuses….

The photograph of the month for July 2020 comes from my Mongolia expedition to photograph the Pallas cat in November of 2019 (Read the trip Report). This photograph, my favourite from my Pallas cat portfolio, also recently took out second place in the 2020 AIPP Silver Lining Awards Wild Category. It is perhaps not widely known, but Pallas Cat are preyed on by large birds of prey such as the Golden Eagle and as such they tend to hide themselves in rocky outcrops and tall grasses. The challenge with this particular image was in positioning myself in such a way that I could clearly see the cat through the grasses. I wanted to achieve symmetry by placing the cat dead centre of frame, but I also wanted to use the grasses to help frame the cat and add environmental context.