In early January 2025, I ran my annual Winter workshop to the far Eastern Steppe region of Mongolia in search of the world’s grumpiest cat – the Pallas cat. A significant point of difference from others on this workshop is that we (my company – Wild Nature Photo Travel) will only take a maximum of six people to ensure we have a small intimate group to make minimal impact on each others photography in the field. With just a small group we can work together as a team and not be in each other’s way out in the field. I have watched other groups of up to ten or even more attempt this sort of trip as a group and it just doesn’t work effectively.

We began our workshop with a drive from the capital of Mongolia, Ulanbataar to our private camp in the Eastern Steppe region. Most of the drive is on regular paved roads with only the last couple of hours off-road through the Steppe. This year, conditions made for easy driving with little to no snow that saw us arrive at our camp in the early evening. We had time to settle in before dinner with high expectations for finding and photographing Pallas cat the following morning. It was a very interesting counterpoint this year as 2024 had been an extremely high snow year which made for really difficult driving conditions, but also exceptional photographic opportunities.

Our accomodation for this workshop was in both private and shared Gyrs (depending on preference). Each Gyr is equipped with a coal stove for heating, bed, wash basin and has plenty of space for equipment and luggage. The video below is a quick tour of one of the shared Gyrs.

We rose early on our first full day in the field and took breakfast before sunrise. This time of the year the sun doesn’t actually crest the Steppe before approximately 8am. With the sun just creeping over the horizon we set off from camp in our 4-wheel drives into the Steppe in search of the Pallas Cat. Despite the low snow conditions it didn’t take too long before we found our first cat and we captured the first images of this amazing animal.

The main photographic challenge this year was the lack of snow, which meant dealing with tall grass as an obstacle between the lens and the cat. This made the photography a little more difficult, but also more rewarding. With longer grass the best approach in my experience is to try and frame the cat amongst the grasses.

Over the course of the next week we photographed half a dozen different cats in various lighting conditions. Being a low snow year in the eastern region there was minimal opportunity for shooting the cat against an all white background. Instead the grasses of the Steppe served as the perfect addition to add environmental context.

Over the course of the week long workshop we also saw (but did not photograph) several Corsak Fox as well as a great many Upland Buzzards. We also sighted both Steppe and Golden Eagle as well as Saker Falcon and Mongolian Gazelle. The wildlife in this region of Mongolia never fails to disappoint and it remains one of the best untapped gems for wildlife photographers the world over.

I will return to the Steppe region of Mongolia again early next year in January 2026 in search of this wonderful wild cat. If you would like to join myself and Wild Nature Photo Travel on this unique experience in Mongolia please get in touch to register your interest. Places are filled on a first come first served basis. The 2026 workshop will run from the 2nd of January until the 9th of January which is the perfect time for winter conditions to photograph this beautiful (but grumpy) cat.