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By request, I will take a small group of just five photographers with me in January next year to the far east of Mongolia in Winter to photograph the magnificent Pallas Cat. The Pallas cat is one of the rarest and most beautiful wild cats in the world. In winter, the Steppe region of Mongolia is covered in Snow, and there is an opportunity to photograph this elusive cat against a beautiful winter backdrop. Places on this expedition are strictly limited to only five photographers, and places are filled on a first-come, first-served basis (several places have already been spoken for). If you want to photograph this stunningly beautiful wild cat in winter, please email me to register your interest. Please see the video below to get an idea of the accommodations for this expedition. We will have 4G internet for the expedition in the field, and a shower is available in the camp.

My 2023 Spring Light expedition to Svalbard this April is now Sold Out. Thank you to all those joining me for this exciting Winter / early Spring expedition this year. Early April in Svalbard is a magical time, and I look forward to traveling and photographing in the Arctic in winter with you. This also will be my last planned expedition to Svalbard for the foreseeable future. Keep an eye on my website for future Polar Bear expeditions to the Arctic in new destinations.

This year (2023), I will be judging several categories for Capture Magazines ‘Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographers competition. Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographers recognizes, encourages, and promotes talented photographers in the early stages of their careers. Winners and runners-up will be showcased in the May/June 2023 issue of Capture. If you fit the bill for the emerging photographer, be sure to get your entries in soon.

The photograph of the month for January 2023 comes from my July 2022 expedition to Svalbard (Read the Trip Report) and is of a giant male Walrus on the beach in Svalbard during a heavy downpour. This photograph was taken by lying down on the wet sand (a very wet and sandy place to be that necessitated being hosed off on return to the ship!) using a 600mm lens. This photograph was featured in the recent Wildlife Photographic magazine that included a full feature on Walrus and one of my photographs as the cover shot.

I have just published Episode #61  of my Wild Nature Photography Podcast. In this episode, I briefly wrap up our fantastic Pallas Cat expedition in the far east of Mongolia in Winter (full trip report coming soon) and then move on to a significant rant about the total lack of customer service and care from what is supposed to be Australia’s number-one premier airline – Qantas. The total lack of customer support, lack of care, and total focus on profit at all costs is an embarrassment to Australia. I have been a Qantas Platinum flyer (a status that is apparently utterly worthless) for nearly ten years. I have spent many tens of thousands of dollars annually with the airline over the last decade. Today was the final straw, with Qantas providing me an unworkable connection time of just twenty minutes in Helsinki as their solution to a change in their flight schedules. Apparently, I am expected to land in Helsinki from Reykjavik and change to my international flight to Doha in twenty minutes. An absolutely impossible transit time. Their solution when I pointed this out was, I quote, ‘We are sorry; that is all we can offer you. You can speak with the service desk when you arrive in Helsinki.‘ My answer is to vote with my wallet and take my business elsewhere. In summary, I am absolutely done with Qantas and will no longer book future travel with them if I can avoid it. Sayonara Qantas.