Photo By Samuel Cox
“A giraffe drinking is magic for a wildlife photographer,” says Samuel Cox, “that opportunity to capture behavior with a splash of action—to showcase an animal in a different light.
“This individual, photographed in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, was making the most of a small waterhole but was also causing a bit of chaos for the nearby birdlife. Whether by sheer accident or maliciously calculated timing, the giraffe would be slurping up water but wouldn’t raise her head until birds had just landed on the far side. Water would then fly out at the birds in a beautiful S shape, causing them to flutter off in a panic before rebuilding the confidence to try again. You can guess what happened when they did.”
Canon EOS 7D Mark II, Tamron SP 150-600 F5-6.3 Di VC USD at 250mm. Exposure: 1/2500 sec., ƒ/5.6, ISO 640.
See more of Samuel Cox’s work at samuelcoxphoto.com.