Mother-child interactions are very high on our list of moments to photograph in the wild. One cloudy April morning in the Olare Motorogi Conservancy, our guide Jackson Sayielel got word of a giraffe mother with a two-week-old calf. We left our cheetah sighting and headed straight for them with rising excitement. The lush, wind-swept savannah grass and soft billowy clouds in the sky made for a perfect setting for the kind of imagery that we like to create.
We spent a good deal of time with them, watching the calf’s antics, keenly exploring its surrounds and steadily moving further and further away from its mother. Jackson told us to be prepared for when the calf would return to its mother, as that usually results in something memorable to photograph. The calf returned but what transpired was beyond what we expected. At the very moment of the reunion, three ox-peckers took off, almost like singing ‘Hallelujah!’ at the reunion.
