Member Stories

Lesley Taylor: A Story – but perhaps not ALL of it!

I have been photographing wildlife for a long time and, for the most part, be it a bug, a bird or a larger beast, I photograph all of it – and with a judge’s critique in mind, preferably doing something interesting!

However, as I look back, some of the images that have given me the most pleasure are those that leave something to the imagination. They’re a small window onto a scene but by no means the whole story. The following images have never been put before a judge, although a couple have come very close, so I’ve no idea what others may think of them, but if I put a collection of my all-time favourites together, they would definitely be included.

Image 1  –  Taken in South Luangwa National Park, Zambia. An example of symbiosis, this red-billed oxpecker is eating ticks and other ectoparasites from the giraffe. Did I need to show the whole giraffe? I didn’t think so, this close-up (for me) told the story.

A close up of a red-billed oxpecker eating ticks and other ectoparasites from the body of a giraffe

Image 2  –  Taken with a 105mm f2.8 macro lens, near Selbourne, Hampshire. This blue damselfly caught a small fly and landed on a leaf in front of me. Although not much of the damselfly is visible I love that the image is back-lit and we can see it’s shadow.

The silhouette of a blue damselfly on a leaf after catching a small fly.

Image 3  –  A stag at Richmond Park. I’ve always felt that this image needed a thought bubble, ‘If I keep my head down, she won’t know I’m here’.

The antlers of a stag, appearing through the top of the foliage.

Image 4  –  Taken in the Eastern Cape, S.Africa. I was totally mesmerised by the dexterity this elephant showed with it’s trunk. I took several shots but liked this one best.

A close up of an elephants trunk foraging for food.

Image 5  –  Still in the Eastern Cape, again with another oxpecker, this time a juvenile sitting on a rhino’s horn. No other animal has a horn like the rhino, for me, it said enough.

A juvenile oxpecker, sitting on a rhino's horn.

Image 6  –  On a drive through the Maasi Mara, we found this jackal. It was much too close for the lens I had on the camera at the time so I took a portrait. If you look closely at the eye, you can see the blue sky and grass of the Mara and also our car!

 A close-up of a jackal's eye, captured in the Maasi Mara.