It took me many trips to Africa to get this shot. It was high on my priority list, but to be in the right place -- directly in front of the action -- at the right time is simply luck. When giraffes drink, they have to spread their legs enough so their long neck can be lowered to the level of the water. In this position, they are extremely vulnerable to attack by lions. Therefore, a giraffe will stand quietly at a waterhole for 30 to 45 minutes doing nothing but looking, listening and smelling the air for possible danger. Then and only then will they drink. I captured this moment at the pond at my lodge in Lake Nakuru National Park in Kenya. I was walking back to my permanent tent from lunch when I saw the giraffe approaching the water's edge. I ran to the tent, grabbed my camera and 500mm lens, and ran back to a place I thought would be head-on to the animal. The lens was almost too tight, but it worked. My settings were 1/1000, f/8, and 500 ISO. This was one of the few times in which I was able to shoot wildlife in Africa from ground level.
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