Photographer Snaps Red-Billed Oxpecker Lands on an African Buffalo’s Face to Drink Water
A wildlife photographer who likes to “think outside the camera” was in the right place at the right time when he snapped an amazing shot of a red-billed oxpecker bird landing on a buffalo’s face to drink water at an African lakeside.
Clint Ralph, 60, lives in Pretoria, South Africa, where he owns a waste management and recycling company. An established wildlife photographer, he also runs a safari company to share his knowledge in the field with other budding photographers.
In September 2022, Ralph joined a group of photographers camping overnight at a hut in Zululand, after arriving in the mid-afternoon to catch the sunset, and stayed awake all night to watch animals.
The following morning the magic happened.
“The funny thing about that shot was, there were a bunch of us in the hut, and everybody had already packed up,” Ralph told The Epoch Times. “The sun was rising, we were in the hut, and the buffalo came along. A couple of buffalo were drinking and I realized that there were a lot of these oxpeckers moving around. … I knew, at some point, something’s going to happen.”
From the quiet vantage point of the hut, Ralph used his Canon R5 camera and 70-200mm f/2.8 zoom lens to snap an incredible closeup of an oxpecker landing on a buffalo’s hefty snout, to drink from the water. Ralph shared the perfectly timed shot on Instagram, writing “Big Brother and I,” and it soon went viral.
“It’s a nice symbiotic relationship between the buffalo and oxpecker,” he said; “they tolerate one another, and they assist one another.”
According to Ralph, the oxpecker makes the buffalo look a lot more interesting. Since the buffalos are just big beasts, there is really not a lot happening around them.
“But the oxpeckers do bring a whole different dimension to the shot, to the buffaloes,” Ralph said.
For post-processing, Ralph used Lightroom to refine the image, by cropping and also sharpening it to get the colors to come through.
“At the end of the day, the crop was what made that shot,” he said.
After 18 hours spent waiting in the hut for a moment like this, Ralph knew the Zululand trip had been worth it. To date, his shot of the buffalo and oxpecker has amassed over 25 million views worldwide.
“I’m extremely proud,” he said. “I’ve had so many people write to me, talk to me, and ask me about it. It’s been a fantastic experience. I’m very, very fortunate.”
Ralph’s interest in photography grew as a teenager after “breaking too many bones” and racing motorbikes.
“I had to find a new outlet for my passion, excitement, and enthusiasm,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed wildlife and [have] always been going to the bush, so I thought that would be a nice progression; from racing to taking photos of wild animals, landscapes, and wildlife.”
Ralph sold his bikes and bought the best photography equipment he could afford. Today, he shares his work on his website and Instagram and sells a lot of prints overseas thanks to word of mouth from his safari clients.
For Ralph, wildlife photography is one way to capture the majesty of nature. He also encourages others to take and share more photos.
He said: “I think as a wildlife photographer, or just as a wildlife enthusiast, you need the passion, you need the patience, and you need to be persistent. You’ve got to get out there and you’ve got to stay out there; you’ve got to sit there for three days in one spot, waiting for that one shot. … then look for ways in which to get the shot differently.
“Don’t just take a straightforward shot; get down on the ground, lie on your stomach, hide in a bush. Think outside the camera!”
Ralph, who has used Canon cameras since he began, prefers to shoot before sunrise or at sunset to capture unique perspectives. With landscape photography as his second passion, he incorporates a lot of mountain hiking into his work and will be leading his next three-week safari in the summer with a group of American clients.
“We normally do about six to eight safaris a year,” he said. “They are photographic safaris, so we track the animals, we get up close, we position our clients in the right place, they get the shot, and they get the different techniques.”
Below are some photos from Clint Ralph:
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