Behind the Picture: The Trick

I told my guide I had never seen a kill in the wild.

Then he and I saw one right when we didn't expect it, just not the one I had in mind.

We were parked in front of a lilac-breasted roller, waiting. If you have been on safari with a camera, you know this wait. You sit on a bird for twenty minutes hoping it launches so you can get the wings open. Mostly it just sits there.

This one kept cocking its head. I thought it was being a bird. Looking at the frame now, I can see exactly what it was doing. It had already found the grasshopper.

When it went, it went fast. Snatched the hopper out of the air, landed on a rock, and started beating it against the stone. Then it flipped the thing up, caught it head first, and swallowed it whole.

The smashing and the flipping are not for show. Grasshopper legs have barbs. Swallowed feet first, they catch in the throat. So the roller kills it, softens it, and turns it around so it goes down the right way.

My first kill in the wild was a bird and a bug. I have been waiting years for something with more teeth. I would not trade it.

The Trick was awarded an Honorable Mention in the 2026 International Photography Awards, which makes a picture I was already really proud of even more exciting.

More soon,
Christina

The Trick is available as a fine art print.

P.S. Next August I am taking a small group through Botswana, Victoria Falls, and South Africa. Twelve spots.

Interested in joining? Get in touch and I will send you the details.