“David, do you have a favourite wildife photo?” - this is probably the question I get asked most often.

In truth, I can provide an answer, but it is dynamic, so my answer may be different tomorrow.

It’s not an easy question to answer because every image tends to carry its own memory — a place, a moment, or a particular encounter with wildlife.

But there are certainly a handful of photographs that, for one reason or another, marked a turning point. Some led to recognition, others shaped the way I approach wildlife photography.

Here are five that stand out.

My Five Favourite Wildlife Photos

Amboseli Crossing

This one is one of the earliest I have taken, back in 2007. It still rates as an all-time personal favourite.

‍It is one photo that to my eyes has no room for improvement, the composition, the movement conveyed by the lift of the elephant's feet, the anonymity of the unseen elephants, and of course the juvenile in the centre of the frame.

‍But what pleases me is the texture of the resultant print – it was taken with an older camera, a Nikon D200, which provided for its analogue film look.

Amboseli Crossing by David Lloyd Photography — ‘Amboseli Crossing’ by David Lloyd

‍2. Flehmen Response

This photograph was taken in the Maasai Mara in 2009 and remains one of the most important images in my collection.

The lion, later identified as Lolparpit, was performing a flehmen response — a behaviour where animals curl their lip to analyse scent. It’s something lions do regularly, but at that moment, there was something about the expression and posture that struck me.

It was one of the first pictures that made me realise there are no “ordinary” lions, for each one has its own presence and character.

This image later went on to be recognised in the Nature’s Best Photography Awards and became the opening photograph in my book As Long As There Are Animals.

I was able to revisit Lolparpit again, a full ten years after I took this photo of him in 2009. He went on to be one of the longest-lived lions in the Maasai Mara.

Flehmen Response by David Lloyd — ‘Flehman Response’ by David Lloyd

‍‍3. A Flick of the Tail

This photograph was awarded in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition in 2011 and later appeared as the cover image of the portfolio book that year.

It was an early moment of encouragement. Recognition in that competition carries real weight in the wildlife photography world, and it helped confirm that the direction I was taking with my work was worth pursuing.

A Flick Of The Tail by David Lloyd — ‘A Flick Of The Tail’ by David Lloyd

4. Bond of Brothers

Some images seem to resonate with people more than others.

Bond of Brothers became one of those photographs. It later went on to win the People’s Choice Award in Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

The photograph shows two coalition lions resting together in Ndutu, Tanzania. It captured something about their relationship often appreciated by many people — a sense of companionship often underestimated between two powerful animals.

5. Maramania

This photograph captures a moment during the great wildebeest migration. On that day I was hoping to capture the full breadth of a wide river crossing scene. Thousands of animals were entering, crossing and exiting the Mara River.

Unfortunately, I realised, just as the crossing began, that I had left my wide-angle lens behind and it was too late to go back and get it.

The image that resulted came from adapting from that mistake and utilising my 70-200mm lens in a portrait framed picture to capture both the entry and exit points of the crossing.

In the end, it became one of the most satisfying photographs I’ve taken of the migration.