Jenny Hough and her friend Jean went on a day trip to Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, with one goal in mind. They wanted to take lots of pictures of birds and local wildlife. They were walking along the boardwalk when they came across an egret hanging out on the railing, and he seemed to have no intention of flying away — so Hough decided to seize the moment.
“My friend Jean and I were within 3 feet of the bird, and as it was now too close for my camera with a zoom lens, I took out my cell phone to take a photo,” Hough told The Dodo. “I placed the cell phone on the railing, but as I was concentrating on the egret, I didn’t notice at first that Jean had walked about 15 to 20 feet further along the boardwalk to focus on another bird.”
Hough took a few pictures before she realized that Jean was accidentally in the shot and then switched to a different angle. Once she’d gotten a bunch of photos of the egret she moved along, figuring she’d check out the results later.
While the pair were eating lunch, Hough began scrolling through the shots she’d captured — and realized the pictures that Jean had accidentally wandered into were actually the most hilarious photos she’d ever taken.
Because of a trick of perspective, it looked as if the egret was a gigantic bird, and that Jean was about to be his afternoon snack.
“It looks like Jean is about to be eaten by a mutant shorebird,” Hough said.
She decided she needed to share the photo with the world and posted it online, and everyone got quite a kick out of it.
“It seems to have really tickled a lot of people, not to mention started a discussion about using forced perspective in pictures — if only I had done that on purpose,” Hough said.
It may have been an accident, but it’s now one of Hough’s favorite photos she’s taken, and she’s so glad it brought some joy to everyone who saw it.
