What a happy accident! Jenny Hough and her friend Jean stumbled upon a great photo opportunity while bird-watching at Huntington Beach State Park in South Carolina.

“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.”
While taking pictures of an egret on a railing, Jean accidentally walked into the shot, creating the illusion that the bird was about to eat her.
“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.”

“It looks like Jean is about to be eaten by a mutant shorebird.”
Hough later discovered the hilarious photos and shared them online, where they quickly went viral.
Despite being an accident, it has become one of Hough’s favorite photos, and she’s glad it brought joy to so many people.
“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.”