'Snow White' Shot of a 'Curious' Bird Landing on a Bride's Head Wins Top Wedding Photo Award
"Mikaela's shock, surprise and laughter were not enough to dissuade this bird from his perch," photographer Tara Lilly recalled on Instagram
A winning wedding moment was made — all thanks to an inquisitive bird.
This year, Tara Lilly was photographing bride and groom Mikaela and Mitch during their intimate wedding ceremony at a remote mountaintop location in Whistler, Canada, when an unexpected visitor arrived.
A "curious" Canada jay, also known as a whisky jack, flew down and landed on Mikaela's head just as her husband-to-be started reciting his vows. Lilly quickly snapped the candid moment on her camera, she recalled in an Instagram post. The picture went on to win the grand prize at the 2023 International Wedding Photographer of The Year competition.
In the photo, Mikaela, in a white over-the-shoulder dress with orange flower detailing, is gasping wide with surprise as she glances off camera. Her groom, holding his vows, looks delightfully shocked to see a bird perched on Mikaela's head.
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"Mikaela's shock, surprise, and laughter were not enough to dissuade this bird from his perch," Lilly recalled on Instagram, noting that Mikaela laughed as she jokingly told weddinggoers, "I'm Snow White!"
The one-of-a-kind snap was enough to win Lilly, an international wedding photographer based in Whistler, the grand prize for the 2023 International Wedding Photographer of The Year competition. The grand prize includes $1,500 cash and an array of photography supplies.
To celebrate the win, Lilly posted about the prize on Instagram and gave more information about the circumstances that led to the photo, noting that the alpine meadow where she shot the wedding was "home to a number of animals including whiskey jacks."
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"If you've visited Whistler in the winter, you may have seen these small birds entertain skiers waiting in the lift line by landing on their ski poles held in the air," she wrote. Lilly and her husband Steve, who founded Tara Lilly Photography together, also started Whistler Elopements, a company that helps couples plan adventurous weddings in the wilderness of Whistler.
The Canada jay is mainly found in Canada, with a small percentage of the species in Alaska and the western mountains of the U.S., per Canadian Geographic. The bird often can be spotted in camps and research stations following "hikers and skiers down trails in provincial, territorial, and national parks."
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According to the National Audubon Society, Canada jays "seem fearless" and can be spotted around areas where people reside, like "campsites and cabins, stealing food, earning the nickname 'camp robber.'"
Canada jays also know how to steal the spotlight, as Lilly pointed out in a personal Instagram post: "It's not every day a whiskey jack steals the whole damn show, so cheers to life's little surprises."
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