While walking on a trail between Eagle Lake and Pike Lake last June, Evan Harlan found himself up close and personal with a winged friend. Harlan says he often brings his Canon T3i with him on walks around the trails in Maple Grove to take photos of anything that catches his eye. This time, it certainly paid off, as Harlan captured first place in the Nature category of the Maple Grove Magazine photo contest with this photo entitled “What’cha Looking At?”
On this particular walk, Harlan stumbled upon his subject sitting upon the railing of a bridge on the Eagle and Pike Lake trail. “I took a couple of pictures further away and just kept stepping closer. Every time my camera focused on him, he looked right into it because it made noise,” Harlan says.
The bird is either no stranger to people, or is yearning to be a model. Harlan was able to get within a foot of the bird to snap this photo. “It was surreal,” he says.
Although Harlan admits he doesn’t take pictures too frequently, he cites nature and landscapes as being two of his favorite things to photograph. Harlan loves this photo himself. He and the bird make a great team. What a hoot!
