Many photographers will wait a long time for the perfect shot, but a tour guide in Scotland captured a once-in-a-lifetime image without intention.

John Alasdair Macdonald, 42, operates The Hebridean Explorer, giving private tours of the Scottish Highlands. On the night of March 15, he accidentally took a picture of a meteor flying above Loch Ness.

MacDonald said it was a beautiful evening, so he decided to go out with his camera to take some photos of stars. It was 9 p.m. when MacDonald got what he said was a stroke of luck, snapping a spectacular picture of the meteor as it soared through the sky over Loch Ness.

MacDonald said he had never seen a shooting star before, so he was stunned when it happened. He set up his camera for a 30-second long exposure, which produced the spectacular image. 

"I was taking some new pictures to put on my Facebook page using a Sony RX100 compact camera," MacDonald said. "It was a beautiful, clear night and I got some nice pictures, but capturing the meteor was a fluke. I will never take a picture like that again."

MacDonald added that he had seen others post about about seeing shooting stars online. Sightings of the Sunday night meteor shower over Scotland were reported in Sleat on Skye, Oban, North Uist and Mull.

The flashes of light had some onlookers concerned that they were seeing distress flares, which resulted in the Maryport Coastguard Rescue Team getting flooded with phone calls.

Giant fireball meteors are rarely seen, so capturing one on camera can be considered an incredible feat. The image, which was uploaded on The Hebridean Explorer's Facebook page, has since gone viral.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing, I think I was just extremely lucky and for it to take place in the middle of the picture as well — it was just the perfect picture," MacDonald said.