Seagulls
As a resident of the Texas Gulf Coast area, I have a natural inclination to hate people who feed the seagulls. OK, I don't actually hate them; in fact it is a kind of cool until they become a mad flapping, frenzied, kamikaze, dive-bombing flock of birds that leave you no choice but to cover your head and run. Even this would not be so bad if they tried to maintain some control by separating their intake and output functions in to two separate events.
Today I took my lunch to Sylvan Beach again, thinking I would not find anything new or different enough for today's PAD but, what the heck, you never know and it was a good place to spend my lunch time. I walked around a little and saw a large group of seagulls roosting in the sand. It was interesting to see how they burrowed in the sand and all facing the water. So I skirted round them so that I could get some head on shots and took a few pictures. Of course, even with all the roosting there were many landings and departures so I thought I should try to get some in flight shots; I have never gotten anything really outstanding there. So I change my camera setting to Sports mode and attempt to follow a few in flight with some success, lots of failures. I was about to start heading back when a woman walked out on the sand and said she wanted to feed the seagulls but didn't want to mess up my pictures. I told her I was trying to get some flying so that would be good for her to feed them. As she threw bread crumbs in to the air for them, I skirted around all the action and snapped away at the frenzy. When I worked my way to the other side, I started trying to catch one in flight directly above me. I guess the lady saw what I was doing because she told me I could come stand beside her and shoot up. I thanked her and, of course, declined! I could too clearly visualize a big, wet, white glob on my camera lens, or better yet, my face. However, it is very hard to be fast enough to catch a bird from below when you are only a few feet below them and they are moving so fast. Finally I could stand it no more, and in one of those 'willingness to suffer for my art' moments, moved over to her. How cool these white birds with wings stretched looked from below with a beautiful blue sky above them! I shot until I filled my card! And luckily did it without taking any incoming fire! I checked my back in the full length mirror when I got back to work just to be sure!
This is not my favorite picture but it was one of the more dangerous ones! I posted some more on Facebook.
This is an absolutely amazing shot! The fact that you braved the poop to get a seagull in flight AND that they actually are pretty!!! What a great lunch!
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