Flying High

For about a year and a half now I have been trying to capture the beauty of the seagulls when they are soaring on the wind, especially when it's blowing strongly. To see one of my earliest attempts, see an older post "Ode to the Seagull." Like I explained there, it is fascinating to see these large birds soar against the sky (or sometimes dark clouds) and then have their white bellies gleam as the setting sunlight hits them.

Last night I decided to take advantage of the sunny evening and photograph some flowers in our garden that have recently bloomed. I did that for awhile and then realized the seagulls were doing what I just described above - gliding on the wind. So I turned the zoom lens upwards. I very quickly discovered what I had previously, it is hard to take a clear shot of these guys! But persistence, manual focus, and some 100 shots later, I ended up with a few that were clear. The birds, as you can tell, were even kind enough to fly right over me at times. I think our neighbors must have been laughing at me because I am sure I was a sight to see standing there with my camera waiting for them to quit circling other areas and come back to me!
One thing is for sure, I will more fully appreciate any photograph I see of a bird flying. It's harder to take than it looks!