Ridiculously lucky

So earlier this month Jon and I had the great luck to be able to visit my folks in Texas. We ran about taking photos of all kinds of things we don't have around here and just enjoyed ourselves. On our last full day there, we all drove out to Galveston and wandered around taking photos of downtown before heading out to the beach. That is one big thing that I miss living in my landlocked desert. I was so grateful to have that day though. And now I have photos to remind me of that wonderful day spent in saltwater and sand.

I am still waiting to get some of my film back, but I do have Polaroids of that day to share:

Sand dunes captured by my Polaroid Spectra camera. Softtone film.

More sand dunes as seen through my SX70 Alpha camera. PX70 PUSH! film.

These next two shots are ones that I feel really lucky to have caught. I mean, who doesn't have a few shots (or fifty) of seagulls flying overhead? I remember some pretty lame shots of birds half cut out of the frame when I was a kid. Then the digital age came around and you could snap a few hundred photos and either keep the ones you liked or Photoshop them to make them into something cool. But these shots? They are straight out of a Polaroid camera--no photo manipulation is involved. This is where the luck comes into play.

The first is overexposed because it flew right away from my black box (where I put my film the second it comes out of the camera to keep it from getting overexposed). Normally I hate it when my shots get overexposed--they get all washed-out and boring. But not in this case. You still can tell what's going on and I think that the pink adds to the dream-like effect. Plus, just check out the way the birds posed for me while flying:

Geometry in flight.

Seagulls captured on my SX70 Alpha camera, PX70 PUSH! film.

The second photo has a more flowing geometry. It is much more organic. But again, I lucked out-- it isn't too busy and I caught several birds completely in the frame and focused. Did I mention that this camera doesn't have auto-focus? I had to dial it in and capture it while the gulls were busy doing their thing. 

Lavender Gulls

More seagulls, this time in a more loose pattern. 

SX70 Alpha camera, PX70 PUSH! film. 

Please stop by to check out my Flickr photos if you have a moment.