On the flight to Turkey my travel companion and I sat next to an Iranian man who had lived in Istanbul for many years.

 

“If you want to escape from the city,” he said, “go to Princes’ Islands.  They’re very beautiful.”

 

We followed his suggestion.

 

We took a ferry from Istanbul to the island of Büyükada where we were, sadly, unimpressed. 

 

In fact, quite honestly for me the highlight of the trip was the ferry ride away from Büyükada and back to Istanbul.

 

What made the ferry ride so magical were the seagulls that followed us the whole way.

 

Unfortunately, the determination of their flight was inspired by some silly tourists who sat near us at the edge of the deck, throwing them bits of Doritos and beckoning them to take the treat straight from their fingertips.

 

Though I didn’t agree with their feeding them (especially some processed crap like Doritos of all things!), it did afford me the delight of capturing the birds in their pretty flight.

 

Photographing them on their chase was SO much fun! I think I’ve discovered that capturing animals in my lens is one of my most favorite things to do.

 

 

I captured these photos with a Canon Rebel T3i (RIP beloved camera!).  I have cropped some of them, but other than that they are unedited.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the pictures and find them as magical as I do.  If you like this post please share it & leave a comment below and let me know what you think 🙂