A couple of not so ugly ducks

Smoke and Mirrors

When I first started taking pictures I was never aware of being in the shot myself. I look back and find myself in the reflection of a window or in a mirror somewhere. Thank goodness times have changed and I've begun to look for the details inside each frame. I've titled this post as 'smoke and mirrors' because the first image is of my boyfriend who happens to be a firefighter, and the second is of my smokin' hot friend Jen as she was getting ready to be in a wedding. (hopefully neither of them mind that I place their lovely faces on the internet)

Moody Iris

It is springtime. The bees are buzzing, its smells like fresh rain (and allergies) and the Bay Area is colorful with blossoms and green rolling hills. I have spent the past month compiling photos of a variety of Iris flowers that I see. Here are a few shots that I color converted to get a moody feel out of them.

Dog Daze

Three of my new friends... if I have food in my hand of course. These dogs, Argus (Rhodesian Ridgeback), Titus(Yellow Lab) and Kiera(Neapolitan Mastiff) were my models while I practiced exposures and focal lengths... good thing they are cute! Wow I love dogs!

Cat Eyes

I just got back from a few days in Chester learning the ways of wedding photography with the thanks to Kim James. I learned a few techniques and am going to start playing with my cameras settings more.

Rusty, Burnt, Old, Worn and Dirty

I tried out my new 50mm/1.4D Nikkor lens on a few old things that were laying around. I really don't know how to use it yet. I can't seem to get quite the shots that I would like but I'll keep playing around and learning as I go.

Sunny San Diego

I visited a few friends in Southern California and ended up on the most beautiful beach(in my opinion) in San Diego.. and maybe on the west coast. I regret not having my SLR with me, but I got a few pictures and tried to spice them up a bit. The image with the diagonal black border looks as it does because my lens got something spilled on it at a party, I tried to clean it, and it has forever not opened correctly. I tend to start taking pictures before I realize that it is stuck half open. I think of this picture in particular as possibly the view of a sun bathing mother looking out at her kids. The other two pictures are just surfers... nice...

Napa Railroad

For Valentine's day my dad took his two Valentine's (my mother and I) wine tasting in Napa. I snapped these out the car window.

Runner's World

I just submitted some images to runner's world magazine. They usually don't take pictures but I thought I would try anyway. My flickr account says that the one with the male pointing is the most visually interesting out of all my photos on there. I honestly do not get why? I like some of my other pictures way better... oh yeah... I have a flickr account now. Most of the pics are already on this blog but some are different so feel free to check it out. ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinnslens/ )You can comment there as well.

Faith touches down...

This was taken off the coast of Croatia on top of this random cliff. If I were religious I would get this framed. I think I will just look at it as being more 'spiritual'.

Swarovski Shower

Enlarge to get the full effect....

Delta Field trip

Today I went on a field trip with my mom's 5th grade class... I now know for a FACT that I will never be a teacher. It is hectic and as cute as some kids are, 30+ of them at once is a bit much. On the trip I learned about delta's fish, mud, the watershed itself, and plankton. Science is so COOL!!! Here are some pics I took throughout the day.

Lake Trips

I miss summer days at the lake. Here are some pictures taken on the water last summer. Warning: Some images may be a little hot and heavy.

Making up for lost time

Wow.. a whole 2 months with out posting. I am disappointed in myself so I'm just going to put a bunch of random pictures up. Some are new some are old, some are edited, some are raw, some make me laugh, some make me cry. I'd like to think the images as a group help illustrate my range as a photographer. I tried to include landscape, portrait, photojournalism, product,fashion, still life, pets, travel, etc. Comment if you have questions or suggestions. Enjoy!