Robbie Becklund Photography

I just added 12 5x7 unmatted prints for $7 each to my my ebay store. I don't want to have too many duplicate images listed, but I think it's nice to have a variety of prices and sizes.

I realize that I have over 20 solid images and maybe many more from negatives over the last couple of years that are not on my website or in my ebay store or being listed on ebay. I've got over 250 negatives that I've never contact printed. When I was scanning my negatives I'd give all my negs a quick look and I know I passed over some that are good and some I don't even remember looking at. Some of my north shore shots from last summer I really liked, but when I printed them on the inkjet printer I wasn't happy with the tones I was getting (that's a big reason why I don't do inkjet prints anymore). I should get at those in the next week or so and maybe some new non winter shots can get into circulation.

Personally, I'm sick of the cold weather, and I'm sure so are many others, so I realize in terms of marketing, trying to sell photos that look very wintery is not a good idea. I should be selling springy pictures.

I see from the spell check that I might be making up words as I write this. Well that's okay. Also, I know I'm making up new grammar rules on the fly. That's okay too. This isn't a well edited book. I want it to be more off the cuff and like talking to someone. So have fun reading my mangling of the language.

Bob Wittig is a painter who is making a go of it by selling on ebay. Here's an article he's written about his latest techniques for selling. The eBay FeaturedPlus! Auction Spend some time at his site, his articles have a distinct viewpoint that I can identify with--simplicity, do it your own way.

This was taken with the holga but god knows where I took it. My son says it was on a drive from or to Minneapolis from or to Austin Texas. It was early and real foggy, very cool light--this one was taken as the fog was burning off. I've got some others I haven't printed yet, where the whole background looks like a bright light shining through etched glass or translucent plastic--or something like that.


This on the boardwalk at Coney Island in the morning. I really want to like this photo, but I don't know. I do really like the shore and water in the distance and the fact that there are nice bathhouses at the beach now.

This summer I will be in New York and San Diego. I'll be toting my Fuji and Holga with pockets full of film! Going to try some Ilford FP4 and a tripod?!?! with the Fuji for scenic photos to see if I can't get a bit more detail.

Here's an excellent article on editions by Brooks Jensen, the editor of Lenswork, What Size The Edition?. I have been doing editions of 50 prints in sizes 8x10 and larger. I think from now on with any new work I'll just number everything with no edition limit. This edition thing has troubled me in the past, but I just kind of went along so as to compete with others who sell editioned photographs.

Here's an interesting article by Larry Berman regarding editioning of photographs and as a rebuttal to an article in Sunshine Artist Magazine.

There's also a good article on editioning as a marketing tool in Lenswork Magazine by Brooks Jensen. I really like his point of view of photography, how it is a democratic art form, that is accessible to many. He discusses how editioning of photographs is an arbitrary marketing tool, done to artificially jack up the price of photographs. Which in turns makes photography an elitist art form which fewer people can afford to buy allowing fewer artist the ability to make a living through print sales because the number of people who can afford to buy decreases.

Brooks Jensen had another article a couple years ago that laid out a vision he had of photographs being more like records or CDs. How so many people buy them and they are not limited. And by selling more you can keep the price down enabling more people to buy. That really hit home with me, since I've been in bands.

This is why selling on ebay appeals to me. I can keep my expenses down and keep my prices down, and my hope is, in time I can create a large enough body of sellable images to make a living from selling them.

ebay is getting kind of frustrating to use to sell photos. Three things really stand out for me. #1. In February ebay raised listing fees, which they keep doing year after year. #2. ebay continues to screw around with how people browse and search for items. This makes it very difficult to develop a listing strategy that is successful. How can you test techniques, when they keep changing things. #3. The art>>photo category is inundated with posters/repros, celebrity nudes, erotica (not artistic), and all manner of vintage photos. There is a category for collectible photos, that's where all this stuff should go.

I was just thinking about fences...
They have got to be the one biggest obstacle to good subject matter. That, and security guards and police. In New York I was so frustrated with the amount of fences and security guards. And now of course, half the population in NY is on the lookout for suspicious behavior. You should have seen the looks I got taking pictures of the Williamsburg bridge from many different angles on the Brooklyn side.

I've thought of just taking pictures of the fences, with what actually interests me kind of out of focus in the background. Ahhh, that idea is about as good as my plan to get into portraiture photography.

I decided to look at some business books on portrait photography. See, I have this idea how I want the pictures to look. I know what portrait photographs look like, obviously, but after looking at a handful of books and seeing what the general population thinks are great portraits, that great idea of mine is history. I'm sure there are people that would be interested in the way I would take a portrait, but to make money (and that's why I would do it) I'd have to be fairly middle of the road most of the time. Unfortunately, I just couldn't do it. My favorite portrait photographer is Diane Arbus...

I've updated my index page. I had been using layers in the html and now I'm just using tables. I think the layers would get screwy with certain browsers. Also, I added a little text so people stumbling onto my site can see what it's about. Also, adding some words might make it a little bit more attractive to search engines.

I'm working on an all Holga gallery. I'll probably end up with a Minnesota gallery, a holga gallery and a miscellaneous gallery. Since I've been fairly productive lately, I'm going to prune some of the dead branches and make room for some newer, more improved photos.

Oh and I might be adding a portrait gallery... I'm contemplating sticking my big toe in the portrait waters. I've done some pictures of my son that I've been happy with. He's got enough friends swarming around the house, that subject matter is no problem. Of course it's one thing to take pics of your kid and another thing to "make portraits" of other kids--if other kids aren't behaving, you can't just yell at them--time to go to my calm place...

Well, the holga is a magical little camera. Sometimes I am just astonished at the images they produce. I've been using them for two or three years and have been so happy with some of the shots I get using them. To me, my holga images are like the music I enjoy and have played-- a nice feel to it, raw, rough around the edges, spontaneous, intuitive. Music is what I've really identified with and has been the major force in my life. In the last few years though, I've decided to let my photography take that role. I see more and more that my holga photos are what music was for me.

I'll continue this later, right now I have too many thoughts swimming in my head, but none are going in the same direction.

I just listed this photo of Big Bend Texas taken with a Holga camera. This was from 2002, but this is the first time I've made it available since I switched to printing in the darkroom only. I'm in the process of going back through some of my Holga photos from the last couple of years. And this is one of my favorites.

I should have a couple new pictures in the next day or so. I've been busy selling photos!!

There's a discussion on yahoo artshow listserve that really hits home for me. It's a discussion about photographs as reproductions in view of the digital revolution. There was a very negative article in Sunshine Magazine, which is all about selling your art/crafts at art/craft shows, where many photographers make their living. The basic gist was that photos were repros--which they're not.

I feel like I can talk about this with some authority, since I've made my photos the modern and traditional way in the last year. Now everything I do is done traditionally in a darkroom with chemicals and water. But I had been using an inkjet printer and carbon inks and scanning the negatives.

No matter what anyone who makes photos the new way says, they have to agree that it is easier overall. Yes, there are unlimited things you can do, and of course, some will say it is harder because they have to learn Photoshop, but to me that's just Digital Photo 101. Yes, there is a big learning curve, learning about papers, inks, etc. But it's still digital photo 101. To me it's akin to learning to roll film on a reel. Because once you've got it down, it's not too hard.

I think what gets the dissenters hung up is that printing photos digitally, whether on an inkjet printer or from a pro lab, is that the digital process is easier. Once your file is ready for printing, you can push print. If you want it bigger or smaller, than change the dimensions in Photoshop, and then click print--not too hard, really.

For me the most glaring difference is the time involved. A traditional photo takes a lot longer to make. I'm assuming that you're just making one print that you've got figured out. In digital you print it, maybe it has to sit overnight to let it dry. In analog, you set up, expose it, sit over the chemicals for a few minutes, then wash it, squeegee it, lay it out to dry, spot it (if needed). Sure a digitally output print takes a while to print, but you can watch TV or clean the bathroom while that's happening. In the darkroom you have to not scratch the negative, focus, watch the timer and not fall asleep--maybe not the work of a genius, but you've got to be there.

But the number one difference in my mind is what happens when you have dust spots. In Photoshop you use a tool to remove the dust spots and it is fixed forever--whether you print one photo or 200. With a silver print, each photo has to be spotted (luckily a few negatives don't have dust spots). This is where you use Spotone and a very fine sable brush and actually paint or spot the white dust specks out of the image by hand (I'm sure this is obvious to many, but in this digital age, I'm sure lots of people don't know this is done). The thing is with the Spotone is if you screw up, you've screwed up the print and in the garbage it goes--you can't just wipe it off. In Photoshop if you screw it up, you just undo your mistake and that's only for photo number 1. I saw a video of Brett Weston spotting his prints and his were already mounted when he spotted--he was brave.

Personally I'm much happier printing in the darkroom again. I love the hands-on craft of photography. I really feel like I'm creating something. I didn't get that satisfaction using an inkjet printer and Photoshop.

Although I'm way happier in the analog world of photography, there is nothing wrong with digital photography. It's really all the same, you just get there by two different routes. There's nothing wrong with progress and photography has always been linked to technological advances. I've just decided to stop my technological advance and put my energy into the image.

Another way to look at it, by the time I'm 60--18 years from now (I think) how many times do you think software, printers, inks and computers will have to be upgraded to keep with the times. On the other hand, I'm sure there will be the same if not similar photo papers and developers and I don't need to upgrade my enlarger. For those obsessed or at least keeping up with tecnology, how much time will be spent in that pursuit instead of spent improving the actual photo taking. Remember, one of the main reasons for technological advance in this consumer driven culture is to sell stuff.

Last week I had 1,066 page views on my website, for the first 4 days of this week I've already had 844 page views. The last two days pages views have been over 225. I guess updating the blog regularly and selling on ebay regularly are helping. eBay sales are steady--low but steady.

It's fun/exciting to see the numbers steadily grow. My dream is to make my living selling my photos off the internet, my realistic goal is to make it a good part-time income.

The one thing I find frustrating with selling through the internet is the lack of direct contact with the people buying my photos. I've done a few art shows and I loved watching people respond to my pictures and talking to them about them. I have met some people and talked via email with people, so I get some response on my internet buyers/patrons. Something I really enjoyed with artshows, was being surprised by who bought what picture and for what reason. Some of the hippest looking people bought my more traditional pictures and some of the more "traditional" looking people bought some of my more hipper looking stuff.

Another thing that is nice artshows and a bit dicey with the internet is the presentation and expectation of the work. The artshow, they see it, if they like it they get it and know what they've got. The internet, you've got lame jpeg's representing the work. Which reminds me, that is something I need to work on--good photos of how the picture looks matted and signed.

It's becoming a daily thing tracking down people who are lifting my pics for their websites--I suppose I need to be a bit more diligent in putting my web address on all the pictures, so at least I'll get a plug--because of course no one puts a link back to my site. It's interesting to see the pictures that get lifted, it's kind of a market research thing--if someone's going to take the time to put a picture on their site, they must really like it.

For the Holga devotee Freestyle Photographic Supplies has Holga camera bags in two sizes! I know what I'm going to be getting soon.

My Minnesota Gallery has finally been updated. Now there are three pages of images and each has a link to a larger image. Also, on each page you now can purchase through my secure shopping cart! I've got a bit of tweaking to do on the shopping cart, but it works. It feels good to get it done! You will notice a new look as well.

Now I have to work on the rest of the site! I'm still trying to decide if I should split it up by region, like Texas and New York, or Holga photos together and the rest in another gallery. That might be the best way, that way it will look a bit more cohesive.

I'll try to be more responsible and add the new Minnesota images as they are ready. So there should be some more new stuff in the next week.

I just listed this 8x10 photo on ebay for $9.99!

Well I keep getting sales on ebay, so that's nice. Having a featured plus listing and listing as close to daily as possible is a big help. Since there are so many photos on ebay many people that are browsing the category doing by photos that are ending first, so if you have things ending everyday your chance of someone seeing your stuff is greater. Also, I'm getting some sales outside ebay and some of this is due to the greater exposure on ebay.

One of the things that really freaks some people out about having their images on the internet, is image theft and copyright infringement. I'm not too concerned about it. If I find out about it, I'll try to stop it if they're not giving me credit for the image. I can find them off my website stats--it lists new referrers. Either they are stealing an image off my site. Some times it's real hard to find. Like when it's someone's little picture on an online forum. At first I thought--"Oh cool, someone's mentioned my pictures in a post," but no. There's one floating around some goth website, but after a few minutes of reading about teen angst I gave up searching--in my mind it's a cute punk rock girl who has great taste and is in a band (preferably a bass player or drummer), who steals my picture, then it's okay.

I did find one on someone's blog, but it was so confusing as to who actually owned the blog, I gave up. There is one type of blog where it appears that many people can post to it, also other people have these other people's blog posts on their blog--see I told you it was confusing--I suppose I could understand it if I took the time. I really don't mind, just give me a mention or a link. Maybe they do and I can't find it.

Here's one of those urban holga pictures. This was taken at Bennett Field in Brooklyn NY, looking out on Jamaica Bay. Bennett Field is right before the bridge to Rockaway, Queens. This was 2002. I spent so much time taking pictures here and other places along Jamaica Bay, with a 4x5 and 5x7 view camera. I sure wish I would have had the Holga then. I don't think I got one large format shot that I liked and I love taking pictures here--it's such an odd place. Shooting with the view camera was fun, but the results were so frustrating. Maybe it's because the film holders leaked light and the back of the 5x7 would slip after focusing and all the negatives I shot with the lens on that camera were flat as a pancake!! Good riddance! God, if I would have had a Holga or a Fuji wide angle at the time, I'd be swimming in good negatives.

This was taken while an NYPD helicopter was hovering over my head. Eventually the Park Police were dispatched. Luckily, I had just, coincidentally, changed my shirt and left the area, or I'm sure this photo would never have seen the light of day and I'd be light one Holga. I would love to know what they thought I was doing, photographing a rusted out breakwall--oh that's right, I was behaving suspiciously!

I just listed this photo for the first time on ebay. I really like these kind of vertical shoreline shots, using the wide angle lens, with the close foreground detail in focus and your eye can travel along the shoreline to the far distance. In the lower left corner you get the sense of rushing water which is a nice element.

I'm going to try listing a photo everyday on ebay. I'll try to list as much new stuff as possible. I've got a decent amount of north shore images to still work on and I've got a never ending backlog of film, so there's no shortage of work.

My son has a four day weekend coming up. I'm thinking we might have to take a photo daytrip. I've always wanted to check out the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior in Wisconsin. I think the best way to photograph them would be in a kayak. Well I don't have a kayak, I guess we'll just stand on the shore and wave at the islands.

Besides my north shore photos I've been working on, I'm going to work on some of my more "urban" or abstract images. Most of these are taken with the Holga camera.

And I just listed this one on ebay as well. This is of the south breakwall looking out to Lake Superior from the harbor side. That dark area running along the top is not on the acutal photo. For some reason it's showing up in the scans of the print--kind of annoying.

I just listed the photo from April 01 on ebay

Another Grand Marais memory:
One summer during high school I was visiting my cousin, who lived in Grand Marais. He and some of his friends and I were hanging out in front of the Dairy Queen watching the traffic go by. They were complaining about how boring it was living there, until one of them sarcastically proclaimed, "yeah, but we got great scenery!" Obviously they had been told this by many out-of-town friends and relatives. Even though they wanted to be in the big city, I know they knew they were lucky.

Grand Marais, MN - Along the north side of downtown looking at Artist's Point.