Robbie Becklund Photography

Mobile, Alabama storm damage -- Mobile is about 70 miles east of Biloxi, Mississippi. This article gives a rundown of the damage in and around Mobile. The damage was extensive. Storm surges were 10 - 15 feet in areas. Downtown Mobile is under water. Dauphin Island lost a third of it's beach houses and a third were extensively damaged. 80% of buildings in Bayou La Batre are damaged and shrimp boats are strewn about.

Here's a good op-ed piece from the NY Times: New Orleans in Peril.

* * * * * *

Since I can remember, every August we visited my grandmother who lived in Mobile, Alabama. Many times we visited New Orleans, driving through Biloxi and Gulfport to get there. And the best times were when we rented a beach house on Dauphin Island, a barrier island south of Mobile. Then as I got older I went to Jazz Fest in New Orleans, eventually getting married at Longue Vue Gardens. In recent years my mom bought a place on Duaphin Island.

Memories are flowing through my mind of so many events big and small that have happened in my life in this area of the Gulf Coast that has seen so much destruction these last couple of days. The best way I can pay tribute to this great region is to run through some of my memories.

In New Orleans: getting my car towed at Jazz Fest and trying to find it; going to the Glass House which had one bare bulb for light to see the Rebirth Brass Band; eating numerous oyster poboys at a great Poboy shop on St. Charles and stopping almost everytime I was in town; going to all the great record shops in town with my friends and being bored to tears; driving to Dauphin Island from Austin, TX with my son and stopping at the Central Grocery to get muffulettas and eating them in the car in front of the store at least twice; over the years eating many muffulettas from Central Grocery; taking my son to the Aquarium; walking around in the rain and the mud at Jazz Fest and seeing Alan Toussaint completely clean in all white and him stopping to chat with us; Mardi Gras Indians; when I was a kid wandering Bourbon Street at night; eating at Brennan's when I was young; trying to keep powdered sugar off my clothes eating beignets and drinking chicory coffee at Cafe Du Monde; a variety of great soul food joints whose names I can't remember; the amazing vibe.

Gulfport: sailing from Destin, Florida with my dad and staying at a hotel across from the marina; many years later, eating with some great friends at a great seafood place at the same marina; a really big, really funky touristy beach shop, with a legless man propped up behind the counter in a Lazyboy; the same shop a couple years later, but the legless man was gone.

Dauphin Island: playing on the beach when I was a kid; taking our dog to the beach; my grandmother taking her dog out into the ocean on an air mattress; beach fires and s'mores with sand in them; my mom's condo; Thanksgivings at my mom's condo with many friends; the drive on the causeway coming into Dauphin Island; going to Ship and Shore and finding whatever you needed; the hurricane ravaged Holiday Inn many years ago; the funky seafood places that are usually really good; the great shrimp from Captain Daves; the beach town/fishing town/south Alabama vibe--I love it; riding the packed ferry to Gulf Shores with confederate civil war reenactors and feeling releived I had Texas license plates and not New York plates.

I added four images to my Holga Photo Gallery, they have been seen in this blog at one point or another. Also removed a couple of images I wasn't thrilled with.

Speaking of not being thrilled with things--we went to the state fair today and checked out the fine art building to look at the art. This time when I saw my photo I could barely stop to look at it, and I even thought it was printed too light. What is up? I really liked the way the photo looked here at home after I framed it. And I was real happy with the way it was printed. I like/love (depending on the picture) my photos, I've got some framed hanging here in the house. I really liked seeing them together in my art fair booth. So why do I have this weird thing with seeing my work in an exhibit space. Maybe that it's just one image by itself. Also, I've got to be honest, I'm not happy how it was hung. Since it's a hair smaller on average than most other pieces it was doubled up with another image and mine is on top and fairly high. Oh well, at least I got in.

Just got back from shooting with the holga. I went to some abandoned grain elevators in town to go inside and shoot with a flash. Unfortunately, when I got near the open doors, the stench was outlandish, much stronger than this spring, when I was there last. So I guess I'll wait until fall when the temp gets a little to cold for squatting to do some shooting in there. I did shoot under some nice overpasses I've been eyeing, so all was not lost. I guess the next thing would be to get hopping on the film and test prints and show some of them here.

Yes, we're back from our trip a little early. My son got sick Friday in the middle of the night and we packed up and drove home (5 hours). He's fine now--maybe food poisoning or one too many potato chips...

We did make it to Thunder Bay, Ontario but it rained the whole time so no pictures, but we did go to Fort Williams, which was the inland headquarters of the North West Company in the 1800's. We spent time at the Pigeon River and falls which forms the U.S./Canadian border, and took some pictures there--it was beautiful. Took some pictures in Grand Marais and in the Superior National Forest on Two Island Lake where we camped.

Lots we didn't get to do, we had planned for 7 days and it was only 3. We didn't get to the Amethyst mines in Canada and or see relatives in Grand Marais. And I only shot six roles of film when I was planning for 25. Oh well. It was lots of fun and my son caught his first fish--three actually. I really want to spend more time in Canada. It's beautiful and a different country, which is fun. My son really got a kick out of the money and seeing all the different packaging in the grocery store. While it's not Japan, there are enough differences between the states to make it interesting. Actually, since English is spoken, you can understand the differences better.

Facing Hurricane Katrina, Mayor Orders New Orleans Evacuated - New York Times-- here's hoping this hurricane weakens, this looks bad. I was married in New Orleans and had some of the best times of my life there. I sure hope it is spared an historic event.

Just got back from the State Fair Art Exhibit preview and after looking for five minutes and finding my photo, my first reaction was, "it's not very big." I guess when doing shows like this I need to go bigger. I think it is 9x9" with a 16x16" frame. I guess more like 14x14" in a 25x25" frame would fit in better or at least stand out some.

There's about 300 pieces in the show, so there is something for everyone, there were 1,833 entries. There is some really nice work--tonight was not a good time for viewing.

Maybe it was that this was at the State Fair and that my son was with me, but I didn't have the bad hollow feeling I get after going to an opening that I have work in. I did get it somewhat though. One reason I think I feel this way, I don't know anyone in the arts community in Minneapolis, so if there were people to hang with it would be funner. Another reason, I kind of don't see the point of getting in these shows, except for a line on my resume and to get compliments from a few friends and family members, and to feel validated to a small degree. I guess what I really enjoy is sharing my photos with people, as in people buying photos from me and they enjoy them in their homes or giving them as gifts.

Although I'm skeptical of the merits of me doing exhibits, I'm trying to get in another and also applying for a grant. I like the idea of the grant, but boy is that a long shot.

Well, it's time to finish packing for our trip tomorrow. Have a good week.

Tomorrow morning my son and I are heading up north for Lake Superior, Duluth, Grand Marais, Grand Portage and Thunder Bay, Ont. It'll be a camping trip with lots of picture taking. So there'll be no posts here for about a week--ahhhh, no computer or phone.

Tonight's the preview for the State Fair show, maybe I'll post something about that tonight if something interesting happens. Last year there were 2,161 pieces submitted to this show, and 368 were accepted.

So, this is how it works. You take pictures for thirty years with little recognition and then 45 years after your death you get a couple of shows in NYC and the photos sell for thousands of dollars.

I tried out my two new cameras yesterday--the new holga and the Fuji-- and the negatives look fine. I'll contact them and print some tonight to make sure--especially to see if there's any issues with the holga. I do need to get a new cone for my Omega enlarger, since my current one only accomodates 6x7 negs and not 6x9 negs--there's some drop off around the edges when printing 6x9 full frame with my current setup. I'll be getting that from Classic Enlargers.

The great Hunter S. Thompson goes out with a bang.

Every couple of weeks for a couple of days at a time a get a glimpse of what it would be like to make a living selling my photos. I think I would enjoy it quite nicely. That is the dream isn't it. There were a couple of days this week where my day was spent on printing, matting, getting supplies or packing photos. Those are nice days. Then there are days like today, where the job interferes with my photo work. Today I got up at 5 a.m. so I could spot three photos, in hopes of finishing up on the matting and packing after work to get them in the mail be the time the post office closed--no luck. I'll finish tomorrow morning.

While roasting coffee, my main part time job, I've got to kind of concentrate, and if I start thinking about photo work I get into trouble. Roasting coffee at a small shop is serious multi-tasking. The coffee is in the roaster and you have to be attentive to temp. and times,and adjusting the temp at certain crucial points. At the same time your bagging other batches and you've got coffee grinding and maybe even printing labels all at the same time, and you got to keep track of all the roasting times and weights and record those. And it's loud. Oh and it's hot--no A.C--with roaster temps in the mid 400 degrees. Definitely the Ed Sullivan show plate spinning thing. Today I think I was thinking about matting photos and how long it would take and I had a brain seizure. Forgot to take out the Kenya AA from the cooling tray and it was time to dump the French Roast into the cooling tray. Definitely a no no. Well I hustled to empty the Kenya but not fast enough and I Super Frenched the French Roast. Made some little charcoal brickets. At least it didn't start on fire.

I thought it'd be fun to show the size difference between the Fuji and a 35mm, that's a Pentax ME Super (I need a new digital camera--yeah, like that'll happen soon).

Haven't had a chance to take any pictures yet with it. This weekend though I will. I need to test it before I go up north. Not like I think there'll be any problems.

Minnehaha Park



Glenwood grain elevators

Well I went and did it--I got a camera--a real camera. I just bought a Fuji GSW 690 III. I got it at my neighborhood photo store. I needed some photo paper and something told me to go upstairs where they keep the real cameras to see what they had. One thing led to another and before I knew it there were two GSW 690s staring me in the face, one in new condition and the other in mint. Something told me I had to get it. I got the one in mint condition. I've wanted one of these for a long time, but the price is rather high. But this was a good deal and I felt that I had to do it. I feel like good things will happen with this camera, it was almost like I was meant to get it today.

These shoot a 6x9cm negative and it has a wide angle 65mm lens--and it's a sweet lens.

I'm very excited seeing that we got our 'up north' trip next week. It's strange I realized this trip could be great for picture taking and started lamenting the fact that I didn't have a "real" camera (no offense holga users). So now I've got a good camera again. If you've never seen one it is something to behold--they're big. The Texas Leica! Anyway I'll stop slobbering on the keyboard now.

I'm going to make Chicken Fried Steak for dinner tonight. Haven't done it before, but it's not too hard--but it should be good.

Just got a new Holga CFN, one of 'em with all the gadgets--flash, bulb setting, tripod mount, and colored filters on the flash. The filters I can probably live without. Gonna try some close up flash pictures and kind of long exposure shots. Also got 20 rolls of film. We're going up north in a week and a half. Up to Grand Marais to camp and we'll also go up to Thunder Bay and maybe beyond into Ontario. I'm hoping to get a few decent pictures with those 20 rolls. I just contact printed a few rolls of film and I only like one picture--blah. Maybe I'm getting more discerning in my editing--or god forbid I'm getting crappier at taking pictures.

All the stuff I bought is from Freestyle, a company I've really come to like. They are really committed to traditional black and white and to the creative photographer. They also have an advisory board of some of the most respected fine art photographers.



Pretty sad when the only picture I can post is a box of the holga camera. I just love how cheezy it is.

Into the ancient site across the UK and Ireland? check out The Modern Antiquarian.

Went to the Midwest Melee Skateboard contest yesterday so my son could see what some of the good beginner kids could do in street skating. We checked out the Boomerang, which along with the bowl/pool is my dream to skate in. It's funny, I got a skateboard because I was bored of watching my son skate. I thought it'd give me something to do instead of sit on my ass and daydream, but now, it's taking on a life of its own. But there are warning signs regarding skateboarding at 43 years old. I talked to a friend in Texas and most everyone she knows who is my age has quite skating due to major injuries. And I have a friend here who works at a Level 1 Trauma Center and she tells me things like, joint and soft tissue injuries are the hardest to heal and when trying to get a hold of me, she leaves messages like, maybe your here, I'll check the admit board. Hmmm. I don't care. But I have told my son what to do if I hit my head and get knocked out--which of course won't happen... Helmet, helmet you ask. I have hardly ever worn a helmet, except for hockey and football (very short lived). Skateboarding, BMX (wasn't called that when I was young, but that's what we did), bike racing, bike messengering all done sans brain bucket. I guess I have to wear one at the skatepark, which I promised my son we'd go to this Saturday morning--that's when they cater to kids under 12.

Oh, wondering about photography. I'm washing film right now, so this is photography related. Maybe new images in the next couple of days--assuming there's something decent on these rolls.

* * * * * * *

I saw a someone with holga photos at the Uptown Art Fair.

Went to the Uptown and Powderhorn Park Art Fairs this weekend. There's another show as well at Loring Park, but I've not been too excited about that one in the past so I didn't go. The Uptown art fair is ranked as one of the best in the nation and it shows. The quality of art work throughout is strong at this show. There's a big difference between Uptown and Powderhorn and Powderhorn is considered a pretty decent show.

Seeing these shows, while making me a little tired of being around people, sure gets me motivated for doing shows soon. I'm thinking about maybe doing one or two small ones this fall or just waiting until next year to start doing art fairs. But I definitely will be doing them.

Ellis Island Photo Exhibit

Even the NY Times knows Duluth is interesting, 36 hours in Duluth, Minn. . They didn't mention walking along the shore of Lake Superior, parts of which in Duluth are sandy beaches, and they missed the Lake Superior Museum or Fresh Water Museum (something like that) but it's fun.

* * * * *

On a Blogger bitch note: While blogger has improved its posting speed, I have tried to twice to update my blog template with new links and it keeps timing out--lame. And you know what happens when you email them with your problem, they say "we checked it out and everything looks fine." Which translates to "you're a dumbass, quit bothering us."

I just found out my photo Cattails 4 was accepted for the Minnesota State Fair 94th Annual Fine Arts Exhibition 2005. Cool! The photo size is 9x9" matted and framed to 16x16".

It's a big exhibit in the Fine Arts building on the fair grounds. It seems like it's a rite of passage for Minnesota artists to be in this show. At fair time I keep getting asked if I'm in it. The exhibit runs the length of the fair, Aug. 25 - Sept. 5. Tuesday, August 23 from 7:30 - 9:30pm is the Preview Night, so if you're my friend you can go to it (that's what the info says). If you want to go to the Preview Night contact me for directions, etc.

The Uptown Art Fair will be going on this weekend in Minneapolis. There's a couple of photographers that look interesting to check out.

* * * * * * *

I'm thinking of writing a little article that includes pictures about the way I cut mats, and mat my photos. I do it a very simple, lo-tech way and I've received nice comments on my mat jobs. So it is a way that works well and all I use is a big T-square and a Dexter mat cutter and a couple of tricks. Maybe in the next couple of weeks I'll get that done and post it to its own page here on the website.

I made a big purchase yesterday, one I've been thinking about for a couple of weeks or so. I bought myself a skateboard. My son has become obsessed with skateboarding. Naturally between reading skating mags and playing nintendo Tony Hawk games he has to skateboard. Well, I've gotten rather bored watching him skateboard. He'll let me use his board for a couple of minutes, but that's it. So the other day we went to 3rd Lair SkatePark & SkateShop in Minneapolis to check things out. That basically broke the camels back. After seeing the skatepark I decided I had to get meself a board. The coolest thing at 3rd Lair is they've built a fullsize pool indoors. I want to ride in that!

See, when I was in jr. high and high school I was real into skateboarding. So now that my son is real into, it's pretty cool. I'm such a supportive parent in regards to skateboarding that I got my own board so I can skate with him.

We skated for about an hour last night, so I'm a bit sore this a.m. I've almost got the Ollie down, which is the backbone of modern skateboarding. Man I'm excited about this--does it show.

Some interesting Pinhole Photography. All the better if you can read French!