Joan Lakin Mikkelsen Photography

Kangaroo Island

2012-01-15T15:52:00.000-08:00

(Homage to Virgina Woolf)

Chapman River Wines Cellar Door features one single item on its one-item menu. We shared two platters between the four of us ~ delicious cheeses, sausages, breads and salads.

I have sand in my shoes from Kangaroo Island.

You can't know how happy that makes me unless you've been to Kangaroo Island, walked on the pristine beaches and seen sights so impossible to describe that they actually have one spot here called Remarkable Rocks.

We were invited by our business colleague Rob to stay with him and the beautiful and graceful Sue at his family "shack" (as all vacation homes are called here). We left Adelaide on the 4:00 p.m. ferry and rocked our way across the Backstairs Passage (I'm not making it up, it's not a euphemism, it's truly the name of the water between the mainland and the island. Does it help if I tell you the water to the north of the island is called Investigator Island??) to the tiny harbor town of Penneshaw.

From there it was just a few minutes to their red cedar shack - a perfect retreat, built in the '80's by his parents, with a long expansive deck all along the front, overlooking the spectacular water. It is just one of a handful of homes dotting the beach. Picture pure white crunchy sand, shallow emerald-colored baby waves oozing into a brilliant sapphire blanket of sea. There's nothing between that spot and Antarctica so we did not swim out farther than our ankles.

On Saturday Rob did a yeoman's job of showing us the treasures on the island. We spent all day being chauffeured from one spot to the next - a red-topped lighthouse (see photos above), the Remarkable Rocks perched on top of a kind of mesa over the ocean, sea lions (ok, California has 'em too) lolling on their own rocky beach, another beach with caves and rock formations that must be seen to be believed.

But, besides the wonderful company (lots of stories and lots of laughter) and delicious food prepared by our host and mounds of chocolates from my new favorite chocolatier, Haigh's in Adelaide, really ~ the beach right in front of the house is what I would come back for. It was sort of mesmerizing and rhapsodic. We strolled it three times and even then, at the beginning of summer, only once did we see anyone else. Way down at the other end. Children squealing in the chilly water. Heavenly.

Heart-stopping traffic

2012-01-15T15:03:00.000-08:00

You couldn't help but be fascinated/horrified at the mega-masses of mopeds. Most of the riders wear face masks - sometimes they cover their entire head. And tiny children are standing on the seat between 2 adults who hold them but don't grip them.

Look at the middle photo and you'll see a brave soul crossing amidst the scooters. He's got the system down ~ walk at a steady pace, do not falter, do not hesitate, keep moving forward, do not show fear!
One morning we strolled down to the harbor. But we had to cross about 6 lanes of relentless traffic to reach the water. After 3 days there I was feeling pretty smug about how daring I had become in negotiating the traffic. But this was daunting, to put it mildly. Because this road was 6 times wider than the other streets, the mopeds had that much more space to whip around each other and cut each other off. I started out the way I always do but quickly realized that I had overestimated my skill. It was just this side of terrifying. And as you cross, you can't just look towards the oncoming traffic because there's always someone going the wrong way against the traffic so your head is swiveling right to left to right to left the whole time, just praying that you're not missing someone but they're missing you.
I made it to the other side with my heart racing, pounding in my chest. And then I had to turn around and watch Trygve just starting out from the other side because he had missed the first tiny window of space that I had darted into.
He made it across.
Whew.

Saigon

2012-01-15T14:46:00.000-08:00

How many movies have you seen that are set in Vietnam? How many photographs? If you've never been there, it's enough to make you feel as if you had. That's how it was for me ~ it felt familiar right away. But being there, actually being surrounded by it, that was a different story.

The noise was often deafening and the crowds swarming. I did get it though ~ why there's a large ex-pat community there. It's kind of exotic and romantic and thrilling. But only on the surface; poverty is everywhere. Buildings crumbling, barefoot children playing on broken sidewalks next to their moms selling 2-day old newspapers or the ubiquitous lotto tickets. These portraits show the face of Saigon. Look at the last of the four ~ do you recognize the Christian Laboutin shop (possibly the most expensive shoes in the world) ~ with a well-dressed local woman perched on her stool, waiting for .. what? Maybe friends will join her soon and they will eat a meal there, one of them bringing a small grill and fresh fruit.

Hong Kong

2012-01-15T13:53:00.000-08:00

In November of 2011 we visited Hong Kong for the first time. This shot was taken from the only place we found that was not teeming with cars and car horns and jewelry shops. We took the funicular to the top of Victoria Peak. A one-hour stroll around the peak was our favorite day of our stay.

Every place we went was a jumble of shops (every other storefront seemed to be selling the world's largest stock of watches). The first day we couldn't figure out where to eat because so many of the restaurants are on the second floor, to free up street level for shops or mini-workshops.

Dim Sum! If you have very good directions (it's in the City Hall building) you can end up at Maxim's Palace for what many think is the best dim sum in the city. Mr. T. was most reluctant and may never darken their doorways again. But if you like warehouse-sized rooms, gigantic chandeliers and servers who pounce on you before your seat has hit the seat, this is the place for you. And, oh yes, the dim sum was great!

Chihuli and girls

2011-06-22T21:28:00.000-07:00

Visiting the Missouri Botanical Gardens for a Sunday afternoon diversion. Three girls playing on concrete lambs and luminous Chihuli gourds floating in the fountain below guarding angels.

The Brothers Van Gogh

2011-04-04T14:40:00.000-07:00

Thinking about my visit last fall to Auvers sur Oise, where Vincent died. And his beloved brother and benefactor, Theo, 6 months later. We traipsed over muddy fields of wheat to find this cemetery perched at the top of a long sloping hill. The sky seemed to hover above like a cloak, appropriate to the mood of the place.

Tossed in love

2011-03-27T15:27:00.001-07:00

Who doesn't remember running full speed, being caught and tossed into the air like this? Squeals of laughter and shouts of joy!

Lighting Workshop

2011-03-27T14:56:00.000-07:00

Four models, four photographers, in a workshop ~ http://www.meetup.com/Oakland-FAP-Meetup-Group ~ in Oakland. These are some of mine. (And if you want to see the guy in the hat up close and in person, along with his remarkable crew, have a look at http://vespertinecircus.com/).

Sometimes they don't mind posing.

2011-01-30T18:32:00.000-08:00

The royal child.

Waiting for her chauffeur

Happy to be home.

Triangles in Paris and nearby

2011-01-30T17:53:00.001-08:00

This is Arnold, from the town Auvers sur Oise, just a 40 minute train ride from Paris. This is where Vincent Van Gogh painted a hauntingly beautiful Church and several magnificent wheat fields. This is also where he lived his last days.
Arnold lives and paints in this house ~ a house also painted by Vincent. He waved to us to come in as we passed by the picture window of his studio. Forty minutes and many stories later, he posed for this snap.

Triangle by I. M. Pei outside the ... well, you probably know where.

One of my favorite subjects - men playing Boule.
This time in the Jardin du Luxembourg.
Love locks! On the Pont des Arts.
Can you see the lovers' initials signifying undying love?

Mostly Nude in Paris

2010-12-25T14:20:00.002-08:00

We were in Paris for a lovely week and I decided to visit some friends.
I remained clothed at all times.

A casual stroll through the park.

A brother is added to the mix

2010-12-04T14:40:00.001-08:00

"All who would win joy, must share it; happiness was born a twin." Lord Byron

Two sisters and now a brother with teeny tiny feet.
That also = happiness.

Surfer love

2010-10-17T14:25:00.000-07:00

Can you see the heart in this photo?

There was fishing involved

2010-09-10T22:13:00.000-07:00

Casting ...
...and catching...
...and, best of all, watching fish guts be cast to the gulls.

Norway in June

2010-09-10T19:29:00.001-07:00

Two glorious weeks at the family summer house on the west coast of Norway.

Four Mikkelmen and a Kline, fishing every single day. Fresh fish for dinner every single night!

Someone's sitting down on the job ~ a hike over the old post route.

Visitors to the village on Midsummer Night's Eve.

Art Show - Rainey Gallery

2010-04-25T18:44:00.000-07:00

I will be showing my photographs at Rainey Art Gallery in Newport Beach during May. I hope you all can come to the opening reception on May 1st from 6 - 9 p.m.!

Tulips in winter

2010-02-27T17:53:00.000-08:00

The tulips are too excitable, it is winter here.
Look how white everything is, how quiet, how snowed-in
I am learning peacefulness, lying by myself quietly
As the light lies on these white walls, this bed, these hands.
"Tulips" by Sylvia Plath

Sydney Nycole

2010-01-22T19:50:00.000-08:00

Recently I was lucky enough to be able to photograph this beautiful and talented singer. She's a Berkeley girl, writes all her own songs and is all the things these photos show ~ thoughtful, playful, confident. She sings her tunes lustily and angelically at the same time. I'm a fan.

France in color

2010-01-12T20:11:00.001-08:00

Just a few dreamy scenes from our drive through southwest France......

Saint-Cirq Lapopie ~ a United Heritage site. Possibly the most perfect example of a "charming village somewhere in France" that I have ever set foot in.

I can't tell you where this is but I do know it's called Chapelle Saint Roch (see my excellent memory below). We were meandering through a small town when all of a sudden this precious chapel appeared in front of us. I shouted to STOP THE CAR and hopped out in the rain to snap this shot.

The grounds of one of our stops along the way - Chateau de La Treyne.

Île de Ré, France

2010-01-07T21:35:00.000-08:00

View from the lighthouse to the sea.

It was late October and we were driving through the Lot Valley in southwestern France. It was beautiful, of course. Lush and fragrant with fall. We had no particular plans, other than to end up in Cognac to visit a barrel making acquaintance. I studied the map (ok ~ the GPS on my phone) to see what lay ahead in that general direction. But something tickled at the back of my mind, percolating until it finally bubbled up to the top and I remembered ~ Île de Ré!! Just off the coast of Bordeaux, a tiny island of oyster farms, vineyards, a lovely harbor and this twinkling lighthouse. We spent the day there and now I dream of going back to stay for several soothing days of bike-riding and beach-walking. And ~ see above ~ café afternoons.

A happy day at Playa del Rey

2010-01-02T21:54:00.000-08:00

It's got to be a good day in December when you can watch your Uncle Svein play tag football on the beach.
In your bathing suit!
And after a bike ride and before a romp in the pool.
Sigh ......

Christmas shopping

2009-12-12T17:59:00.000-08:00

I shot the pot but cannot take credit for the witty blurb. (This is a poster to hang in the window at Bram on Sonoma Square. )

Bram Cookware

2009-11-15T16:02:00.000-08:00

Recently I had an opportunity to shoot photos for a brand new store in Sonoma called Bram ~ selling Egyptian cookware and more. It's on Sonoma Square in an ideal location. The owners are Ash (an Egyptian who plays soccer with Trygve) and his talented wife Shelly. You can see my photos on each of the main pages of their website, http://www.bramcookware.com/. And here are a few of them for your viewing pleasure! (But, honestly, you will love this shop ~ and be sure to check out the outdoor space ~ when we had dinner there with them, after the first photo shoot, I was suddenly in Europe.)

Big Surf

2009-09-13T17:44:00.001-07:00

We are in Newport Beach right smack in the middle of a Big Surf day. Here at the Wedge a thousand people have gathered to gape at the awesome surfers. If I could, I would include audio of the waves crashing and the crowd gasping.

Svein builds up a mound of sand to get above the masses and snap this perfectly-timed shot.

The lifeguards have to give up trying to get on-lookers to stay back on top of the cliff and away from the water's edge.

How huge are these waves?! Reports were 20 -25 feet.

Further up the beach, the Balboa Pier is pounded.

Girls ....standing on the edge of the world.

The Wedge

2009-08-19T11:23:00.000-07:00

Newport Beach Peninsula. Five miles of white sand beach come to an end here and this tree is the exclamation point.

La Bella Beatrice

2009-06-27T14:21:00.000-07:00

Sisters! One two years along and one four days.

A morsel of chocolate after 20 minutes of photos ~ the beginning of a lifetime of treats.

Basking in the glow of a job well done.

Fringed with joy

2009-05-31T18:47:00.000-07:00

Coming ...
...and going ...

... and waiting for June.

Lunch in Paris December 2008

2009-05-10T16:57:00.000-07:00

We're in Le Comptoir for lunch. To snag a dinner reservation, we would have had to call months in advance. But (here's a secret) if you wander in around 4 in the afternoon, you can walk right in, sit right down, and have yourself the meal of a lifetime. You see here the menu, written on a mirror, and also Trygve and me in a few years if we move to Paris and indulge in 2 hour lunches of dishes that have never been prepared in such a way ever. Really. Unbelievably good. I could barely stay conscious.

If you double click on the bottom photo, you will see what could have been the woman some decades earlier, seated beside her.

Farm day

2009-04-26T14:00:00.000-07:00

Last December Trygve and I were in France for work. Happily, we were able to scoot up to Bergen, Norway for a visit to family. Spent an afternoon tramping around the ice cold ground on this Fusa farm, newly bought and in process of renovation board by board and nail by nail by Torkjell, Trygve's brother. Perched above this west coast fjord, it has been home to hundreds of hearty norsk generations. And now one more.

These two shots are in the basement. You see a sturdy door, protecting those inside from the often frightful winter outside. And below, an ancient cauldron, ready to swing over the kitchen fire behind where Torkjell is standing.

Piles of nails and tin cans left to rust ~ somebody's long-ago unfinished project.

Welcome

2009-04-04T13:30:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog! I hope that you will check in every now and then to see images from here and there.