Fueling my Photography...

I saw an article in the paper a week ago about this fuel tank farm in Phoenix, and a company called Caljet. They have some new tanks under construction and I thought it might make a good location to photograph. I contacted the owner, Dave, and explained what I wanted to do. Graciously, he invited me down this morning. After getting the tour early this morning I was allowed free roam. Dave is a very nice guy.

It's a very interesting place. The directional morning light allowed for some great shadows on the tanks. I can only imagine what evening light would be like. I hope to go again on an afternoon to find out. Got some very cool "industrial" type shots with rust being the dominant color.

Tally for the day: four 8x10 BW, three 4x5 color, and two 4x5 BW. Nine shots in 3 hours... not bad.

I will post photos as soon as they are processed.

Color, Color Everywhere...

For someone who is color blind and never had any success with color, I am absolutely loving it now that I have discovered the "color zone system."

Below are some (quick and dirty) scans of some recent 4x5" work. I welcome your comments. Enjoy!

ULF (Ultra Large Format)!

Ultra Large Format (ULF)...
definition: cameras which use film sizes larger than 8x10".

I have joined the "big boys" club. My custom Arca Swiss/Canham 11x14" back just came in last week. This will allow me to simply switch backs on my Arca 8x10" camera and jump up to the next size. The camera itself is very light, not much more than the 8x10" back itself.





I plan on making 11x14" contact prints from the negatives I make with the camera. No need to enlarge these! I think the 11x14" size is optimum for contact prints.

I can't wait to start using this camera! I will post action shots and print scans once I have some to share.

Photos: Rod Klukas

My first blog...

I had planned on going out this morning to photograph down by McDowell and Grand in Phoenix. There is this abandoned tire shop painted in very bright blue and yellow. I had passed it a week ago visiting a fellow photographer. We had a discussion about trying to find things to photograph. I told him I could find 15 things to photograph 10 blocks from his house. I guess, because it was close to him, and sort of "everyday", he doubted me.

Fast forward to this morning. I got up at 5:15, washed up and was out the door for the hour drive. It was very cool outside, and damp. I actually had the windows open for a while. Got down to my location and it was like being back in Jersey again. HUMID! I started sweating as soon as I opened the car door. Anyway, the cloud cover was perfect for color photography... no shadows and nothing to obscure the brilliant colors found in this section of town. Got three photos with the 4x5 in less than 30 minutes. Drove around the area to see if there was anything else. Maybe another day. Started heading back and saw two other shots I had been eyeing for a while. Never got a chance to take them because there was a car parked in front of them or the sun wasn't right. Today there were no cars, and again, beautiful diffused light. Two more photos with the 8x10 in the next 30 minutes, black & white this time.



I'm am very excited about these series I have been working on the past few months. One is downtown Phoenix... reflections of skyscrapers (if you can call them that - I used to work in the World Trade Center and One New York Plaza) and photos of the fifth largest city in the country, almost deserted early on Sunday mornings. Another series focuses on lines in architecture and another on structures that have seen better days. The latest series is on Phoenix: Color. I was never very good at color, especially since I am color-blind. After learning the color zone system, I am nailing shots on the first sheet. There are so many colorful places in this town.

As I get them all developed and scanned I will be posting my images. I hope that you will enjoy my blog going forward.