Eleven:Fourteen

Mural, Superior, AZ, 2009, 11x14" silver gelatin contact print, Richard M. Coda

My first 11x14" contact print! The detail in this image is incredible and clearly cannot be appreciated in this web scan.

I really like working with this format. It's a little cumbersome when exposing the negative, but everything after that is standard operating procedure. I process the negatives one at a time (for now) in a Jobo 3062 drum with no insert, using one liter of chemistry per sheet. The negatives themselves are something to behold. I remember when Randy Efros showed us one of Brett Weston's 11x14 negatives... all I could think of was making my own. Last week I printed my next two 11x14" images. Once I dry-mount them I will photograph them and post them here.

I plan on selling my 11x14" contact prints as limited editions of 14 with 3 artist's proofs. Pricing will start at $400 ($200 below my regular price for 11x14" enlargements) for the first four prints. Prints 5-10 will be $500 and the last five prints will be $750. Buying early in the edition is encouraged.

These images may also end up in portfolios of 11x14" contact prints at a later date, but they will be denoted as such.

Another Superior photograph...

... from my friend Tiffany Pacileo!

Taken on our recent trip to Miami, Tiffany was at the ready when I broke out my 11x14" camera for the first time. Thanks Tiffany!

Visit her websites at Paint My Vacation and City Sites Photo Art.

Superior photographs... well, at least I think so!

Just some miscellaneous photos from two recent trips to Superior.

Below is a black & white from my 8x10" camera on one of our class field trips. I was drawn by the strong horizontal lines, as well as the "dino" and the "ICE" painted on the boarded up window. (We actually had to remove a realtor sign to make this, but we put it back after we were done... ssshhh... don't tell anyone, especially the realtor!).

Below are the color images I have wanted to make for a long time, after seeing my friend Juan Garcia's beautiful black & whites from this magnificent, but decaying historical mural. I made these on a trip to Superior with my friend, the famous Larry Golsh.

The first is a wide shot but does not include the entire wall. The other half of the wall didn't speak to me as much as this half.

Below is another image, a detail from the mural. The piercing eyes are what made this photograph for me.

Thanks, again, to Rod Klukas' color zone system, and an overcast day!

11x14 - Super, man... in Superior

We had a class field trip this past weekend. Started out in Superior for breakfast at the Buckboard Cafe... That's Picasso, I mean Eddie Patelson having his usual pie with ice cream dessert AFTER breakfast! What a guy!

After breakfast we went to Miami... not THAT Miami... Miami, AZ. An old mining town that has definitely seen better days. There are lots of interesting old things to photograph. As soon as I develop my film and scan I will post some images.

After lunch we photographed some more and then headed back home. Along the way we stopped back in Superior to photograph the "wall" with the 11x14.

Taking the big boy out for the first time, with Rod Klukas (left) and Joe Trevino (right).

After setting up the image on the groundglass, inserting the film holder for the first time.

Making sure everything is tight. Click. Done. Now I just have to develop the 154 sq. in. piece of film!

Thanks to my good friend, the famous Larry Golsh for the photographs of this historic occasion.

A Superior Field Trip...

Our Large Format class with Rod Klukas had a field trip yesterday to Superior, AZ. We started out with a fine breakfast at the Buckboard Cafe then proceeded to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum. It started out as a beautiful day though towards lunchtime the light started varying wildly with fast moving clouds. Makes it kind of hard to accurately meter because it keeps changing. In any event I got some nice images and a few snaps of some classmates.

The famous Larry Golsh trying to figure out who left this camera in front of his truck.

Tiffany Pacileo teaching Eddie Patelson a few things about photography, while the famous Larry Golsh still tries to figure out whose camera is blocking his truck.

After lunch we went into the town of Superior. This place is a goldmine for photography. Many old buildings, murals, and other beautiful detritus. Got a few good images before the weather deteriorated. We went through monsoon-like storms on the way back, including hail and some incredible lightning in the Superstition Mountains.

Juan Garcia with one of his previous subjects... a mining mural painted on the side of a building in Superior, AZ. I am proud to own one of Juan's prints (below) from this series.

As I respect my friend, Juan, I did not photograph the mural... in black and white. But I did make a transparency. Hopefully it will turn out. I will post images in a near future blog entry.