Backstage with Nikki Glaser

by Johnny Martyr Peeking behind, much less going behind stage curtains can sometimes disillusion fans of their favorite celebrities. But when I hung out with comedian Nikki Glaser, I saw that who she is backstage is as compelling as who she is onstage. What follows is an account of Nikki's performance in Baltimore, MD on...

The Kodak Ektar H35N Has Another Important Hidden Feature

by Johnny Martyr Based on my enthusiasm for their previous model, makers of the new Kodak Ektar H35N, RETO, kindly sent me a production model to try. A few weeks ago, I tested the upgraded half frame 35mm camera, wrote a review and published my thoughts and results on Petapixel. Alot of folks DM'd me...

Advice for Shooting Concerts on 35mm Film with The Dumes

by Johnny Martyr Recently, I photographed LA indie band The Dumes, at Union Stage in Washington DC. They opened for Louise Post of Veruca Salt. You can read about my experience with that over at 35mmc. But the Dumes blew the roof off too! Frontgirl Elodie Tomlinson's unique vocals and fun stage presence fueled the...

Photographs from Capital Pride 2023

by Johnny Martyr I'm Johnny Martyr. My pronouns are he/him/his. Along with some other LGTBQIA2S+ allies, we had a fantastic time photographing the 2023 Capital Pride Parade in Washington D.C. last week. Just like Pride is a celebration of diversity, Stephanie and Ben are bringing some digital color to my normally all b&w film blog....

Manual Focusing in the Dark: SLR vs RF

by Johnny Martyr I got a great compliment from Andy at analogue_dreams (his blog can be found here) recently on the image above. He said: "I am always impressed by how you achieve focus of fleeting moments with a manual focus RF in low light!" It was very kind of him to post this, and...

Landmark Baltimore Camera Repair Shop Closes After 29 Years

In November of 2021, with work picking up again from the COVID lockdowns, I decided to pay a visit to my local camera repair shop and get a few things things back in order. I took my Nikon 35mm 1.4 AIS and 105mm 1.8 AIS in for service and was inspired to write an article...

Leitz 5cm f3.5 Elmar: The Meaning of Gestalt

I'll admit it. As I shuffled around the streets of downtown Frederick, Maryland anticipating the paths of passersby and lifting my little black Leica to my eye, I imagined that this is what it was like for Henry Cartier Bresson before this equipment was legendary, new methods were standard practices and the genre was a...

Happy Birthday, Kodak Tri-X

Kodak Tri-X, as a concept, has been around since the 1940's when it was a 200 ISO b&w sheet film. Because it was their first fast film, when Kodak released the 400 ISO roll film version, the Tri-X name was maintained. Just like Kodak TMAX P3200 revolutionized low light photography in 1989, Tri-X was an...

Film Photographers, UNITE!

I'm not usually one for human interaction. Part of the reason I got into photography was so that I would have something to hide behind at social gatherings. So it's not often that I meet up with other photographers. But this past Friday night, that's exactly what I found myself doing when fellow photobloggers Mark...

What is a Snapshot?

It's what we call a photograph that appears to be made with little consideration for the tenants of imaging and principles of design. Voigtländer has a lens named after it. It's usually proceeded by the word "quick." What is really meant when we call something a "snapshot?" I started thinking about this because, when I...