Photographing Fireworks with a 90 Year Old Leica

*photos and text depict July 2019 There they were, a continuous, almost organized line of middle-aged men in various stages of unfolding tripods, mounting massive DSLR's on them, carefully aiming long lenses at indeterminate points in the darkening late evening sky.  The LCD's lit their faces with a soft glow as they took test shots...

One Photographer’s Experience; The Frederick Maryland March for Justice

It's a little after 10pm on Friday, June 5 2020.  My negatives are hanging in a nearby window to dry and my shoes are still sopping wet too. Today was the Frederick March for Justice, one of innumerable nationwide demonstrations in honor of George Floyd. A storm front began lingering around the area Thursday afternoon...

One Photographer’s Experience; the George Floyd Washington D.C. Protests

Guest blog; all text and photos by Ben Eisendrath, depicting his experience on Sunday May 31st, 2020 When the crowd’s chants and weight against the steel barricades diminished, the wall of police stepped back, careful to remain shield-to-shield. The quieter the protesters, the further away law enforcement fell. But when the chants turned instead to...

Shooting Sports with a 90 Year Old Camera

What kind of sadistic lunatic photographs a sports meet using a 90 year old camera? The sadistic lunatic: Johnny Martyr The event: A youth gymnastics competition in Washington D.C. hosted by Frederick Gymnastics Club The equipment: 1930 Leica Model I which was upgraded in 1935 to a Model III with a rangefinder focusing system; 1935 Leitz...

We Choose to Go to the Moon; David Burnett @ the Leica Store DC

This past Friday, the Leica Store DC hosted a gallery opening for famed photojournalist David Burnett's Apollo XI 50th anniversary photo series, We Choose to Go to the Moon. Though the astronauts made it to the Moon in 1969, my wife and I barely made it to DC!  We were about 40 minutes late but...

Downtown Frederick Art Icons Get Hitched!

This spring, I had the pleasure of photographing one of the most fun and inspiring, weddings I've photographed.  Downtown Frederick, Maryland art icons Kayleigh Montgomery and Chris Morris were engaged to be married, and of all the amazing analog shooters in the area, I was fortunate enough to be tapped to cover their festive occasion....

Wedding Receptions on Film; No Flash, No Automation

Say what you will about wedding photography but few other gigs will allow you to party with beautiful people without having to even know a single dance move. My wife and I are freelance wedding photographers.  She shoots digital and I shoot on b&w 35mm film.  I use vintage, all manual cameras and lenses and...

Johnny Martyr. Walls.

Humpty Dumpty fell off one. Pink Floyd said we're all just bricks in one. And so for a time, I have been rather obsessed with, yes, WALLS. Specifically, really old ones with a lot of character and a story to tell. There's a bit of insanity in staring at walls.  We associate trying to convince...

The Wedding of Lisa & Jason

I first met Lisa when my wife and I were photographing the Maryland Craft Beer Festival in Frederick, MD in 2013.  Steph also did their family portraits that year.  Then in 2016, we photographed her brother's wedding and learned how talented a make-up artist Lisa is.  So it was my absolute pleasure to photograph Lisa's...

A Bride’s Guide to Gorgeous Wedding Photos

Hey brides! I'm Johnny Martyr and I've been photographing weddings since 2001 when I interned with one of the highest rated wedding photographers in Baltimore.  Almost two decades later, I am still passionate about weddings and now I have the added pleasure of photographing them with my wife, Stephanie Lee.  Our work has been published...