Do You Want To Be A Photographer Or A Repair Tech?

by Johnny Martyr "I just found this awesome Konica Autoreflex at my local thrift store for just $25! It works perfectly and just needs to be cleaned. But I noticed that sometimes when I wind the advance lever, the shutter opens. Is this normal?" "I just bought this awesome Olympus XA rangefinder from eBay for...

Six (6) Tips on Fixing Film

by Johnny Martyr I was developing some personal photos today and it occurred to me that the fixing step seems to be a point of many questions and issues. So I thought it might be useful to dedicate an entry about fixing specifically. Some of this will bleed over into color but I'm a b&w...

I Don’t Shoot Expired Film, Maybe You Shouldn’t Either

by Johnny Martyr Look, I don't want to curtail anyone's creativity, but I think it's worth rethinking how readily many photographers shoot expired film. For me, shooting paid work, I never ever take client photos on expired film. And I really don't use it for personal work either because to me, it's just not worth...

Q&A: I’m Afraid to Shoot 3200 ISO Film Because It Doesn’t Cold Store Well So I Push 400 to 3200 Instead

by Johnny Martyr I recently got a question in response to posting some Kodak TMAX P3200 photos. The gist of it was that a photographer is learning how to achieve higher ISOs by pushing 400 speed films (which he referred to as "traditional films") instead of using 3200 speed films (as if these are not "traditional")...

Q&A: How Do I Shoot Landscapes With a Barnack Leica and a 135mm Lens?

by Johnny Martyr Yesterday in the Leica III Users group on Facebook, someone asked:"I just got my camera back and am wanting to put my 135mm Elmar to use. Does anybody know of a good video or guide on how to use the lens? Am I just overthinking it? The Summitar 50mm is pretty intuitive,...

Taking Down a Scraper Site for 35mmc and How You Can Fight Image Theft

by Johnny Martyr After many years of readership, I finally made my inaugural post on the internet's largest film photography blog site, 35mmc. While in communication with owner Hamish Gill, he lamented about having found a what is known as a scraper site that was carbon-copying nearly 100% of the content from 35mmmc. All author...

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...

How To Pay As Little As Possible for Fresh Film

by Johnny Martyr I know that everyone is frustrated by the continued price increases of fresh film - count me among them! Many people write me with the predicate that film cost probably doesn't matter much to me since I shoot paid work with it. But this is far from the truth. In many ways,...

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...

Larry, Moe & Curly: The Secret to Flat Negatives

By Johnny Martyr If you process your own film and don't live in the tropics, you've probably run into an annoying problem that I see discussed in forums ad nauseam - curly and cupped film negatives. Let me set the scene: you've just taken some great photos, you've processed the film successfully and when you...