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...

An Analog Leica M6 Photographer Tries a Digital Leica M9

by Johnny Martyr I'm pretty committed to film photography. Not because I think film photography is superior to digital photography - on a technical level, it's just not. And on an artistic level, there is no such thing as "superior," there's only how things feel and how they make you think. I am not committed...

Gilligan’s Return: Leitz 90mm Tele-Elmarit-M Thin Review Part II

by Johnny Martyr Since Molly Kate kindly featured it on 35mmc, my Leitz 90mm Tele-Elmarit Thin Review has been getting alot of traffic. The review concluded with my decision to throw Gilligan overboard and invite The Skipper to join me on the top deck. Quick recap: I was lead to believe that all Thin Canadian...

Q&A: Is it Hard to Find Clients for a Documentary B&W Film Photographer?

by Johnny Martyr Comedian Nikki Glaser and musician Anya Marina recently posted photos that I took of them in Baltimore. I got a slew of new follows and DM's about my work. One of them was a good question that I get from time to time. There were a few from other photographers whose question...

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...

B&W 35mm Street Photography in Europe with the Voigtländer 15mm Heliar

by Johnny Martyr I've used a Voigtländer 15mm 4.5 Heliar Version II on my Leica M mount cameras for about eight years. In fact, I blogged about the basics of rectilinear wide angle lenses and the particulars of the Voigt 15 in 2019. But after some failed creative shoots, I relegated the 15mm to a...

Digital Analog

I'm often asked, if you shoot on film, how do I get my images? I explain that I scan the negatives and edit the files digitally. Next the photos are uploaded to my website where they can be viewed and downloaded as if they had been shot with a digital camera. "Isn't that cheating?" Well...

Exploring Used Camera Shops in Paris

by Johnny Martyr My wife and kids were kind enough to indulge my photographic interests obsessions by exploring some cool camera shops during our recent stay in Paris, France. Here in Maryland, United States, camera shops are an endangered species. And the few that remain are very different than what we discovered in Paris. In...

There’s More To Shooting 3200 Speed Film

by Johnny Martyr Shooting 3200 ISO film may seem like little more than putting a faster film in your camera and setting the ISO dial accordingly. But it's not that simple. There are a lot of differences in how film handles in very low light, and indeed, how to handle film that has been shot...

Drawing Attention to Street Photography

Photo work is slow in the winter - it's a time for me to explore my personal photography and email clients about shoots during warmer, upcoming months. With my free time, I've been trying to make a habit of practicing street photography on mornings in downtown Frederick, Maryland. On previous shoots, I used my 1930...