Exercising the MAT 24G

Exercising the MAT 24G - Old ghoto gear for an old town

Over the Labor Day holiday weekend we visited the historic town of Mt. Airy, North Carolina. Mt. Airy, home of the "Andy Griffith Show," and only a 40-45 minute drive from Winston Salem, is a tiny and vintage model of what "smalltown America" might really be. Our little group, which consisted of our two houseguests, Shanti, and myself, decided we'd visit this little town in the hopes of finding photographic opportunity. We thought we would find a tourist trap. What we found instead was a goldmine of buildings in terrific historic preservation, many closed doors due to the holiday, and overcast skies. I was packing 2 vintage cameras - the Yachica Electro GSN rangefinder and the Yashica MAT 24G TLR. For this trip, I opted to leave the techno-digital at home and shoot good old fashioned film. Unfortunately, a bad roll of 35mm film yielded no results on the rangefinder.

I would be deceiving you if I based this weblog entry on a review of the town, but because of the holiday, and in fairness to the friendly folks of Mt. Airy, I did not get to experience the town's finest establishments or services. So, this is what it is - another great opportuntity to just roam and photograph some of the charm of an old town with family.


We arrived to Mt. Airy late on Labor Day sometime around 4:50pm. Most of the shops were just closing their doors. A few lingering visitors walked up and down the main strip peering through windows and memorabilia on display. Bobby (featured in my previous blog entry) even managed to sneak into an old fashioned ice cream parlor to get himself a cone just before they served the last scoop. I half recall being upset that we were not going to be able to visit some of the places that made the town famous. Anyone who visits Mt. Airy is typically drawn by the TV Land show and it's famous actors. I wanted to share that with our out of town guests, but it was not meant to be. So, we just walked the streets and took it in the sights.

The Yashica MAT 24G - the camera I used to create these pictures - was loaded with a roll of black/white 100 speed film with only 12 exposures. In a digital age, having only 12 opportunities to make photos can be very frustrating. Through this frustration I continue to learn one important lesson about photography - patience. If there were only 12 of your favorite bottles of wine left in the cellar, chances are you might stretch them over the months of a year instead of one per evening. Perhaps maybe you would even serve only one bottle per year or for special occasions. Imagine the amount of savoring and enjoyment each glass would bring. This is exactly what 12 exposures in a vintage camera does for me. Each shot is carefully composed, studied, and decided upon before that shutter button is depressed. I probably aimed my camera at hundreds of subjects that day, but only 12 got to go home with me.


















Local skaterboarding kids transform this back alley and dock into an impromptu skatepark. If I had a board with me I might have joined them.

Mt. Airy piqued my interest. We had a great time despite the empty feel to the town, but that's too be expected when everyone else is home enjoying their holiday. I look foward to visiting again and so that I can take some full color photos with my digital SLR. I look forward to their famous pork chop sandwich and getting to learn a little more about Don Knotts and "The Andy Griffith Show." Perhaps maybe I'll again leave the techno-box at home and run another 12 shots through the old MAT 24G.