A serious looking well used and battered camera used to gather a lot of respect and open some doors, I think.

October of 1994 a family circus from Oklahoma came to town here, complete with acrobats, animals, and canvas big top.
They borrowed a piece of ground next to our local high school to do their magic.
I showed up early while they were settling in, carrying a black bodied Pentax Spotmatic SP II that showed a lot of brassing and sporting a 50mm lens, as they were beginning to put it all together,
The circus road manager, the big boss, eyed the camera, and asked me, "Are you with 'The Paper'? Well, come on in!"
I tried to set him straight but I was whisked in anyway, to witness the crew driving the big stakes and then guiding the elephant as they hauled on chains and ropes to erect the big poles that held up the roof.
I don't know I would have witnessed the spectacle close up without that old camera hanging from my neck.
Surprisingly they also allowed a group of very small school children in under the canvas as the top was erected, up close and personal with the elephant.

These were captured hand held, available light, manual focus.
This was some 24 years ago, so I would guess the film was either ASA 100 or 200.
Original paper prints were scanned to digital with an old HP3700 series flatbed scanner.

Please click on thumbnails to see enlarged.
All images are ©1994 and ©2018 E.J.Kowalski.
Thanks! Ed