I used to be a lion & tiger trainer (about 38 yrs ago), and I wanted to take some shots myself from inside the arena. . . so I bought a very used Nikon F from a newspaper reporter while doing a show in Chicago. He worked for the Chicago Sun Times and wanted an exclusive shoot with me and the big cats. Of course I would have given him the shoot anyway, but it was a good opportunity to ask for direction on getting a camera. He sold me one of his backup bodies, a 1970 Nikon F with a bad meter on top, a 50mm Nikkor, and a little handheld light meter dangling from the camera strap-loop, all for $100. He gave me a few basic pointers on how to operate the camera and the little dangling meter, showed me how to load the film, and away I went! That camera served me well for years and years, although I never took the time to learn photography beyond what I figured out for myself with that rig. Here's a random shot from inside the arena at one of the next towns I worked (Flint, Michigan).

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