On Sep. 2, 2024 I showed up to Downtown Franklin with my brand new DJI RS4 Pro gimbal so I could grab some amazing, smooth, professional footage. Coupled with the Canon C70, I was able to get some great shots that would be used for the trailers and B-roll in the documentary. However, that was not my goal.
I was still undercover and I wanted to get some B-roll of Seth. Since I only had shaky walk and talk and few little candid clips from that day and I knew this was my best opportunity to capture action shots and not tip him off or give him stalker vibes, hopefully.
I knew he was running the 5K and I knew he would be slowish to finish. I was doing various shots around the finish line, got some of people running and people cheering, typical race day stuff. At the last minute, I realized he would be running in front of the Franklin Theatre.
I scurried to the spot where the race photographer was, pretty confident I had not passed the man with the dark red racing tank and East to West smile. Lo and behold, I made it with seconds to spare to grab this iconic shot of Seth and Ken Youngstead.
It was a perfect foreshadowing of my completed vision. I then took a bold move and followed them two blocks to the finish. I was further reminded how out of shape I was, but it was perfect and I didn’t lose my cover. I was a bit nervous seeing the cameras at the finish line and was hoping none of that caught me, especially since I saw one of the cameras/phones was Seth’s son.
At the finish line I was able to convince and recruit Ken and Suzanne London to do separate, full-format interviews at a later date. But, my next interview was going to be the most important of them all: Seth’s wife and son.
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