Written by Brandon Day
Photos by Eddie Park and Shannon Smith
Every shoot has a rhythm. For this one, it started at 3:30 AM.
We were heading to Pikes Peak International Raceway for the kickoff of the 2025 Rocky Mountain Mustang Roundup. Our crew—two photographers and two videographers—was split between the autocross event and the scenic mountain tour. I was handling video, and the plan was clear: rig the truck with the Tilta Hydra Arm and Ronin 4D, get what we needed from the first autocross heat, then chase down Mustangs through the mountains.
I’d spent the night before prepping gear, making sure every tool was packed—especially the specific Allen wrenches and hex heads needed for the Cinemilled hitch. I wasn’t about to repeat my mistake from the Rolls Royce shoot where I had to harness up and ride in the back of a car for two hours because we couldn’t properly mount the arm. Lesson learned.
We arrived at PPIR before sunrise. Registration was already buzzing, and the autocross lot was starting to fill with Mustangs of every era—classic Fastbacks, modern GT500s, and a few eye-catching resto-mods. With everything mounted and stabilized, I powered on the Ronin 4D with the DJI 17–28mm PZ lens. We also had the Mavic 3 Pro Cine in the air, capturing establishing shots of the grandstands and sweeping orbits around the autocross grid.
From a safety standpoint, we flew the drone in areas where a loss of traction might send a car spinning—places too risky for a ground-based shooter. For camera settings, we stuck to 4K60p and locked in an f/5.6 aperture—giving us a wide enough focal plane to keep the whole car crisp without sacrificing motion depth. We also had a CPL on the front, but didn’t need external ND since the Ronin 4D has internal ND built in.
Scott and Shannon peeled off after the first heat to follow the mountain tour, while Eddie and I stuck around to catch the opening laps of Heat 2. What we didn’t anticipate was the 90-minute lull between runs. After waiting it out for a while, we bailed—racing off to chase the Mustangs and regroup with the others down in Canon City.
The autocross offered more than just speed—it was a visual buffet. Scott ran tighter lenses to catch details like tires deforming under cornering force, cones flying, and suspension travel. I kept it wide to track full-body movement through turns. We saw builds that ranged from high-performance factory Mustangs to a 60s-era car fully retrofitted with cantilevered coilovers and independent rear suspension. There were even a couple of Factory Five kits—a Cobra and a Type 65—that brought back memories of projects my dad and I used to talk about.
Autocross is always a great test of your gear, your timing, and your ability to tell a story in motion. And this one set the tone for an unforgettable weekend.
Up next in Part 2: the highs, missteps, and golden hour payoffs of chasing Mustangs through the mountains.
