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In the summer of 2016, the Smithsonian Magazine Director of Photography, Jeff Campagna contacted Tampa-based photographer Bob Croslin about shooting a story on zero gravity. Bob had worked with Jeff in the past, shooting topics like brain surgery and chimpanzees, so an airplane induced Zero-G experience seemed like the next logical step!
Bob didn’t know it at the time, but this job would require him to shoot in a weightless environment on two separate flights.
It sounded amazing, but it ended up being incredibly difficult.
Once he accepted the job, Bob began researching how to go about a shoot like this. He quickly learned that this kind of photography was relatively uncharted territory. Wanting more information, Bob called ZeroG, the company running the flights. They put him in touch with their staff photographer, Al Powers. As it turned out, Bob’s original plan to mount a couple of Profoto flash heads in the plane wasn’t feasible because everything needed to be bolted down.
The way zero gravity is achieved is by putting the plane into a steep dive, so essentially everything is falling inside the fuselage and anything unsecured runs the risk of potentially colliding with other passengers.
Bob knew he needed to pare down his gear, so he ended up shooting with a Nikon D810, a Quantum Strobe and 24-120 mm lens. After this first flight, Bob realized he needed a wider angle lens to capture as much of the interior of the plane as possible, so he went with his 14-24 MM.
To say the least, this assignment was unlike any other Bob had experienced. To achieve weightlessness, the pilot flys a specially modified plane in repeated parabolic arcs. The pilot begins by pointing the plane at a 45-degree angle, ascending to 34,000 ft. During this time, everyone aboard experiences almost twice the gravity of Earth, which made it hard for Bob to stand or even hold his camera. Then, once it reaches the peak of its arc, the plane levels off causing weightlessness for about 25 seconds.
This graphic illustrates the parabolic flight path process
This short amount of Zero-G time gave Bob a very small window in which to photograph.
The sensation of weightlessness is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. The slightest micro-movements can send you careening around the plane and into other people. I got kicked a few times and crashed into a few people camera first.
The first flight Bob took was a tourist flight — it allowed him to get his bearings and figure out how to position himself to get the best pictures.
The second flight was just for scientific researchers whom Bob was to photograph as they tried to conduct their experiments.
Most of the researchers were college students and first timers and the initial five or six parabolas were pure chaos. I was now a veteran of the first flight, but everyone around me was struggling to stay oriented and get their work done. Almost immediately, several researchers filled barf bags and had to be escorted to their seats at the back of the plane.
Although those first parabolas were a challenge, as the research flight continued, Bob was able to make some great pictures and was even able to enjoy the weightless experience.
You can see more of Bob’s pictures in the Smithsonian article here.
Check out Bob in action!
See more of Bob at bobcroslin.com!