Skydiving
Behind the scenes of the Red Bull Air Force Marfa Lights photoshoot
Mysterious illuminations in the town of Marfa, Texas, attract curious visitors from around the world. But one photographer used the location to capture a different kind of flying object.
Like many a wild adventure, it all started with a crazy idea – in this case, executed by American photographer Dustin Snipes. “The crazier the idea, the better,” Snipes says. “Because that means it probably hasn’t been done before.”
In the high desert of west Texas, USA, the veil of the Milky Way drapes across a night sky bursting with stars. Near the small town of Marfa, high elevation and a lack of light pollution provide the perfect spot to view such astronomical wonders – and to examine the mysteries of the area. For more than a century, locals have reported strange, pulsing orbs of various hues, commonly known as the Marfa Lights. Whether they’re UFOs or simply atmospheric reflections of headlights or small fires, the fun lies in the speculation.
Which is why Snipes leapt at the opportunity to capture the Red Bull Air Force against this celestial landscape. What if these world-class skydivers embodied this phenomenon and became the Marfa Lights?
There were so many unknowns with this shoot. But you do it because it’s hard to do
The LA-based photographer spent months planning out the concept, weighing up hundreds of variables with a team of experts. “More than any shoot I’ve done, there were so many unknowns,” he says. After scrutinising iconic local attractions as potential backdrops, Snipes and the Red Bull Air Force settled on the historic Cibolo Creek Ranch, which spans more than 120sq-km and allows plenty of scope for long-distance shots. Snipes also consulted the International Dark-Sky Association to decipher the best time to capture the Milky Way as it moved across the sky.
But, even after calculating the perfect night-time position, Snipes still had to figure out how to photograph illuminated bodies falling from a height of more than 3,000m with only a few minutes on the clock. The set-up used a total of nine cameras, including six Canon EOS-1D X Mark III DSLRs that Snipes mounted to a custom-built base, allowing him to shoot a 180° view.
7 min
Marfa Lights Jump
See elite skydivers combine with the Marfa Lights to create a spectacular result.
The final result is otherworldly, but the behind-the-scenes shots on these pages show the monumental effort required of Snipes and the Red Bull Air Force to pull off the feat.
“Whenever I do shoots like these,” Snipes says, “I always think of that JFK quote about going to the Moon; that we didn’t do it because it was easy, but because it was hard. You don’t want to just sit there and do a cakewalk all day.”
Scouting ahead
Snipes and his team scouted locations months ahead of the jump
© Red Bull Air Force
Snipes (pictured left, with his team) first travelled to Marfa last September to scout potential locations for his shoot with the Red Bull Air Force. “It took months of planning,” he says. “There were a lot of moving parts.”
Shining bright
The Red Bull Air Force team wrapped in LED lights
© Red Bull Air Force
To make themselves visible in a Moonless sky, the Red Bull Air Force wrapped themselves in LED lights; they also added pyrotechnics to help show the speed and energy of the team during free fall. This effect makes the skydivers appear like human comets.
Waiting for go
© Red Bull Air Force
Seeing red
Snipes readies his equipment before the jumps
© Dan Wix
Shortly after sunset on November 15, 2020, Snipes prepares his gear for the first of three evening jumps. Red lights are an essential tool for night photography because they prevent the shooter’s eyes from readjusting.
Burning man
The pyrotechnics gave a comet-like effect
© Red Bull Air Force
To achieve a comet-like effect, Snipes needed the skydivers to shoot pyrotechnics for as long as possible. No one on the team baulked at the request. The trickier part? Locating the landing area in the pitch blackness. The headlights of two pick-up trucks were all that marked the spot.
A skydiver's experimented with both pyrotechnics and LED lights
© Red Bull Air Force
Snipes asked the skydivers to experiment during the three jumps, using just the LED lights in some shots and pyrotechnics in others. “The LED just looked like squiggly lines,” he says. “But the pyro added so much randomness and gave it more of a mysterious look.”
The pyrotechnics light up the sky over Marfa
© Dustin Snipes
Touch down
The skydivers land safely
© Red Bull Air Force
Guided by the two tiny lights, they land safely. “Everything else was surrounded by hills… then pure darkness,” says captain Jon Devore. “It would have ended quite bad if we hadn’t made our landing area.”
Made to order
The customised camera mount for six Canon EOS-1D X Mark III DSLR cameras
© Red Bull Air Force
The light fantastic
The result: an abstract light painting with an endless night sky
© Dustin Snipes
This image is actually 48 photos stitched together. Six cameras each took eight long-exposure shots of the Red Bull Air Force as they jumped from the airplane, went into formation, and finally disappeared behind the mountains. “The result is an abstract light painting with an endless night sky,” says photographer Dustin Snipes.
