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Dive Photo Guide

Cross-Lighting: Making Your Subject a Star

Using dual snooted flashes, it was possible to pull out all sorts of details, textures and contours on this balloonfish’s face that just wouldn't be noticeable with flat lighting. By aiming the flashes directly across the face of the fish, a much more interesting portrait is achievable (OM System OM-1, Olympus M.Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 Macro lens, AOI housing, dual Backscatter Mini Flash 2 strobes with Backscatter Optical Snoots, f/11, 1/250s, ISO 80)
 

By Matthew Sullivan

Perhaps the lighting technique I get asked about most frequently is “cross-lighting.” A simple way to explain this lighting technique is that you point your strobes “across” your subject, aimed at each other, with your subject in-between the flash heads. Cross-lighting is perhaps the best way to bring out textures and contrast on a subject. By helping eliminate distracting surroundings or cluttered backgrounds, cross-lighting really lets your subject be the star of the image. Cross-lighting is not a difficult technique to learn, and once you’ve figured it out, it can really elevate your photography and add a new style to your repertoire.
 

Sponges are fantastic subjects on which to practice any number of photographic techniques, and cross-lighting is no exception. Why? Sponges don’t move! You can’t really stress out a sponge and because they are static, you have all the bottom time you can spare to dedicate to practicing techniques. The shapes and textures on sponges are also a fantastic way to find out just where the light is falling. Filling the frame with the sponges and pulling the strobes back behind the housing handles, but still pointed across at each other made it possible to use the edge of the strobe beam to cut across the sponge and not light up the reef behind (Sony a9, Nikonos RS 13mm Fisheye lens, Seafrogs housing, dual Kraken Sports KR-S160 strobes, f/13, 1/125s, ISO 50)
 

While camera settings are important, it is strobe positioning that is most crucial. The key to successful cross-lit images is to make sure the subject is actually in-between your strobe heads when they’re aimed across at each other. This may require longer strobe arms than normal and extending the strobes far out in front of your port, depending on the lens you are shooting.

It is not a new concept, but I often tell people to get into the water on a given dive with a rig optimized for the type of image you’re after. Trying to shoot everything, in every style, all on one dive can be an exercise in frustration and lead to a lot of mediocre pictures instead of a few good ones.

With that in mind, for cross-lighting, I usually use two 12-inch arms on each side of my housing, remove diffusers, and typically try to add reduction rings or snoots to my strobes to focus the light even more and often make it harsher. Take a look at the images here and then get out there and go make some cross-lit images of your own.
 

This stunning lined seahorse was cross-lit using one strobe with a snoot and another with a reduction ring. The sharp angles and shapes of the seahorse are illuminated in stark relief. While we have a tendency to seek out softer light, cross-lighting benefits from harsh, hard light (Nikon D700, Nikon 60mm f/2.8 Macro lens, Nauticam housing, dual Retra Flash strobes, Retra LSD snoot, f/10, 1/250s, ISO 100)
 

While cross-lighting is most frequently used in macro photography, it can be applied to certain wide-angle situations as well. This goliath grouper allowed me to basically touch my port to its face. After capturing a number of images with more standard lighing, I kicked my strobes way out wide, moved them forward a bit and was able to bring out the contours of the face and some texture in the teeth (Sony a7S Mark III, Nikonos RS 13mm Fisheye lens, Isotta housing, dual Kraken Sports KR-S160 strobes, f/14, 1/250s, ISO 80)
 

Long strobe arms were key to making this image. Batfish are notoriously skittish and I was shooting a longer focal length macro lens. Being able to extend my flashes way out in front of me to cut across the batfish’s face was integral to the picture. By cross-lighting, you can see all the crevasses, whiskers and stipples all over this fantastic fish’s face. Whenever I plan to do dramatic lighting macro images, I always go in the water with the longest strobe arms possible (Panasonic Lumix GH6, Olympus M.Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 Macro lens, Nauticam housing, dual Sea&Sea YS-250 strobes, f/11, 1/320s, ISO 100)
 

Our underwater subjects possess so many great little details. Cross-lighting is arguably the best way to pull out these details—like the hairs all over this bar-eyed hermit crab. To reiterate, putting your subjects between the flash heads will give you the most impactful cross-lighting effect. Very small changes in your light position can make a huge difference as to how your image looks, so be sure to experiment (Sony a9 Mark III, Sony 90mm f/2.8 Macro lens, Nauticam housing, Nauticam EMWL, dual Backscatter HF-1 strobes, f/13, 1/100s, ISO 125)
 

The same way cross-lighting can be effective for horizonal images, it can be for verticals as well. Strobe position doesn’t really change, just the orientation. Flat lighting would not have brought out many of the textures in the sponge and on the red Irish lord. Raking the light across them brings out subtleties that would otherwise be missed. The strobe angle also allowed the subject to really pop and be pulled out and separated from the background (Nikon D500, Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens, Nauticam housing, dual Retra Flash strobes, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 100)
 

Cross-lighting isn’t only for making dramatically lit black-background pictures. It is also a useful technique for separating subjects from busy, distracting, or unattractive backgrounds and surroundings. This spotted scorpionfish was well camouflaged in a bed of weeds. Strobes pointed across the subject at each other and with reduction rings attached, allowed this normally hidden fish to stand out (Panasonic Lumix GH6, Olympus M.Zuiko 8mm Pro f/1.8 Fisheye lens, Nauticam housing, dual Sea&Sea YS-250 strobes, f/10, 1/8s, ISO 100)
 

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