Underwater Lighting

Here is how this works in practice. We give underwater lighting systems and the dive-qualified gaffers and technicians to deploy them, lighting subsurface scenes for film, documentary and commercial shoots. Underwater lighting is its own discipline: water absorbs and shifts colour with depth, so our crews place sealed, high-output fixtures to restore colour, shape contrast and reveal the structure of a subsurface scene.

Here is the short of it. In Iceland's famously clear glacial water, such as the Silfra fissure, lighting is used to boost an already extraordinary visibility, while in darker glacial lagoons it does the heavier work of carving a scene out of the depths. The defining factor is the cold: water close to freezing limits dive cycles, so our lighting crews work efficiently, plan rig placement before the dive, and run topside warming for recovery between dives. We set up underwater lighting with the camera and safety dive teams as a single unit. We staff from the skilled Reykjavík crew base and bring in extra underwater lighting systems and pros from the UK and mainland Europe under ATA carnet for larger shoots.

Here is the breakdown. Iceland's underwater environments give lighting work a distinctive character. The Silfra fissure in Þingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is a flooded rift between the North American and Eurasian plates filled with glacial meltwater of top clarity — a setting where lighting accentuates structure and depth rather than fighting murk. Glacial lagoons such as Jökulsárlón and the cold North Atlantic present darker, more demanding subjects. Water temperatures close to freezing year-round are the central operational factor, dictating dive and lighting cycles.

Here is what that looks like on the ground. The country runs on close to 100 per cent renewable electricity. Surface power for lighting support is clean where infrastructure reaches. Diving and filming at Þingvellir and other covered sites is set up with the Environment Agency of the country, with low-impact practice key in a fragile environment. Eligible crew and gear spend can count toward the country's production reimbursement of 25 per cent, rising to 35 per cent for qualifying projects, administered by Film in the country.