Phototrophic biofilm communities in most environments experience major changes in light levels throughout a diel cycle. We examined photo motility in two related cyanobacterial isolates (Synechococcus sp.) from thermal springs in Yellowstone National Park. Both isolates exhibited phototaxis and photokinesis but with differences in speed and motility bias and responses to specific wavelengths. The repertoire of photoreceptors and signal transduction elements in both isolates were examined.In conjunction with in situ observations, we suggest that phototactic strategies may be versatile and tuned to the light and local environment. In this context, we have attempted to model the collective behavior of cyanobacteria in unicellular cyanobacteria to predict phototaxis under different conditions. We also developed a binary consortium using Synechococcus OS-B’ (Syn OS-B) and the filamentous anoxygenic phototroph Chloroflexus MS-CIW-1 (Chfl MS-1).Chfl MS-1 formed bundles of filaments that moved in all directions with no directional bias to light while Syn OS- B’ exhibited positive phototaxis. This binary consortium displayed cooperative behavior: moving further than either species alone and formed ordered arrays where both species aligned with the light source. The binary consortium produced more adherent biofilm than individual species, consistent with the close interspecies association revealed by electron microscopy. Using new techniques of microscopy, microfluidics, mutants, metabolomics and transcriptomics coupled with our current analyses may give us a more predictive understanding of spatial organization and how phototrophic communities build stratified biofilms