Secret of Split Photography
Split is a photography technique that allows combining underwater view and above-water view in one shot.
Although this technique is one of the most difficult, it is also a favorite one of most underwater photographers. Split photography requires certain weather and water conditions, special equipment and certain photographic skills.
While equipment and photographer’s craftsmanship do define the quality of a split to a certain extend, water condition is still the most important fact. One can get good results only if the water is transparent enough and lighting is natural.
EQUIPMENT: There is not much choice of equimpment for split photography. A quality split is possible only if you use a DSLR camera, a wide-angle lens and a spherical port.
1. CAMERA CHOICE
- Choose a DSLR camera.
- Do not use a point-and-shoot camera, as most of them do not have real wide-angle lenses which could allow to include two environments in one shot. But if you compact camera has an adjustable wide-angle les, you can try them. It may give satisfactory results.
- Do not use Nikon cameras either, because they are made for underwater photography only. Nikon wide-angle lenses for underwater photography can not focus above the water.
2. fish-eye lens
- A fish-eye lens is a good choice, as it gives a very large depth of field! If you shoot at f8 or less, both an underwater and an above-water views are in focus. My advice is to focus on the underwater part of a shot, as usually it is more important in composition, while the above-water view can stay a little blurred.
- With a fish-eye lens, you can compose your shot both horizontally and vertically. This lens has a 180 degree angle of view. You can divide the shot in any place. If you are concerned about the rule of thirds, you’d better include two thirds of an underwater scape, as a ‘fiish eye’ is less sensitive to an outside view.
- Remember that a fish-eye lens gives some amount of distortion, that is why objects situated too close to a lens may seem unnatural in a photo. But as this distortion is well noticeable only in compositions with vertical or horizontal lines, in underwater photography we needn’t worry about this particularity.
3. spherical Port
- It is recommended using bigger spherical ports for a split, as they less depend on the condition of the water surface.
-It is advisable to choose a spherical port made of mineral glass. In addition to high optical purity, a mineral-glass port minimizes the risk of appearing undesirable water drops in your shot, as water goes away a good deal faster from mineral glass than from plexiglass.
Last but not least: If you want a good split, try to find an interesting underwater object which is situated close to the surface and combine it with an unusual scape above. Remember that split is not the easiest photography technique. It requires experience and good equipments, but the results are well worth all pains!
Good Luck!
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