advantage. The same holds true for split shooting but with an important corollary; the above water part of the subject will appear farther away than the UW part of the subject PHOTO PRO continued
have considerably more dynamic range allowing the shooter to often forgo using flash fill. Matrix metering with the high dynamic range allows more even exposure both above and below the surface.
which will appear closer due to the air/water and air/air interface of the dome port. This is something to think about when choosing subjects to shoot with split shots. For example, shooting a reef scene and a palm tree on an island above the water will likely result in the tree being too small to add significance in the image. Conversely shooting an unnaturally large surface object (like the ship propeller and the diver) can make for an interesting split image. Mastering the Techniques of Split Shooting: Today’s camera sensors are vastly
As a starting point, I recommend the fol- lowing camera settings for natural light: ISO 400 (800 if you can without imparting noise), f18 (f22 if you can), spot or small area focus specifically for the UW subject, matrix metering (take advantage of the dy- namic range of the camera if you can), aperture priority and manual focus set for 12-16 inches from the dome port. These setting should result in a good starting point to shoot splits without flash fill. While any dome port with a fisheye lens
improved with regard to sensor sensitivity under low light situations. This means we can employ higher ISOs allowing the smallest apertures for a given scene. I now routinely shoot splits at ISO 800 and f22 with my Nikon D850 in a Subal housing behind a Zen 230mm (9-inch) super dome port. As a bonus, image sensors on today’s camera bodies
could be used for split images, the largest dome ports provide the very best image quality. I recommend nothing less than a 200mm (8-inch) dome for the 35mm standard camera system. And if you can go 230mm, do it. When you initially begin shooting splits you’ll find that, depending on the material of the dome (acrylic or glass),
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