Over Under shots

I have a Tokina 12-24mm for my Nikon D200. I house it in Ikelite and have the 6" dome.

My question is....

Can an over/under shot be accomplished with this lens when a +2 diopter must be used to compensate for the dome?

Thanks!

Nope, unless the subject in the above portion of the frame is very close to the lens.

Some photographers fit split dioptres for this type of images, with the +2 part below the surface and a neutral density above the surface.

There is an image of one on Jonathon Bird's website:

http://www.jonathanbird.net/photo_tip2.htm

I have one (without the neutral density), but have never used it seriously as I tend to do split levels with fisheyes.

Alex

I would guess that when trying to shoot an over/under shot with a six inch dome, such as the Ikelite dome a split +3 or even split +4 diopter for the underwater half of the frame would be more appropriate.

Use of a split diopter will allow you to shoot over/under shots with a smaller dome such as a 6" one. But the disadvantage of using the split diopter is that you must keep the camera positioned so that the edge of the split diopter is right at the water line and results in a picture where the over and under portions of the picture are equal parts of the whole picture

With full frame, film, I have preferred to use a 14mm lens behind a larger 8" or 9" dome. When stopped down to about f14 or f16 you have sufficient depth-of-field to get both halves of the picture sharp. And because no split diopter is used, the division of the over/under does not have to be at the half/half point.

Fred

I was considering rigging up a split diopter / ND filter for an over/under shot, but decided to try a photoshop method instead. This worked well for me. It just took a few shots, and some creative Photoshop post production.

I attempted using a stopped down f stop method.. but could not achieve the necessary DOF with the slow film (ehem.. yes.. film I said) I was shooting.

I held the camera at the water level, motionless, and fired off some shots focused far, for the above water portion...then without moving the view... I refocused close on the dome's virtual image for the underwater view and also used fill flash to help with the underwater exposure.. then in Photoshop I combined the best of two images with the best matching water interface line, did a little clone bruch touchup... to match of the two images.

Below is the result.

Although to some, this scene may look contrived.. this was actually what it looked like at this spot. The water was about 1 feet deep.

I personally do not think the image looks right here, the sea grass does not seem to reach the waterbungalow.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26034596@N08/...765235/sizes/l/

this was taken with a 10-22mm 8" dome

I personally do not think the image looks right here, the sea grass does not seem to reach the waterbungalow.

Thanks for the suggestion, In the shot that I took, the sea grass was only a few inches deep, and thats about what it looked like in real life.. I could not see the seagrass very far away.

However after you have pointed that out, and looking at my shot again, I will admit I suppose that I may have cropped off just a little bit too much of the distant sea grass in the blending step. Perhaps I need to redo the editing and include a little bit more distant seagrass.

The real point of my post which I was trying to make was that there is a 3rd method for doing over/under shots... if its done right...

BTY, your shot is excellent and although the ocean bottom in your shot does not reach the shore nor dock as well your shot does show the sea surface receding into the distance. That helps create the illusion of distance which makes your shot work. Nicely done!

I have used a split diopter (+2) when shooting under-overs in still water (pool). The largest commercially available is the 72mm by Hoya:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/9415...eld_Filter.html

So you'll need a step down ring and will have to shoot at 13-14mm or you'll see the black ring.

On the other hand, you can try setting your lens in MF at closest focus, and stopping down to F16 or F20. If you're lucky, both above and below will be in focus.

I would recommend you just get an 8" dome :-)

Cheers

James