Camera handling for split shots

HI everyone,

Can anyone show their experience handling the housing when shooting over/under ?? I had tried out a few times in the open sea, and I could not get the housing to be upright. I had tried shooting landscape and portrait mode, but with no success. Any tips to share ?

Thxs alot.

First shooting over/unders takes some prep. Of course very wide or Fisheye lens is needed. If I am going to use strobes I set them up with very long arms, 18-22" per strobe, so they can hang underwater to get light on the coral head, fish, whatever. I shoot on the vertical. The bigger the dome the better. I will often first scout out an area looking for something of interest underwater. If shooting in the shallows, where there is a sandy bottom. I may leave the fins on the boat so I can fill my BC up and use one toe in the sand to balance. Expose as much as possible for the air half, easier to do if you use strobes underwater.

For "Open Water" a little prep with weights. I have a back inflate BC so I try to shift my lead closer to my tank so I can float more upright. Fill the BC up as much as possible. If not using strobes I have tried adding a few Stix arms to the housing just to get it to float a little more.

Not great examples, but I do like trying

Thxs for the reply, NWDiver. I agree with you on the portrait part when shooting O/U. Its much easier to get more of the AIR and underwater. My issue is with the weight distribution. As the housing and dome (I am using a 8") is partially submerged, it becomes "heavier" and not easy to balance, hence its really a challenge. Typically the strobes will be on either side, and in vertical orientation, one strobe will be above the other, making the problem even worse. Does anyone encounter such a problem ?

Use inflatable floaties, you know the things that you put on the arms of your kids when they go swimming. Attach them somehow to your housing and the great thing is that depending on how much positive buoyancy you want you can simply inflate or deflate a little.

-Morten.