Underwater reflection photography

Hi,

I have been experimenting with some creative model photography in the pool. One of the things we tried, was to shoot some nice reflections near the surface. With the right angle and a calm surface, it wasn't too difficult to capture a basic reflection. So far no problem, except that all my attempts have an area where you can still see through the surface, instead of the desired reflection. How do you get a full reflection over the entire photo? Is this effect maybe due to the fisheye lens I'm using? Does anyone have suggestions to reduce or even get rid of this effect?

Nikon D7000, Tokina 10-17mm lens @10mm, ISO 100, 1/320, f/14. Two YS-110 strobes, one positioned above the surface and one below.

Jef

You are looking through Snell's window. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snell%27s_window

Avoid getting too much of the surface (looking upward) in the shot to not get this effect.

Tom

It's one situation in which a lens with a ninety-degree field of view is better than a fisheye; otherwise you need to control the background that is visible in Snell's window: turning off any lights and shooting with a small aperture, framing the sky outside...

Avoid getting too much of the surface (looking upward) in the shot to not get this effect.

So that means trying to stay even more parallel to the surface. I'm not sure if that will be possible in practice. I was already so close to the surface, that with the camera in portrait direction, I already had to be careful not to breach the surface with the large domeport and accidentally turn it into a half-half shot.

It's one situation in which a lens with a ninety-degree field of view is better than a fisheye

If the large field of view of the fisheye lens (180 degrees) is to blame, then I should get a better result if I had used the Tokina at the 17mm end (100 degrees), right? Would it be a good idea to use a 1.4x teleconverter to reduce the field of view?

otherwise you need to control the background that is visible in Snell's window: turning off any lights and shooting with a small aperture, framing the sky outside...

That will only underexpose (darken) the sky (or in my case the roof of the swimming pool) that is visible through Snell's window. It will not make it reflective.