5 Tips To Shoot Killer Pictures With A GoPro Dome

5 Tips To Shoot Killer Pictures With A GoPro

Activities, like diving with whale sharks, or swimming with dolphins, can be very exciting. How do we capture these great moments perfectly? The Answer is a GoPro. The compact, rugged technology of the GoPro combined with a Dome Port allows you to capture rules amazing split level shots in the unbelievable quality.

Here are 5 Amazing Tips to shoot killer underwater pictures with the GDome GoPro Dome Housing.

1. Acquire the Minimum Focus Distance

The GoPro already has a very wide field of view (FOV), which lets you frame a subject with the contextual scene around it. While searching for an image, focus on your desired foreground element and then get as close to it that foreground element as you can. Get your camera in close proximity and take advantage of the GoPro’s 12-inch (~30cm) minimum focus distance. Keeping the foreground element about 12 inches from the camera will emphasize it while still providing surrounding context.

2. Set your Camera Field of View 

To follow in line with the minimum focusing distance, ensure that you pre-set the FOV for your GoPro before entering the water. We like to set the field of view to “Narrow” if you can’t get close enough to your subject. You have to aim your camera precisely, which can be difficult if snorkeling or swimming. Remember to keep an eye on the back screen to help you compose the shot.

3. Set the camera defaults to maintain the image quality

When you set your default settings ahead of time, you will definitely capture quality photographs. GoPros have a very good image quality in good lighting conditions, but because the image noise increases quickly as the camera adapts its ISO to low-light conditions, you have control of the image quality by setting a maximum ISO setting. Connect your phone to your GoPro, go into your settings and change the maximum ISO to a value of 800 or less. While you’re still on the settings menu, set the default mode to “photo”. This will help you to quickly take a photo if your GoPro shuts off while underwater and you need to turn it back on.

4. Stabilise Your Camera

If the day isn’t sunny the camera will shoot at slower shutter speeds, which may result in blurry or non-sharp images. This will be very noticeable if you can’t keep the camera stable. Get yourself a GDome Trigger Grip or  GDome Dive Tray to keep the camera as stable as possible. Read more about dive trays and triggers HERE.

5. Focus On Telling A Story When You Use A Dome Port for Split-Level Photography

Split-level imagery is the rave of the moment. It can be beautiful and is the perfect way to give an image context and tell a story. It is very easy to get that effect when you use an GDome underwater housing with its convex dome port, it pushes the water split line away from the dome lens, meaning that you can get shots that are both half-in and half-out of the water. Doing this helps you observe both the underwater world and the terrestrial world. Planning is an essential part of the process for visual storytelling, so make sure you plane your dome shot. To tell a story Images should be emotive, ie: have some kind of emotional impact on your viewer and engage their attention. So when you take a Dome photo, focus on what you would like to express fun, friends, family, nature, landscape and so on. Don't forget to get creative!

Using the GDome GoPro Dome is an effective way to take professional quality split shot photography without breaking the bank.