{"id":16981,"date":"2009-02-27T01:54:08","date_gmt":"2009-02-27T01:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwphoto.onpressidium.com\/book\/snells-window-underwater\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T06:57:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T06:57:12","slug":"snells-window-underwater","status":"publish","type":"book","link":"https:\/\/www.uwphotographyguide.com\/book\/underwater-photography-guide\/underwater-photography-composition\/underwater-photography-special-compositions\/snells-window-underwater\/","title":{"rendered":"Snell’s Window"},"content":{"rendered":"

  The properties of light and water, and the refractive index of water leads to an interesting effect known as Snell’s window<\/strong>. You will see a large circle of light, too large for most lenses, if you look up on a sunny day. Through this circle you can see whatever is on the surface, like the clouds, especially if it is calm out. This window can be used for interesting compositions<\/a>, especially with a diver or large subject in the middle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"snell's<\/p>\n

My friend inside of snell’s window, Catalina island<\/a>, mid-day in 15ft of water. Nikon D300 camera, Tokina 10-17mm fisheye<\/a> at 10mm, F16, 1\/320th. Even with a 10mm fisheye, I can’t get all of Snell’s window in the photo. You have to lay back and shoot straight up to get the window in the photo.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lens Choice for Snell’s window<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

I recommend a wide fisheye lens<\/a> like a 10mm fisheye lens. Snell’s window is very wide and even a 10mm fisheye (on a cropped-sensor dSLR camera) can’t get it all in! A circular 8mm fisheye lens can, however.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"photo<\/p>\n

Great photo of snell’s window. It’s always nice to have something framed in the window, like a diver and a manta, if they both happen to be around. Photo by Bonnie pelnar in Socorro islands<\/a>, Mexico. D200, F6.3, 1\/125th, ISO 100, Nikon 10.5mm fisheye<\/a>. Manta and diver were lit by strobes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"snells<\/p>\n

Snell’s window by itself. Here you can see the clouds in the sky. F11, 1\/125th, 10.5mm fisheye lens. Photo by Bonnie Pelnar, very close to the surface.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here is some more info on Snell\u2019s window:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Snell%27s_window<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Further Reading<\/h2>\n

Photographing silhouettes underwater<\/a><\/p>\n

A course on wide-angle technique underwater<\/a><\/p>\n

Artistic underwater photography and compositions<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16977,"parent":16945,"menu_order":5,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":""},"vocabulary_11":[],"vocabulary_3":[],"vocabulary_5":[],"vocabulary_9":[],"vocabulary_6":[],"vocabulary_10":[],"vocabulary_13":[],"vocabulary_16":[],"vocabulary_4":[],"vocabulary_14":[],"vocabulary_15":[],"vocabulary_7":[],"vocabulary_1":[],"vocabulary_12":[],"vocabulary_2":[],"vocabulary_17":[],"vocabulary_18":[],"vocabulary_8":[],"class_list":["post-16981","book","type-book","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSnell's Window - Underwater Photography Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Snell's window examples in underwater photography, and 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