Webinar: Split Shots Masterclass With Matty Smith

REPLAY: Split Shots Masterclass with Matty Smith (Feb. 2025)

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Split shots—also known as over-unders—are among the most challenging yet rewarding types of underwater photos to capture. From distracting water droplets and surface line distortions to subject positioning and the added complexity of lighting both underwater and topside, so much can go wrong. Yet, when done right, these images are exceptional for storytelling. They captivate the general public, spark curiosity about the underwater world, and can perform very well in photo competitions.

To delve into this fascinating topic, The Underwater Club was thrilled to have Matty Smith—a true master of the craft—as our guest speaker for February.

Split shot of three australian sealions taken by Matty Smith

Split shot of an approaching Great White Shark taken by Matty Smith

American crocodile Crocodylus acutus at the Gardens of the Queen (Jardines de la Reina) Cuba

Along with a small team of photographers, I sailed from Argentina to the Antarctic peninsula onboard a 60ft yacht under wind power. Travelling by yacht meant we could ensure more intimate encounters with wildlife whilst also minimising our carbon footprint and impact on this environment.

As we sailed into Paradise Harbour on the Antarctic Peninsula, this young leopard seal approached our small sailing boat. Bold and curious by nature, it circled around us as if wanting to learn more about what we were doing in its domain. This gave me time to don my dry suit and quietly slip into the water with my camera.

This was my first personal encounter with a leopard seal and I didn’t want to push any boundaries, so I slowly swam over to a small chunk of floating ice and waited to see what would happen next. Soon the young leopard seal approached me out of curiosity and began to display investigative behaviour. It seemed very relaxed with my presence, making several passes, so I began to shoot some frames. I had to work quickly as it was late in the day and light was fading fast. Using a neutral density graduated filter on my lens I managed to retain drama in the sky whilst being able to light the seal with a flash from one side.

Krill and penguins make up for most of the leopard seals natural diet. However, pressure from retreating sea ice and warming waters around the Antarctic peninsula, pollution and overfishing means that krill and penguin numbers are both in decline. 2022 saw a record low in Antarctic sea ice and led to the catastrophic failure of Emperor penguin breeding colonies due to loss of sea ice.
Taken 15th Feb 2023

A Hawksbill turtle hatchling (Eretmochelys imbricata) just 3cm long and a few minutes old takes it’s first swim at Lissnenung Island Papua New Guinea.

Meet your speaker

Matty Smith is a UK born and bred underwater photographer who is now based in Newcastle (NSW, Australia). After emigrating down under in 2007 in pursuit of furthering his photography career, Matty fell in love with the Pacific Ocean and has now made it his permanent playground.

Coming back from a dive and telling your friends and family stories of what you encountered never really expressed how amazing the experiences were. It was at this point he decided to get an underwater camera, starting off with a Canon 300D in an Ikelite housing.

Matty is an ambassador for Nikon Australia & Aquatica Digital Water Housings. His award-winning images have been exhibited in over all around the world including the London Natural History Museum in the UK and the Australian Museum in Sydney.

He also regularly speaks publicly about his style and approach, writes for several popular dive and nature magazines as well as conducting regular underwater photography teaching classes.

I really enjoy and also feel it’s very important to show people the treasures we have in our oceans, how fragile they are and the importance of protecting them. I like to use my skills as an underwater photographer to try to amaze and educate.

Matty Smith

Matty’s work has been used and published by The BBC’s Blue Planet 2 Documentary, National Geographic, Ocean Geographic, BBC Wildlife Magazine, GEO, The Washington Post, The Australian and The Guardian amongst many others, as well as featured in TV appearances and The Discovery Channel, Channel 9 (Australia) and Channel 7 (Australia). He has also won over 30 international photography awards of runner up or above including Underwater category winner in the London Natural History Museum’s “Wildlife Photographer of the Year” 2024.

To see more of Matty’s work and be informed of his next workshops, follow him on Instagram and visit his website.

Topics Covered

Here is what was covered during a 2h46 long webinar:

Equipment for split shots
Location & subject choices.
Lighting technique.
Behind-the-scenes: Matty will share the stories behind some of his favourite split shots.
Tips to win photographic awards with Split Shots. From a very successful contest and experienced competition judge.
Live Q&A with participants.

What attendees said about the webinar

Participants had a great time! But don’t take our word for it, here are some of the comments typed in the meeting chat:

“Thanks Matty and Nicolas, this was an awesome presentation. Love all the great shots!”
“I feel so much more prepared to take some great split shots after your presentation! Thank you for sharing your expertise!”
“Thank you so much Nicolas and Matty! Fantastic presentation—so much to learn, but so many things have become clearer. Now, just got to go out and practice!”
“I’m so excited to start this new style of photography! This has been very informative and super helpful!!”
“Thanks so much Matty and Nicolas! It was a really inspiring presentation. I especially loved hearing the detailed background of the images and also the technical details of virtual images and dome ports. Cheers!”
“Brilliant – loved this! Thank you!”
“Thank you so much! Fantastic presentation.”
“Another great session! Thanks, Matty and Nicolas.”

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7 courses
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16 hours of video
Private Club Forums
Live Q&A Calls
Monthly webinar invitation
Replay all webinar recordings
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