How to Create Split-Level Dive Compositions — Achieving 'Face Underwater, Body in Air' with split level water photography

Capturing the moment of a pool dive from underwater — can AI reproduce the “split-level” composition that real underwater photographers achieve, showing both above and below the water surface simultaneously?

Experiment Setup

Model: z-image-turbo
Steps: 8 / Sampler: euler / CFG: 1.0
Resolution: 1024×1024
Fixed seeds: 42, 43, 44 (3 images per condition)

Using underwater Alone Pulls Everything Underwater

Starting with a straightforward underwater, from below produces a stable “looking up from underwater” composition.

Base Prompt

1girl, 32yo japanese actress, swimsuit, underwater, from below, face submerging into pool water

Subject seen from below underwater. Face near water surface with floating hair

Beautiful as an underwater shot, but the entire body is submerged. Adding only face underwater or body above water didn’t help — underwater is too dominant and pulls everything below the surface.

Adding Optical Effects: refraction, bubbles, caustics

We tested keywords to enhance underwater visual quality.

Keyword	Effect	Stability
`refraction`	Vivid caustic light patterns on skin	3/3
`bubbles`	Large bubbles placed around the face	3/3
`caustics`	Reinforces light mesh patterns on skin and pool floor	3/3
`Snell's window`	Minimal difference from base condition	—
`sunlight filtering through water`	Overlaps with refraction, minimal added value	—

refraction and bubbles offer the best cost-performance ratio.

With Optical Effects

1girl, 32yo japanese actress, swimsuit, underwater, from below, face breaking through water surface, refraction, bubbles, caustics

Subject from below underwater with vivid caustic patterns on skin and bubbles above the head

The light patterns on skin became dramatically beautiful. However, the entire body remained underwater.

The Breakthrough: split level water photography

Using the actual photography term split level water photography — describing the technique of capturing above and below the waterline simultaneously — produced a split composition with the waterline crossing the frame in 3/3 seeds.

Split Composition

split level water photography, 1girl, 32yo japanese actress, swimsuit, waterline across face, upper body in air, face submerged in pool water, bubbles

Waterline crosses the forehead. Poolside trees visible above water, face submerged below

Poolside scenery (trees, buildings) is visible above the waterline, while the face is submerged below. The key is achieving underwater expression without using underwater.

Adding underwater Breaks the Split

Using split level and underwater together causes underwater to dominate, pulling everything back below the surface. To maintain the split composition, underwater must be omitted.

Keeping the Body Above Water

The split composition was achieved, but the body still tended to go underwater. Adding bending over poolside putting face into water kept the body above the surface while only the face submerged — reproduced in 3/3 seeds.

Body Above, Face Below

split level water photography, 1girl, 32yo japanese actress, swimsuit, bending over poolside putting face into water, face submerged below waterline, upper body above waterline, bubbles

Bending over the poolside, plunging face into water. Body remains above the surface while face and hair are submerged

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Diving Pose × Nude

We tested with extended-leg diving poses and nude. diving into pool with legs extended straight produces a dive composition with straight legs.

Diving Pose (Nude)

split level water photography, 1girl, 32yo japanese actress, nude, very long black hair flowing in water, diving into pool with legs extended straight, face submerged below waterline, upper body above waterline, bubbles

Nude dive into pool with extended legs. Split composition with legs above waterline and face submerged

The split-level dive composition worked, but the area above the waterline still looked aquatic rather than airy.

Creating an Outdoor Feel Above the Waterline

Adding keywords that describe the above-water environment solved the problem.

Final Version A: Sunny Pool

Diving into an outdoor pool. Trees and blue sky visible above waterline, subject with flowing black hair diving below

Final Version B: Tropical Resort

over under split shot, 1girl, 32yo japanese actress, nude, very long black hair flowing underwater, diving into sunlit outdoor pool, legs extended above water surface in bright daylight, head and arms below water surface with bubbles, tropical poolside visible above waterline

Diving into a tropical resort pool. Palm trees and buildings above waterline, subject diving below

By explicitly describing what should be visible above the waterline — legs in sunny outdoor air above waterline or tropical poolside visible above waterline — the above/below contrast became clearly defined.

Prompt Design Principles

Element	Recommended Keywords	Purpose
Split composition	`split level water photography` / `over under split shot`	Render above and below waterline simultaneously
Diving action	`diving into pool with legs extended straight`	Extended-leg dive pose
Above-water environment	`sunny outdoor air above waterline` / `tropical poolside visible above waterline`	Create airy outdoor feel above waterline
Underwater texture	`refraction, bubbles`	Enhance underwater optical effects
Hair expression	`very long black hair flowing in water`	Long black hair spreading underwater

What to Avoid

Combining with underwater: Pulls everything below the surface, breaking the split composition
Omitting above-water environment: The area above the waterline ends up looking aquatic too
half submerged: Produces shallow water scenes rather than dive compositions

Lab Director: Love how you can see two worlds at once across that waterline. The fact that actual photography terminology like “split level” just works is pretty clutch.

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