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Water reflection tutorial

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hegarty_david is a group administrator hegarty_david  Pro User  says:

Here is my first attempt at a Tutorial.
It is good to simulate a flooded city or building.
You will need these pictures.
Glucksman gallery

water


1. Open up the main image.
2. Duplicate the background (ctrl+j).
3. Draw a marquee around the area which you want to be above the water line.
4. With the second layer selected add a layer mask. The bits below the marquee will be hidden.
reflection 1
5. Turn the second layer (reflection) upside down. (edit>transform>flip vertical)
6. Move the reflection down until the top of the layer meets its corresponding point on the background (hold shift to move it straight down)
reflection 2
7. Move in the water picture as the top layer.
8. Alt-click on the reflection layer mask (this will show you just the black and white mask).
9. Magic wand the white bit and Alt-click the mask again to exit.
10. Add a layer mask to the water using this selection.
edit : To duplicate the mask, Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS) the mask to other layer. i only just found out that i could do this.
reflection 3
11. Set the water layer to Overlay at 75% (try different settings to get the look you want).
reflection 4
12. Merge the top two layers (hide the background and shift+ctrl+alt+E to make a merged copy).
13. Add the same layer mask to the top layer using steps 8,9,10
14. Hide the water and reflection layers (you won't need them again)
15. Using the smudge tool (20% hardness, strength=100%) on the layer mask you can play around with the straight top edge of the water.
16. The idea is to pull the dark water down a bit and leave the bright bits a bit higher to make waves. This also blurs the edge a bit too.
Don't over do it, just a bit will do.
reflection 5
17. Copy the top layer (ctrl+j) and apply a blue filter (image>adjustments>photo filter).
18. 15% deep blue should be enough to make the water less gray.
reflection 6
19. apply a Gaussian blur to the top layer.
20. darken the water (image>adjustments>brightness/contrast)

The end result.
reflection
I left the water really reflective but you can alter that to taste.
Originally posted at 4:49PM, 28 August 2007 PST ( permalink )
hegarty_david edited this topic 28 months ago.

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1D-Photography  Pro User  says:

Nice, Thank you for sharing
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

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hegarty_david is a group administrator hegarty_david  Pro User  says:

It started off as me messing with the picture and it suddenly occurred to me that it would make a good tutorial. A few print screen keystrokes along the way and i had a tutorial.

using the smudge tool to edit the edge of a layer mask is a great trick that i discovered. it gives you a lot of control.
Originally posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )
hegarty_david edited this topic 28 months ago.

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pixel_chic says:

This turned out pretty cool, thanks for sharing
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

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Adopt a pet, save a Life AKA..definetlyoverdone  Pro User  says:

very nice!!! good job.
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

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hegarty_david is a group administrator hegarty_david  Pro User  says:

I thought that the reflection was too straight so i distorted it a bit.
After step 6
6.2 Apply a wave filter to the reflection layer. (filter>distort>wave)
Use the settings below (horizontal scale should be 1%)
reflection wave filter
6.3 Apply a horizontal motion blur of 15 pixels. (filter>blur>motion blur)
continue to step 7

The end result

Reflection wavey
Originally posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )
hegarty_david edited this topic 28 months ago.

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DebbieD  Pro User  says:

Wow fabulous-no wonder digital images cannot be used as evidence!!
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

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© JEREMY is a group moderator © JEREMY  Pro User  says:

are you sure it can't be used as evidence? i did not know that....
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

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hegarty_david is a group administrator hegarty_david  Pro User  says:

i quickly tried a different picture to flood. This time i took a stock image of a edit: aqueduct (bridge that carries water) (i originally said viaduct as corrected by escaner..silly me)
i had to apply more horizontal distortion using the waves filter this time so the pillars don't line up perfectly.
viaduct reflection

Original stock image from viaduct
Originally posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )
hegarty_david edited this topic 28 months ago.

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auntyhuia says:

wow...thats cool stuff!
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

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escaner says:

Viaduct
noun a bridge for carrying a road, railroad, etc., over a valley or the like, consisting of a number of short spans.
Aqueduct
noun 1. Civil Engineering. a. a conduit or artificial channel for conducting water from a distance, usually by means of gravity.
My family lives in a colony called Acueducto de Guadalupe :)
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

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patty spade  Pro User  says:

is there a way to do this in elements 6 as we dont have the layer mask
Posted 14 months ago. ( permalink )

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hegarty_david is a group administrator hegarty_david  Pro User  says:

@p_sasse if you don't have layer masks then just use an eraser. also this thread might be of help
www.flickr.com/groups/pse/discuss/72157594466085427/?sear...
i don't have elements so i cant really give a full description as i don't know what features you don't have.
Posted 14 months ago. ( permalink )

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