QUICK TIP: PLACING REFLECTIONS
The ‘devil is in the details’ – the more time you spend
on the details the more believable the final result will
be. When adding reflections in the background, pay13
DODGE AND BURN
Dodging and burning will not only
accentuate the model’s already muscular physique, it
will allow for the adding of specular highlights to
help with the wet look. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+N, name
the layer ‘D&B’, set the blend mode to Overlay and10
CREATE A BEAM OF LIGHT
The small helicopter also needs its light
turned on. Repeat the process from Step 9 on a new
layer. However, instead of a large circular pattern,
paint a long stroke to achieve a beam of light. The
light will naturally be more spread out and dimmer
the further away from the helicopter it gets. This can
be achieved by using a layer mask or simply erasing
the beam with a low-opacity soft brush set to Erase.
If the beam isn’t right, try adjusting it with Free
Transform before erasing and starting over.14
GET THE WET LOOK
When it rains, several things happen. The
environment darkens and the contrast and
specularity increase. Add a Curves adjustment layer
above the City layer. Click on the lower half of the
Curve to add a shadow point. Slightly drag this down
to deepen the shadows. Repeat on the upper part of
the Curve and drag up to increase the highlights. Add
a layer mask and fill with black. Paint white to reveal
the Curves adjustment only on the road.11
GET THE MODEL WET
Let’s add some fake water. Make a new
layer named ‘water drops’. With a white brush set to
85% Hardness, make a random line anywhere on
the model. Add a Bevel and Emboss layer style to the
water drops layer. Adjust the settings as follows.
Style: Inner Bevel, Depth 40-80%, Size 1-2px, Soften
1-3px, Shading Angle: -151º, Highlight Opacity: 47%,
Shadow Opacity: 14%. Select the shadow colour and
hover over and select a dark shadow colour within
the model. It should be a deep brownish-red colour.15
ADD REFLECTIONS
The next step in achieving the ‘wet look’ is to
add reflections to the road. Select the City layer and
Hit Cmd/Ctrl+J to duplicate this layer. Right-click on
the layer in the layers palette and select Apply Layer
Mask. Duplicate the layer once more and turn off the
eye directly to the left to hide this layer. Select the
original duplicate and go to Filter>Blur>Motion Blur.
Select an amount that blurs the details of the layer
similar to the step image here.12
MAKE THE WATER CLEAR
With the Layer Style set commit the
changes by hitting enter. The water on the subject
should be clear with no tint. To achieve this select fill
from the upper right corner of the layers pallet and
drop it all the way to 0. Paint water drops and drips
on him. This will be more or less a matter of taste so
experiment until happy. The internet is the best place
for reference. Search for water on skin or water
droplets to see how water will look.TECHNIQUES CREATE A FLYING EFFECT
check the box for Fill with Overlay Neutral Color. Hit
Enter. With a Soft brush set to 0% Hardness and 10%
Opacity, paint along the natural shadows with black
and the natural highlights with white. Build up the
layers of white and black to really make things pop.001 INTENSIFY THE HIGHLIGHTS
Set your brush Hardness to 40% and find highlights throughout the background. Dodge
those areas to intensify the wet look.002 DEEPEN THE SHADOWS
With black, deepen shadows in the background. This will start to give a 3D
look to the image.003 DARKEN THE CHOPPERS
Create Dodge and Burn layers. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+G to create clipping masks.
Darken areas of the chopper seen in red.001003attention to all the elements in the image. Ask
yourself, “What would have a reflection?” Dry areas
under cover won’t reflect while wet areas will.002