May 2019 Digital SLR Photography 47
A MIRRORIMAGE
Less is definitely more with this
technique; aim for realism and
you’ll leave the viewers guessing.4
REFINETHEGRADIENTIf youfindthetophalf
oftheimageis affectedtoomuchbythe
gradient,selecttheEraseToolsettoBrush
with a large size and soft edge to remove
the gradient from the top half of the image.
Alternatively keep reapplying the gradient
until you’re happy with its distribution across
the image, avoiding too much contrast
between water and sky.5
APPLYMOTIONEventhestillestofwaterswill
have a littlemotionsoyouneedtoapply
someblurtostopthereflectionlookingtoo
crispandfalse.Selectallthelayersin the
LayerspalettewhileholdingtheShiftkeyand
thenpressShift,cmd,altandEtomergeall
the layersintoa newimagelayer.Clickon
this newlymergedimageandgotoFilter>
Blur>Motion Blur to apply some motion.6
EDITTHEMOTIONSettheMotionBlurAngle
to0 andtheDistancebetween 70 to 100
pixels.ClickOK. Theeffectwillbeappliedto
alltheimage,sotorestrictit tothereflection,
selectthelowerhalfwiththeRectangular
MarqueeTool and then add a Layer Mask
to the new layer. The top half of the mask
should be blacked out. Finish by reducing the
layer’s Opacity slider to between 20% to 50%.