Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Photoshop Tip: Ocean Ripple Effect

Hey everybody! I wanted to share a great tip/trick you can do in Adobe Photoshop. I learned this technique from photographer, Rick Sammon's book: "Digital Photography Secrets," and find it not only very useful but also lots of fun. I don't know how many of you explore the filters section of Photoshop, but there's a great distortion filter called "Ocean Ripple" that gives your image the effect of rippling water. This technique is used by many professional photographers and graphic artists to give the illusion that the subject is sitting next to a body of water. Here are a couple of my images.




How it is done:

1) Choose an image

2) Copy the image

3) Paste it into a new document

4) Flip the image vertically and copy it

5) Go back to the original image and change the canvas height to twice the original size, anchoring from the top

6) Paste the flipped image in a new layer to the lower portion of the canvas

7) Now select the bottom half (the one you want to be the reflection) and go into "filters" > "distort" > "ocean ripple..."

8) You can move the sliders to the intensity you are looking for (make sure your preview button is turned on so you know what will work the best) and apply the filter

9) Now darken the reflection layer to the extent that you think is best.

10) I use the burn tool to make the merge point more even, but you might find a technique that works better for you.

11) Depending on the image, I will transform the angle of the reflection to give the viewer a different perspective.


If you use any other techniques to do the same thing or have any questions, let me know.

HAPPY REFLECTIONS!!!

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