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This lesson demonstrates how to create water reflections - or floods. To work along exactly, you are welcome to download the start image (St George’s Church looking over Longsands), Here. Unzip the file and open the image onto Photoshop’s workspace.
Note
Photographs with large, clear foregrounds - such as my beach image, are better suited to this type of effect.
Undo and Navigation Steps
Two ways of undoing steps are from the top menu, Edit then Step Backwards.
Alternatively, click a previous snapshot in the History Palette.
Navigate (zoom in and pan) your image using the Navigator Palette,
or the Zoom Tool. 
Activate The Hand Tool by tapping the Spacebar, keeping the Spacebar pressed, pan your image in the usual way. 
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Open your start image onto Photoshop’s workspace, then extend the surrounding grey area by left-clicking and dragging out a corner of the image.
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Then from the toolbar, activate the Rectangular Marquee Tool. Lesson.
And enter the following attributes into its Options bar.
Now, drag out a rectangular marquee over the top area of the photograph, as illustrated
below.
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And press and hold your Ctrl key, then tap the J key. This copies the area within the marquee, as a new layer in the Layers palette. Note: The marquee over the image will become invisible. (It has been saved to an Alpha Channel).
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Now, (still working on the top layer), from the top menu, choose Image then choose Transform then choose Flip Vertical. The selected (top) area will be flipped upside down, and your image will resemble the following.
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From the toolbar, activate the Move Tool.  Then left-click over the top (upside down) image, and drag it to the bottom half of the image, and position it as illustrated below.
6/ Optional - Displace Water
Still working on the top layer, surround the duplicated water reflection with a selection marquee, just as you did in Chapter 2 - retaining the same Feather settings.
Important: Ensure you do not surround the full height of the duplicated image with a marquee, you are looking to leave a small section of the top area untouched - as illustrated below. This ensures the demarcation line between the two image are not disturbed or distorted.
After you have isolated your reflected image with a marquee, you are ready for the next step.
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From the top menu, choose Filter then choose Distort then choose Wave. In the subsequent dialogue box, set the following attributes, then click OK. Note: I am looking for a subtle distortion, however, experiment with the settings, to find a look you prefer.
Distortion using the Liquify and Ripple Filters
As an alternative to the Wave filter, the Liquify and Ripple filters can be implemented to distort the reflected area. Chapter 7 of my tutorial Here demonstrates how to utilise the Liquify and Ripple filters.
Press Ctrl then D to remove the marquee.
Tip
Fade any harsh demarcation lines, (between images) with the Blur Tool set to a low Strength. Tutorial. Additionally, remove repeated areas with the Eraser Tool, using a soft brush, set to a low Opacity. Tutorial.
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Congratulations, you have created your water reflection. To finish, from the top menu, choose Layer then choose Flatten Image, then save your work.
Wendi E M Scarth. Top of Page - Home.
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