SCENIC REFLECTIONS

Add reflective water to a landscape shot

IT WILL TAKE

15 minutes

YOU WILL LEARN

How to transform a layer to create a mirror image; add effects to the ‘watery’ surface

YOU’LL NEED

A landscape shot, Affinity Photo lakes can enhance a landscape, especially if the weather conditions are right. The absence of a breeze can turn a body of water into a giant mirror that adds a pleasing symmetry to your landscape photographs. However it can be a challenge to find a suitable location that juxtaposes both mountains and water. You’ll also have to hope that the location is not too windy to capture a clean reflection in the lake’s rippling surface.

Thanks to Affinity Photo’s pixel pushing tools, you can turn on the taps and add a watery surface to any landscape shot. In this tutorial, we’ll demonstrate how to transform and flip a duplicated photo layer to create a mirror-like reflection.

Make a splash

Thanks to Affinity Photo’s filters you can make the fake reflection look as mill-pond still or as rippled as you like without having to worry about wind. We’ll demonstrate how the Zoom Blur filter helps add depth and perspective to our computer-generated lake’s surface. We’ll also use the Ripple filter to break up parts of the reflection and create a more realistic water surface. As a finishing touch, we’ll use adjustment layers to alter the colour and tone of the digital reflection to differentiate it from the rest of the image. This subtle tweak will help sell the illusion of having a lake in your landscape.

You can make the fake reflection look mill-pond still or rippled

Using Affinity Photo’s layers and masks, you can add a reflective ‘water feature’ to your image.

Most landscapes can be enhanced with water. Placing a person in the frame also helps to add a sense of scale.