Dawson

Open the Castle image. This image is quite big so let�s reduce the size a bit. Press Ctrl + Alt + I to open the Image Size window and use the settings shown below:

Select the Crop Tool and drag the upper and lower handles in order to remove the author�s trademark as well as the extra pixels at the top, left and right margins.(Don�t worry, it�s perfectly legal. You can honor the author by linking to his website or this particular image).

Duplicate the background layer by pressing Ctrl + J. Name this layer �Reflection�.

Now let�s increase the canvas size (we have to put our reflection somewhere). Press Ctrl + Alt + C to open the Canvas Size window and choose the settings shown below.

Click on the �Reflection� layer in order to make it active and press Ctrl + T to enter Free Transform. Right click on the image and choose �Flip Vertical�. Press Enter after you�re done.

Select the Move Tool (V) and with the �Reflection� layer still selected click and drag down while holding Shift in order to move the layer downwards as shown in the image below.

This could already be considered a reflection but it looks quite unrealistic because the water is way to calm and there are no ripples. We will address these issues in the following steps.

Now we need to create some ripples. In order to do that we will need a special texture resembling ripples which we can then apply on the reflection layer. Let�s start working on our texture by creating a new document (Ctrl + N), 4000 x 4000.

Let�s add some Noise. Choose Filter > Noise > Add Noise and use the settings shown below.

We need a coarser grain in order to achieve ripples. We will use a trick which consists of blurring the noise layer and afterwards increasing the contrast. Apply a 5px gaussian blur (Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur).

Now choose Image > Adjustments > Curves and drag the sliders on the left and right towards the spike.

Choose Filter > Filter Gallery and from the Sketch folder select the Bass Relief filter. Use a value of 2 for Detail and 2 for Smoothness. We can see now how this texture starts to look like ripples. But wait, we are not done yet.

Apply a 35px Motion Blur (Filter > Blur > Motion Blur) in order to achieve smoother, more elongated waves.

We want to match the ripples texture to our reflection layer. In order to achieve that we will have to temporarily move the texture over to our original document (the castle document). While in the texture document select all by pressing Ctrl + A and copy by pressing Ctrl + C. Select our original document and press Ctrl + V to paste.

New let�s transform this ripples texture in order to achieve the same perspective as in our document. Press Ctrl + T to enter Free transform.

Reduce the height of the texture to fit the bottom half of the image.

Right-click within the transformation boundary and select Perspective. Drag the top handles in and the bottom handles out in order to achieve a transformation like mine below.

Make sure the upper bounds of the texture layer don�t exceed the upper bounds of the �Reflection� layer. For an easier alignment make sure you have Snap active (View > Snap). Press Enter after you�re done.

In the Layers palette click on the texture layer we just transformed on the previous step to make sure it�s active. Now Ctrl-click on the �Reflection� layer to create a selection of its pixels. Press Ctrl + J to duplicate the selection (while on the texture layer). Name this new layer �Texture� and delete the previous layer (Layer1).

In order to make sure that you followed my steps correctly Ctrl-click on the �Reflection� layer and after that Ctrl-click on the Texture layer. The selected area should remain the same. If it�s bigger then you�ve made a mistake and should redo the steps.

Right-click on the �Texture� layer in the layer palette and from the drop down menu choose Duplicate Layer, set the destination as a New document. Give it an appropriate name and press Ok.

You notice that there is a transparent area in the upper part of our texture. We need to get rid of that and in order to do so we will choose Image > Trim . Select Transparent Pixels and press OK. Save the texture (Ctrl + S) somewhere on your computer (remember where).

Close the texture document (Ctrl + W) and go back to our original document. Turn off the visibility of the �Texture� layer by clicking on the little eyeball icon on the left of its thumbnail.

Right-click on the �Reflection� layer in the layers palette and from the drop down menu choose Convert to Smart Object.

With the �Reflection� layer selected choose Filter > Filter Gallery. Select the Glass filter (in the Distort folder). Notice that next to the name of the texture there is a little icon. Click on that icon and press �Load Texture�. Select the texture you saved previously (the texture from step 9).

Choose a greater Distort value if you want a more pronounced effect. For subtlety select a lower value (6-7). The good thing about Smart Objects is that you can change the settings of your filters at any time. As you can see we already have achieved a nice effect. However, we could still add a few improvements.