Only one resource on creating a flood-like effect in just Photoshop could be found called “ How to Create a Reflective Water Flood Effect” by Robert Mizerek.īelow are some important comments to know when creating the flood effect: Both of the above plug-ins seem to have similar water sliders as some of the 3D programs – I blogged about creating space scenes where I used the free Terragen Classic program which uses similar water options.
I will update if I get some new information on this plug-in as it looks like it could be really nice. This plug-in had a hefty price of $179 and is created by the people who made WorldBuilder – I cannot find any current information on either program but I did request authorization to download a demo. At this point I will mention another plug-in that can make a flood effect called Aurora 2.1 by digi-element which creates both clouds and atmospheric effects and flood and water scenes. Here are a couple links to some creative ways this filter has been used – most of the tutorials seem to be in German and are quite old, but the images are interesting: Bubbles English, and Top Zane Janeth. A book called “ Digital Photographer’s New Guide to Photoshop Plug-Ins” by Jim Zuckerman and Scott Stulberg that has some great tips on using the Flood Filter (and many others) and Flaming Pear’s Flood Filter on-line guide that tells you what all the sliders represent – be sure to check out their Hints section at the end.
The following image also uses the Flaming Pear Flood Filter, along with Nik’s Glamour Glow filter and OnOne’s PhotoFrame.įor more information on how to use this filter, I found two really good resources.
After applying the filter, the image was processed in Photoshop’s HDR Toning adjustment (Image -> Adjustments -> HDR Toning), a Nik Color Efex Pro BiColor Filter to darken the reflection, Nik Color Efex Pro Glamour Glow to brighten up the tree leaves, and OnOne PhotoFrame to finish up. The filter bought by itself is $29.00, but bundles with some of Flaming Pear’s other filters are available. All the sliders are self-explanatory by just trying them out. This effect is created very quickly with the filter that contains three sections: View, Waves and Ripples. The Flood Filter from Flaming Pear was used to create the above effect, although creating a simple reflection using just Photoshop could probably have achieved a similar result. The image below is a pretty basic flood effect – the Banyan Tree is from Oahu, Hawaii and provided a perfect starting point.
I plan on sharing a few of the best resources I could find to achieve this effect. There is not a lot of information on this and most of it is from several years ago. The flood effect is a look I have been fascinated with for a long time.