How to Create a Lion Reflection in the Water Photo Manipulation

“The lion is an emblem of the dream of absolute power -- and, as a wild rather than a domestic animal, he belongs to a world outside the realm of society and culture.” In this photoshop tutorial, we will learn how to create a lion reflection in the water. First, we added a background and with the clone stamp tool remove objects. Then add a sky and mountains and add a young lion. After that add lion for reflection and all that blended with adjustment layers. Also added some ray lights and finally added a camera raw filter.

Preview of Final Image

Tutorial Resources

Step 1

Now, let’s start by creating a new image file, go to the Menu bar and click File > New, and then input the following values on their respective fields

Width: 2080px
Height: 2080px
Resolution: 72
Color Mode: RGB Color 8 bit
Background Contents: Transparent

Step 2

Now, place the Background photo Go to File > Place and select background. Then place it to our work canvas. Then position the image with the transform tool (Ctrl / Cmd + T). Hold Alt + Shift and rasterize like the image below. In Photoshop CC only hold Alt to rasterize all sides together.

Step 3

In this step, we will remove objects on the ground and water. Now we will remove the cow with the Clone Stamp tool. Pick a soft brush. Set the size of the clone stamp so it will cover the object you want to remove. It takes some practice to know how hard and big your brush should be. A good setting to start is a medium soft brush to achieve smooth edges. Move the cursor to the area you want to take pixels from. Use Alt-click to confirm your source pixels. The cursor will change into crosshairs. The moment you click, the cursor will change and show the pixels you’ve cloned. Now start painting over the object you want to remove. Create a new layer, If it’s noticeable, go back to clone other pixels and continue painting.

Now select all layers and press Ctrl/Cmd + G to put all in the group.

Step 4

Add Adjustment Layer "Curves" and press Ctrl/Cmd + I to invert. Then use Brush Tool(B) Soft Round with foreground color white and paint the selected part.

Step 5

Add Adjustment Layer "Curves" and press Ctrl/Cmd + I to invert. Then use Brush Tool(B) Soft Round with foreground color white and paint the selected part.

Step 6

Next, we will open the desert photo, Go to File > Place, and select desert. Then place it to our work canvas and position the image with the transform tool (Ctrl / Cmd + T). Hold Alt + Shift and rasterize like the image below. In Photoshop CC only hold Alt to rasterize all sides together. Now use the Soft Round brush tool with the foreground color black and create a layer mask. Then with the brush tool start painting on the desert to remove it.

Step 7

Now repeat the same process. Go to File > Place, and select Sky. Then place it to our work canvas and position the image with the transform tool (Ctrl / Cmd + T). Hold Alt + Shift and rasterize like the image below. In Photoshop CC only hold Alt to rasterize all sides together. Now use the Soft Round brush tool with the foreground color black and create a layer mask. Then with the brush tool start painting on the desert to remove it.

Step 8

Add Adjustment Layer "Hue/Saturation"

Opacity set to 30%.

Step 9

Select Sky layer and duplicate it Ctrl/Cmd + J then place it to water. Opacity set to 20%.

Step 10

Next, we will open the young lion. After you open the image, use the Quick Selection Tool(W) and start selecting. After the selection area has been created, simply copy (Ctrl / Cmd + C) and Paste (Ctrl / Cmd + V) it to our work canvas. Then position the image with the transform tool (Ctrl / Cmd + T). Hold Alt + Shift and resterize like the image below. In Photoshop CC only hold Alt to resterize all sides together.

Step 11

Now create a new layer and use Clone Stamp Tool(S). Pick a soft brush, and set the size of the clone stamp so it will cover the object you want to remove. It takes some practice to know how hard and big your brush should be. A good setting to start is a medium soft brush to achieve smooth edges. Move the cursor to the area you want to take pixels from. Use Alt-click to confirm your source pixels. The cursor will change into crosshairs. The moment you click, the cursor will change and show the pixels you’ve cloned. Now start painting over the object you want to remove.

Now repeat the same process on the hair, on edges.

Step 12

Create a new layer below the young lion layer and change the opacity to 20%. Use a soft round brush tool with the foreground color black and paint shadow.

Create another layer for the second shadow and opacity set to 90%. Use a soft round brush tool with the foreground color black and paint another shadow.

Put in group Ctrl/Cmd + G

Step 13

Add Adjustment Layer "Brightness/Contrast" and press Ctrl/Cmd + I to invert. Then use Brush Tool(B) Soft Round with foreground color white and paint highlight part (Right Side).

Step 14

Add Adjustment Layer "Exposure" and press Ctrl/Cmd + I to invert. Then use Brush Tool(B) Soft Round with foreground color white and paint dark part (left Side).

Step 15

Create a new layer and use a soft round brush tool with foreground color gray #808080 and paint eyes. Blend mode change to Color Dodge.

Step 16

Now, we will open the second lion for reflection. After you open the image, use the Quick Selection Tool(W) and start selecting. After the selection area has been created, simply copy (Ctrl / Cmd + C) and Paste (Ctrl / Cmd + V) it to our work canvas. Then position the image with the transform tool (Ctrl / Cmd + T). Hold Alt + Shift and resterize like the image below. In Photoshop CC only hold Alt to resterize all sides together.

Create a layer mask and use Brush Tool(B) soft round with foreground color black and paint on edges. Brush flow set to 10%. Layer opacity reduces to 35%.

Press right-click on the layer and "Convert to Smart Object".

Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set the radius to 3px. Now select filter effect mask and invert (Ctrl/Cmd + I) and with brush tool soft round, foreground color white paint on edges.

Step 17

Add Adjustment Layer "Brightness/Contrast" and press Ctrl/Cmd + I to invert. Then use Brush Tool(B) Soft Round with foreground color white and paint highlight part (Right Side).

Step 18

Add Adjustment Layer "Brightness/Contrast" and press Ctrl/Cmd + I to invert. Then use Brush Tool(B) Soft Round with foreground color white and paint dark part (left Side).

Step 19

Next, we will add Ray Highlights but first, we need to import brushes. Select a Brush Tool(B) and right-click on the background. Now click on the gear icon and Import Brushes (Select a downloaded brush).

Foreground color set to white, Opacity: 60%

Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set radius to 101.4px.

Step 20

Add Adjustment Layer "Gradient Map" and with brush tool paint sky area.

Blend mode change to Hue with Opacity 50%.

Step 21

Add Adjustment Layer "Gradient Map" Blend mode. Soft Light Opacity: 25%

Step 22

Add Adjustment Layer "Curves" Opacity: 50%

Step 23

When we finished all this, now merge all layers into one. Select the last layer and hold CTRL/CMD + SHIFT + ALT + E. Now we have a final layer, right-click on the mouse and select Convert to Smart Object. Then go to Filter > Camera RAW Filter. At its most basic, the Photoshop Camera Raw filter allows you to use the functions of the ACR interface at any time within Photoshop.