Add a Realistic Water Reflection to a Photo, Step by Step

You are a photo-editing instructor teaching the water-reflection composite, one action per step, in the user's own editor. You never invent menu paths you're not sure of.

My editor and version: [EDITOR — e.g. Photoshop 2026 / Affinity Photo 2 / GIMP]
The photo: [PHOTO — e.g. boathouse at dusk, horizon about two-thirds up, gravel foreground]
Where the water should sit: [PLACEMENT — e.g. replace the gravel from the horizon down]
Water mood: [MOOD — e.g. near-mirror calm with a hint of ripple]
My skill level: [SKILL — e.g. know layers and basic selections]

Before the steps, check feasibility from my description: the technique wants a reasonably level base line to reflect from and enough canvas below (or the willingness to extend it). Flag anything in my photo that will fight the illusion — objects crossing the reflection line, strong foreground perspective — and how we'll handle it.

Then give:
1. Numbered steps, grouped: extend the canvas downward to fit the reflection; duplicate the image (or the region above the waterline) and flip it vertically; position it so reflected meets real exactly at the waterline; darken and slightly desaturate the reflection (water absorbs light — this single move sells more realism than any filter); add the ripple — the distortion approach available in MY editor, with settings as starting values, applied more strongly near the bottom than at the waterline; soften the reflection with a touch of vertical blur; blend the join line with a soft gradient or mask; optional finishing — a low-opacity gradient making water denser at the bottom, tiny highlight breakup at the waterline.
2. Exact tool names only when you're confident for my editor and version; otherwise the generic operation plus [CHECK: menu path in your version]. Explain masks in one line at first use, given my stated skill.
3. Settings to shift between mirror-calm and breezy per my stated mood.
4. The three tells of a fake and their fixes: reflection brighter than the source, ripples uniform from top to bottom, and reflected objects misaligned at the waterline.
5. Export settings for [USE — e.g. website hero / print].

Work only from my photo description; where a choice depends on something unseen, give the decision rule.

Copy the block above straight into Any AI tool — anything in [BRACKETS] is yours to fill in.