Bottled Island in Photoshop

For this Tutorial, we will use some images to create our composition. An island or a piece of land, a peak or mountain top, an empty bottle or glass and some underwater images with some bubbles.

1 - Open the image of the bottle you chose. In case you need to place it into a different background remember to apply a “Gaussian Blur” filter to the portions of the background that go behind the glass to make it look more realistic and change the “Blend Mode” of the bottle to “Multiply”.

2 - Open the island image and select the portion you want to use then “Copy” (Command/Control + C) and “Paste” (Command/Control + V) it into your document. Resize it with “Free Transform” (Command/Control +T) if needed. Name it “Island1”.

3 - Make a mask of your “Island1” layer by clicking on the “Create Layer Mask” Button at the bottom of the “Layers” Panel. Then, making sure that black is your “Foreground” color select the “Brush Tool” (B) and with a soft brush (0% Hardness) erase some portions of the island to make it fit into the bottle. You can temporarily lower the “Opacity” of your layer to make it easier.

4 - Open the image of the peak or mountaintop and as before, select the portion you want to use and paste it into your document. Resize it and turn it upside down. Then, create a mask and clean up your selection. Name it “Island2”.

5 - Lower the “Opacity” of the brush to clean up the line where both pieces of the island meet and make it less evident.

6 - Select the “Polygonal Lasso Tool” (L) and make a selection of the top part of your bottle (from where the piece of sky of the “Island1” layer ends). Create a “New Layer” by clicking on the “Create New Layer” button at the bottom of the “Layers” Panel and select a shade of blue from the sky as your “Foreground” color.

7 - Then, select the “Gradient Tool” (G) and apply a Foreground to Transparent gradient to your selection going from bottom to top. Repeat if necessary. Select the “Eraser Tool” (E) and with a soft brush erase some of the lower part so it blends better.

8 - Choose your “Polygonal Lasso Tool” (L) again and this time make a selection of the lower part of the bottle, starting from the line the divides the two pieces of the “Island”. Create a “New Layer”, select a shade from the water in the “Island1” layer and fill your selection using the “Paint Bucket Tool” (G). Lower the “Opacity” to 55% and remember to place this layer behind the two “Island” layers.

9 - With the same selection, create another layer, place it between the two “Island” layers fill it with a darker shade of the one used before and change the “Blending Mode” to “Soft Light”.

10 - Select the “Mask” in your “Island1” Layer and with a soft brush at 50% “Opacity” erase some spots on your peak to give it some depth.

11 - Open the image of underwater bubbles and bring it into your document and resize it to your need. Click on one of the “Water” layers thumbnail while holding the “Command/Control” key to make a selection and then go back to the “Bubbles” layer and create a “Mask”. Change the “Blending Mode” to “Overlay” and the “Opacity” to 80%.

12 - Check out your work.

by @lornacane