Photoshop‘s photo manipulation tools can feel overwhelming at first. But creating surreal underwater scenes doesn’t require years of experience.
This tutorial breaks down the process step by step. You’ll learn to blend multiple images seamlessly, control lighting and shadows, and build atmospheric depth. Plus, these techniques work for any composite scene, not just underwater projects.
The project combines basic tools like adjustment layers, masks, and brushes. Yet the results look professional and complex.
What Makes Underwater Composites Different
Underwater scenes require special attention to color and light behavior. Water filters out warm tones as depth increases. So reds and oranges disappear first, leaving cooler blues and greens.
Light also scatters differently underwater. Objects lose contrast and sharpness with distance. That atmospheric perspective creates believable depth in your composite.
Understanding these physics makes your fantasy scenes feel real. Even when you’re placing submarines shaped like fish beneath a fisherman’s boat.
Setting Up Your Canvas Properly
Document setup matters more than most beginners realize. Wrong dimensions or resolution causes problems later.
Start with these specifications for print-quality work:
- Width: 2480 pixels
- Height: 3508 pixels
- Resolution: 300 DPI
- Color mode: RGB, 8-bit
- Background: Transparent
These settings give you flexibility to resize or print later. Plus, working at full resolution shows exactly how details will look in the final image.
Building the Water Surface Layer
The water surface sets your entire scene’s foundation. Import your water stock image using File > Place instead of drag-and-drop.
Why? Place command creates smart objects automatically. That means you can resize and transform the image repeatedly without quality loss. Regular layers degrade with each transformation.
Position the water image to fill your lower canvas area. Leave space above for sky and atmospheric elements.
Color Grading the Ocean Tones
Raw stock photos rarely match each other’s color temperature. So color correction becomes crucial for believable composites.
Create a Selective Color adjustment layer above your water. Target only the blue channel. Then drag the Cyan slider right and the Yellow slider left.
This deepens the ocean blue without affecting other colors. The water looks more mysterious and matches the underwater mood you’re building.
Creating the Sky Background
Sky images need careful selection and placement. Open your sky stock and activate the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M).
Select the best portion of sky, avoiding any distracting elements. Then copy that selection and paste it into your main canvas.
Position the sky layer above your water but below any foreground elements. Use Free Transform (Ctrl/Cmd + T) to scale and position until it looks natural.
Matching Sky Colors to Water
Your sky and water need color harmony. Otherwise, viewers subconsciously notice something’s off.
Add another Selective Color adjustment layer, this time targeting the sky. Adjust both Cyan and Blue channels to complement your water tones.
The goal isn’t identical colors. Instead, you want colors that feel like they exist in the same world, under the same lighting conditions.
Adding the Fisherman Element
Now bring in your main character. Import the fisherman stock image as a smart object.
Position him in the boat area where he’ll logically sit. Then create a layer mask and carefully brush away any background from the original photo.
Use a soft brush at 100% opacity for obvious areas. Switch to a smaller, softer brush at lower opacity for edges where the fisherman meets the boat or water.
Creating Realistic Shadow Beneath the Boat
Shadows sell realism in composites. Without them, elements float disconnected from their environment.
Create a new layer beneath your boat. Use a soft black brush to paint shadow where the boat touches water. Then reduce the layer opacity to 30-40%.
Blur the shadow slightly with Gaussian Blur. Real shadows have soft edges, especially on water where surface movement diffuses light.
Building the Underwater Environment
Switch to your underwater background stock. This creates the scene beneath the surface.
Import and position it below the water surface layer but above a solid background. The split between above-water and below-water scenes needs careful alignment.
Use a layer mask with a gradient to blend where surface water meets underwater environment. The transition should feel gradual, not like a hard cut.
Adding the Fish Submarine
Here’s where your scene gets surreal. Import your fish stock and submarine elements.
Combine them by masking the submarine into the fish shape. This takes patience and a steady hand with your brush tool. Work at high zoom levels to catch every detail.
The result should look like an organic fusion, not just one image pasted over another.
Adjusting Colors for Underwater Depth
Objects underwater need color adjustment to match their apparent depth. Deeper elements should have:
- More blue color cast
- Less saturation overall
- Reduced contrast
Create Hue/Saturation adjustment layers for your submarine-fish. Push the hue slider toward blue. Then reduce saturation by 20-30%.
This makes the object feel like it exists beneath water, not just placed there in Photoshop.
Creating Volumetric Light Rays
Light rays add dramatic atmosphere to underwater scenes. Create a new layer set to Screen blend mode.
Use a soft white brush to paint diagonal streaks from surface to depth. Then apply Motion Blur filter at an angle matching your painted rays.
Reduce opacity until the effect looks subtle. Real underwater light rays appear gentle and diffused, not harsh.
Adding Depth with Atmospheric Haze
Water contains particles that scatter light and reduce visibility. Simulate this with gradient overlays.
Create a new layer above all your underwater elements. Use the Gradient Tool with a blue-to-transparent gradient.
Apply it from bottom to top of your underwater area. Set blend mode to Soft Light and reduce opacity to 20-30%. This creates that characteristic underwater haze.
Fine-Tuning with Selective Color
Now refine the overall color harmony. Create a final Selective Color adjustment layer affecting your entire composition.
Make subtle tweaks to multiple color channels:
- Blues: Add cyan, reduce yellow
- Cyans: Increase cyan, reduce magenta
- Neutrals: Adjust for overall warmth or coolness
Small adjustments here make big differences. Work with light touches until everything feels cohesive.
Sharpening for Final Output
Before exporting, add selective sharpening. Flatten your image or create a merged copy on top.
Apply Smart Sharpen filter with these settings:
- Amount: 80-120%
- Radius: 0.8-1.2 pixels
- Reduce Noise: 10%
Then use a layer mask to remove sharpening from areas that should stay soft, like distant elements or intentionally blurred sections.
Why This Technique Works
This approach builds complexity gradually. Each layer adds one element or adjustment. That makes the process manageable instead of overwhelming.
Plus, non-destructive editing with adjustment layers means you can change any decision later. Made the water too blue in step 3? Just adjust that layer again without starting over.
The smart object workflow protects image quality throughout multiple transformations. That’s crucial for professional results.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Most failed composites make these errors:
- Inconsistent lighting direction across elements
- Mismatched color temperatures between components
- Hard edges where elements should blend softly
- Missing or incorrect shadows
- Unrealistic color for apparent depth
Watch for these issues as you work. Fix them immediately instead of hoping they’ll look better later. They won’t.
Take Your Time with Masking
The difference between amateur and professional composites usually comes down to masking quality. Rushing through masks shows in the final result.
Zoom in to 100% or more when refining edges. Use a tablet if you have one for better brush control. Switch between hard and soft brushes as the edge demands.
Perfect masks take time. But that time investment separates mediocre work from portfolio-worthy pieces.
These techniques apply far beyond underwater scenes. Master these fundamentals and you can create any surreal composite your imagination conjures. The tools stay the same. Only the subject matter changes.