How can I go about creating a realistic highlight reflection on water?

Question

I'm trying to add LEDs to the side of a pontoon boat and am currently working on how the LED light might appear on the water's surface. However, I'm having trouble understanding how to proceed. None of the layer modes seem to do the trick. After studying several photos, it's clear that the highlights really only appear on the wave peaks, leaving the troughs relatively dark and untouched. If anyone has advice on how I might be able to accomplish this and make it look as realistic as possible, I'd appreciate it! Any feedback on what I've done so far would be helpful as well! I've included the PDF as an attachment.

Thanks guys.

Chuck Uebele · Accepted Answer

Here's a video of what I did.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmNwAUgBkEk

Chuck Uebele · Answer

You're on the right track about the troughs being dark and untouched. However, with the boats reflection it is mostly dark next to where the lights should be the brightest. In my sample, I cloned some waves away from the boat onto a channel that was darkened to tone down the highlights. They that was used to paint in the green fill layer that I created. the mask was a bit harsh, so I added a motion blur.

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