Reflections on REFLECTIONS

As the power of iOS grows, a variety of apps have stepped up to harness that power by creating very realistic renderings of natural effects. You can see that power in apps that create reflections. Normally, I’m using my iPhone camera to capture landscapes as they are, but every so often my wild and crazy side dominates and I am looking for something a bit surreal or something that will create an image that just doesn’t exist in real life.

My favorite example of this Reflect Mirror Camera from BrainFeverMedia. This $1.99 app is a joy to use, and it can create images as realistic as you could want, or you can create alien looking landscapes that are really striking.

In addition to creating oceans, lakes or other bodies of water, the app has lens flares, fog, lightning, rainbows, and physical effects like hot air balloons and flocks of birds. There are also astronomical effects like the moon, planets, and star fields.

Creating Photos with Reflections

Using the app is simple enough. Select a photo from your camera roll, and start with water. You can drag it up or down to match your horizon line, then add turbulence to the waves, or make it silky smooth. The app also allows you to add 2 types of fog effects, and a slider can apply the quantity. You are not limited to just water. You can have the app render tiled surfaces, or shiny floors. There are more than 30 reflection presets, and each one can be individually tuned.

One that’s done, you can add other elements, like fireworks, or lightning, or rainbows. There are several hot air balloons, as well as lens flares to create or augment sunsets or sunrises. Objects can be moved with your finger, and the app allows you to add multiple layers if you like. Needless to say, objects placed into the scene will reflect in your created water. The app allows free-form cropping and there is a square pre-set for Instagram.

The results are very impressive. You can create completely realistic landscapes, or science fiction type alien worlds.

There are some other apps that offer similar water features. One is Water Effect – Photo Reflection Editor. The app is free, but you are literally pummeled with ads that pop up in the middle of your editing. You can kill the ads with a pro version for $0.99, but I would not reward them because of the abusive ads in the free version. The app does not render water as realistically, but it does allow you to create mirror images of any object in the photo.

The Bottom Line

Without a doubt, Reflect Mirror Camera is the best realistic effects editor I’ve seen. The developers, BrainFeverMedia have a great track record of designing SFX apps for iOS and Mac OS X, including Alien Sky, Lens Flare Studio and LensFX Photo Effects.

You may have never considered adding these kinds of effects to your photos, but I guarantee you will get hooked and enjoy sharing your creations.

Reflect Mirror Camera renders high quality images and is easy to use. I recommend it highly.

You can watch a demo video of Reflect Mirror Camera at the BrainFeverMedia website. Reflect Mirror Camera requires iOS 6 or later. It’s universal, and is optimized for the newer iPhone 5, 6 and 6 Plus iPhones.

Download Reflect Mirror Camera:

App Store link: Reflect Mirror Camera – BrainFeverMedia

– Mel Martin