I’ve notice a significant increase in the “product reflection” treatment of late, have you? I see them popping up on Verizon Wireless when I go to pay my bill online, or Apple when I go to check out their latest iPod. Here’s an example from Apple’s website:
(I take my sample from Apple, noting that their new iWeb has a integrated filter for producing the reflection effect.)
Is this just an annoying trend? Or the latest and greatest in high-end graphic design? And how did every darn surface get so reflective all of a sudden?
Remember when a photo mantage was cool? Wow, what about drop shadows, or photo borders? Did you use some of those in their hay-day? Man, weren’t those were cool? It seems everything from duotones to bevels have had their time to shine and it looks like “product reflections” are finally getting their 15 minutes of fame. Enjoy it, and then reflect. 
Oh, and if you’d like to try this effect for yourself, Lesa Snider gives you a quick tutorial in Photoshop on how it’s done: Photo Reflection Effect, by Lesa Snider, The Graphic Reporter (Do it while it’s still cool – I did, just today!)