What makes a great arrowhead pic?

[wanderingrock]

Didn't mean to take so long getting back, but I was side tracked by a pancreatic attack.  Not much fun, trust me.
I'll be doing the work up on how to float and glow one with cs2photoshop for any one who wants to try it tonight.  Should be up by tomorrow.
I played around a little with some while I was down that I thought I'd share.

[wanderingrock]

By the way I really liked the glass on glass pic that Wildhorse posted.  I couldn't resist giving it a little pop though.  Hope he likes it.  I'm thinking of using Wildhorse's cascade point pic to do the work up.  It's a great one, and I don't have any that look as good, plus we can all do the same one that way.

[Wildhorse]

Very nice job!! Go for it and have fun. Hope to see them posted.

[wanderingrock]

I'm going to explain how I float the arrowhead and then create a glow.  I'll even put in some text.  I'll be using photoshop cs2 to do this.  I believe everything I do can be done in regular photoshop as well, but you might have to go through a few more commands to get the job done.

[wanderingrock]

First of all we need a good arrowhead pic. 
A few tips on taking a pic of your own would be to use a tripod, and set the arrowhead down on something so everything is perfectly still.  Use the macro setting on your camera, and be sure it's focused.  Use ample light.  The sun is by far the best, and the best results can often be achieved by using morning, or late afternoon light.  Experiment with it.  You might be amazed at how different it can look when you just change the angle of the light.  Also use a reflective surface just out of sight of the camera to reflect back some fill light into the shadows of the arrowhead.  This works wonders.  Don't be afraid to take a lot of pictures. 
Wildhorse has posted a perfect one to work with.  It's the white cascade in the center of the three he posted earlier in this thread.  That will be the one I use to do this, but any arrowhead pic you like should work as well.

[wanderingrock]

First thing I do is create a new folder on my desktop that I'll call "Under Construction."  Then I go to Wildhorses beautiful Cascade  pic.  Select it> right click on the larger image> save image as> send it to your new folder "Under Construction."
Open the pic in Photoshop, now click file> save as>  then select tiff in the format box>  rename it cascade>  make sure it's going back into your under construction folder> click save> Then click ok in tiff options.  The pic should still be open, and look the same, but in the title it should read tif at the end of it's name instead of .jpeg.
What's important to know about jpegs and tiffs is that jpeg picture files lose quality every time you save them, and can quickly start to look blurry.  A tiff file is a lossless file that can take a lot of changes without losing quality.

[wanderingrock]

Now I'll duplicate the background layer in the layers pallette by pressing cntrl+j.  Click off the eye on the background layer, and click on the background copy in the layers pallette.
Select paint brush from the tools pallette> set the master diameter to 29, and the hardness to 80%, opacity to 100%, and flow should be 100%.  Make sure your color pallette is set to black foreground, and white background by pressing "d" on your keyboard.  Now press "q" on your keyboard to work in quickmask mode, and paint out the background around the arrowhead.  Hint, pressing "x" on your keyboard will cause your brush to act as an eraser in quickmask mode, and hitting it again will bring it back to the brush.  Another tip is to enlarge the picture while painting out the background.  If you don't have a pen tab it can be tricky sometimes painting along the edges with a mouse.  I find that lining up the circle of the brush to the edge of the arrowhead clicking, and pulling away from it at the same time leaves a pretty clean edge.
Now press "q" to select the arrowhead.  Click the add layer mask icon at the bottom of the layers pallette.  The arrowhead should be floating on it's own right now, and there should be a mask icon in the background copy layers tab.  Right click in the mask icon in the background copy tab and hit apply mask.  Now press cntrl+j to make another layer copy.
Tap on the original background layer in the layers pallette so it is selected.  Then click the add new layer icon at the bottom of the layers pallette.  This should bring up a blank layer between the background, and the background copy.  Tap the letter "d" then press alt+backspace together, and the layer 1 should be filled with black and the arrowhead should appear to be floating now.
Tap the background copy in the layers pallette to select it.  Go to> filter> blur> gaussian blur> set to 20 pixels> press ok.
Now while holding down the alt key+ tapping add new layer adjustment icon at the bottom of the layers pallette, and scrolling up to hue and saturation.  Set the saturation to value to 100, and the hue to -14.  Press ok.  I'm using a projector for a monitor, and that tends to wash out thmy colors.  You may want to play around with the hue and saturation adjustments until it looks good on youtr screen.

[wanderingrock]

It's almost done now.  This is what I have so far, but I need some info for the text.  Type, region, time period, anything of note that might increase it's appeall.  Let me know what you want written on it Wildhorse, and I'll explain the text next.
 

[Bone2stone]

Now those are some points worth bragging about.
Point #2 Chalcodony?
Out4gold
AKA:Bone2stone

[Wildhorse]

Wanderingrock; The cascade point you are using came from Vantage Wa. right down on the Columbia River. I found it in a rock slide below a camp site while fishing one day. I had set my tackle box on a rock behind me and when I went to get a different lure out saw the point down in the rocks. This was in the late 50's