Raised objects?

Im trying to replicate this, saw it on suggested filters. My first attempt is as follows...

http://www.filterforge.com/filters/7228.html

My question is how do I get the gems to look like there above the surface, and how do I give them like... a drop shadow? I'll give credit to those who help in the making of the filter. Also I want to add a reflection to the gems, how can I do that with only the gems and not the soil (Im using soil not the scale like stuff in the image)? Is that possible.

I have a feeling ThreeDee is gonna show up with some amazing idea that defines the laws of FF by breaking the laws of reality and implementing ThreeDee's 450 snippets (in short I think someones gonna show me something already made that I should have found).