Lost in Iceland

Do any of you guys/gals use Reddit? I have been posting my star images on there lately and WOW, what a reaction. Granted most of them are hit and run but it's still nice to see all those views:)

The Shot:

Driving to Vik is terrific and my favorite part of Iceland minus the West Fjords.  The coast was especially awesome in June because the Lupines are blooming and they light up the once green fields with blue. Some of the most amazing landscapes I have ever seen came on this long stretch of road, here is one of the shots I captured just after the sun dipped below the horizon around midnight.

The Final Product

Processing Technique for the Picture Above:

Lightroom 4:

Minor white balance and contrast adjustment.

Photomatix:

Process 7 exposures in -3EV to 3 EV.

Photoshop 6:

-Blend Photomatix layer with 7 exposures -3EV to 3EV to bring out dynamic range.

-Lumonsity Masks on midtones, darks and lights to bring out detail and saturation.

-Saturation masks(to desaturate) & Vibrance masks(to saturate).

-Color Balance for small color adjustments in the sky.

-Nik Color Efex Pro Contrast 

-High Pass Filter on Soft Light blend mode to sharpen entire image.

-Nik Define for local denoise.

-Free transform to straighten the horizon.

-Final saturation painting on the lupines and desaturation on the road.

-Brighten the center line on the road with curves

-Save as Jpeg.

Before the Magic