In case there is doubt, the scene is from atop the Blue Ridge mountains looking *down* on a blanket of clouds covering the Virginia Piedmont area. The clouds in the midground could pass for waves in an ocean. The sun has just risen (the colors were even more amazing before sunrise). Technically, I wouldn't have been able to pull this off 2-3 years ago. The success depended on a *reverse* (not regular) grad neutral density filter (darkest in the center as opposed to a regular grad ND that is darkest at the top). That allowed the foreground to come through much brighter than usual - rather than the black silhouette obtained is a "no filter" test image made before this one.
When I used to compete, it was annoying to hear all sunrise images dismissed as cliché's. That's bull and is just a copout for lazy judges.