Well, basically you need to pull out the contrast in the shot. Is this what you were thinking of?

Because that was done with a Shadow/Highlight layer -some dodging and burning, and a curves adjustment layer (i straightened the horizon and cropped it as well as putting a warming filter over the beach).

"In every colour, there's the light.
In every stone sleeps a crystal.
Remember the Shaman, when he used to say:
Man is the dream of the Dolphin"

Rich Meadows Photography