Let's start with the image today:

This image was taken well after sunset. The foreground was pretty dark by now. Yet the sky was still quite bright, at least to the far right of the image. The light falling on the rocky hill is reflected light bouncing off of the clouds. With my Sony A7R II it is easy to lighten the dark shadows and black to recover the detail. Now let's talk about how to post process an image like this to maximum impact. Please see the blog on good equipment (two weeks back) on recovering the detail in the dark parts of the image.

1.  Make sure that the darks are recovered to where there is detail in the darkest parts of the rocks.

2.  Now just look at the image and identify the parts of the rocks that are already brighter (getting the most light).

3.  Lighten those sections even more.

4. Warm the light on those sections just a bit.

That is it. It does not take much. Don't be afraid to shoot when the foreground is already dark or in shadow. Today's cameras are just fantastic; you may be able to "see" in the dark.