Q - I guess such beautiful views can only be captured by photos

because you mentioned about extended exposure, while the sky was almost darkened... I imagine with naked eyes one cannot see the same view - it is the result of the photo-taking technique to create such dramatic views?

my experiences are that camcorder can usually take much better sun-rise, sun-set footages than what I actually see - the colors are much richer and more vibrant than the naked eyes can see. The results are the tapes are more beautiful but not the real thing I actually saw at that moment.