Controlling The Light - Key Landscape Photography Principles

When I first purchased my Pentax 645z camera the first thing I wanted to do was take it out and do a test shoot to see what it was that I had bought. I immediately went to an ordinary, boring beach near where I live to capture a sunset, test out the camera's ergonomics and get a feel for what it's images would be like. The first two images below are from that evening and I was pleased with how they turned out, not because of the camera but because I was lucky to get a nice sky and the images stand on their own as nice, simple landscapes.
Usually when looking for landscape images I am wanting interesting foregrounds, leading lines or other elements that can be used to build a composition. Often I like featuring an iconic landmark so that it is recognizable as a certain place. Onto this framework I then layer in the right light and a nice sky to hopefully get a good result. These images though could have been taken on any beach in the world, don't have any particular geological or other ...