I made this dramatic landscape almost exactly as the sun was setting to the left of this scene. The low angle of warm light strikes the field of saguaro cactus, as well as the wall of Peralta Canyon in the background, illuminating the scene in orange hues and creating powerful shadows. These shadows throw each individual saguaro into sharp relief, and in turn, illuminate the canyon wall to bring out its rugged texture. There are three horizontal layers in this image. Cholla and prickly pear cactus add their textures to the bottom layer, while the layer in the middle ground is filled first with desert bush and then the illuminated saguaros. The background layer fills the frame with the wall of the canyon itself, its mass illuminated by the colors of the setting sun.