In normal locations, 3pm is not sunset, but with the sharply rising hills to the west, the sunny day ends early in this canyon. So backlit occotillo show up dramatically against the deeply shadowed slope. A lot of processing to accentuate some additional elements and bring down others. Still, this is a very busy scene. Your thoughts and edits very much appreciated.
This revision responds to @Chasfire Richard Price’s suggestions. I like it better. Thanks, Richard.
Dick: I really like the placement and backlighting of the occotillo. A couple of things I might try:
Tone down the light bush in the lower right corner, maybe with a vignette.
I don’t know if you can do anything about it, but to my eye the background just looks like you had a problem with a dirty lens. I know it is just the high spots on the background hills, but maybe you can use a selective brush and lower the exposure in just that area enough to make it totally dark.
Yep. That bush and the bright rocks on the hillside gnaw at me too. I shaded parts of that bush and showed a compromise on those rocks. Will play with those and show you a revision soon
Dick: I think that is better.
I do not see the difference, nor do I see any difference on the TPS gallery image. As you said it is a busy shot. The two ocotillo in the foreground are (I think) the subject and so should be brought out by cropping left and right to a vertical image. Darken all the rest enough to bring out the two. I don’t think the background mountains add anything to the story. It will be work to get the branches darkened where the third plant branches merger. Just my opinion of course.
It certainly would have been a cleaner portrait if I had positioned myself a yard or two to my right, avoiding the overlap of that large occotillo with the right front one. Maybe in 2022 I will get another chance. In the meantime, I have plenty of time to snip away at that plant in Photoshop 
When I go through my images I wonder what I was seeing. Sometimes our vision is blocked by our “vision!” On the other hand maybe the rattler was just where you needed to stand. If this was taken in Joshua Tree, it may have been destroyed and you have a great memory image.
