How a sun casts its light can be a powerful thing and the roll it played in this particular composition cannot be understated. Between very hill on the left there was a hill on the right and with the direction of the light, those interlocking hills stood out from each other all the more. This created a good rhythm of contrasting layers and with the Deschutes River coming out in the foreground it also gives you a sense that the river is zigzagging between those layers without actually seeing it.