BRIGHT & BOLD are the two words that instantly came to mind when I opened this thread. Obviously from the shadow you were working with harsh light and I think you made the right decision to use it rather than try to hide it. I’d like to see a variation where you cropped in from the left to just before the porch, then cloned out the remaining tree as it adds nothing to the image, either in its self or in its lack of shadow.

Alistair