at least you had a sunset when you were there... I didn't, a huge storm moved in and obliterated it. And I was soooo looking forward to catching the monuments in light like this... I'll have to go back, it is only 4 hours away.
Because the Mittens of Monument Valley, or its many other buttes, have been photographed a million times over, its so nice to see a different image of it, as you have captured in this photograph. I think it works very well having the branches of the tree partially cover the red rock because the pattern of the branches and twigs silhouetted against the red rock really makes this a unique and interesting perpespective and photograph of this famous rock formation. I don't see the tree as being obstructive at all. I do agree, however, with Sam III about having too much boring sky.
A few things to remember when shooting shots like this are....
One, the composition should be one that is un-obstructed. since there is a tree in the way of the subject(the red rocks of monument valley) it is rather distracting.
Two, if there are no clouds in the sky, then concider shooting this in pano format and eliminatng a lot of the sky that brings nothing to the shot except something to take the viewers eyes off of the main subject. And the last thing that I would suggest is the placement of the monument with in the frame. Remember that an off center placement is the most ideal.
Well, I hope that none of this offended you. but this is how we learn. Kind Regards
0 
{K:14064} 9/26/2006