Hi Shane,
If I understand correctly, even though you now have an abundance of foliage, you'll still be shooting for the 2003 look more or less? If that's right,
I also would do the same thing. For my taste it's important to show the full movement of the trunk, and especially at the first curve from the bottom up.
The full foliage pic that seems to be hiding that bend, (pic#1) draws my eye straight to the long straight trunk below it. The 2003 pic shows a nice movement trunk with foliage that needs a little catching up, which is what happened in the two years since then. Will be nice to see it when it's finished.
Good Work.
