Shadow Distracting?

[ctcook]

I shot this one while on a drive with the kids. The leaf was beautifully back lit, and I wanted to capture the leaf and leave the background underexposed and black. In doing this the branch that the leaf was attached to left a horizontal shadow across the middle, and to me it almost seems like it's cutting the leaf in two. Is this distracting, and therefore worth taking the time to try and correct, or can I leave it as is?

p.s. Any advice on what I could have changed to capture the entire image in good focus is appreciated as well.

Model: NIKON D40
ISO: 200
Exposure: 1/640 sec
Aperture: 5.3
Focal Length: 45mm
Flash Used: No

[CJWilkes]

Unfortunately yes... it is distracting.

[photog1107]

Funny enough.. I took several shots this past weekend that are very similar! I had the same problem and finally just kept adjusting my position to eliminate the shadows.