I agree the tree in the middle of the second shot is somewhat distracting from the star of the show, your foreground.
When the sun is at certain angles, I have learned that I do not know how to capture those shots...yet.
In your shots, the sun is hard to work around, I do not know the answer, I am sure someone here does.
Regardless, I really like the first shot, and I love the foreground in your second shot. (maybe you can soften the foreground some in that shot and see how that looks)