I prefer the former one because the light is more concentrated in the centre of the frame. In the latter, the light coloured leaves in the lower left corner are distracting and keep my eye away from the centre 'whirlpool'.
I also think that there is just too much going on in this image. the dark tree works against viewing the natural phenomenon of the whirl. I think a stronger image would have been made without the tree, so that the quality of light, cloud, undulating hills and plains, and the water whirl could all work together more harmoniously.
Julie