Great Spotted Woodpecker

[Gabi Sandu]

The picture was taken in a forest from Romania. No setup.
Nikon D300S, 500mm, f8, 1/320, ISO 500, flash -1,7 with BB, hand held.
Critiques & comments most appreciated.

[Arya Shafaeipour]

Very very good

[gail bisson]

Nice pose and I really like the tree with its interesting markings. It compliments the woodpecker very nicely.
The blacks are quite chocked up and I would try to lighten them and see if you can get some detail out of them.
I would increase the overall exposure by a third to a half of a stop ( watching for noise to creep in though) and then lift the shadows or use Detail Extractor in the plug-in from Efex Pro if you have it.
The image is nice and sharp and I like the near eye level POV.
Gail

[Bill Dix]

A beautiful woodpecker -- a new one for me. Beautifully captured in perfect woodpecker pose and comp -- although I'd like to see just a bit more room all around. Ditto Gail's point about the blacks.

[Gabi Sandu]

Thanks for the tips. Much appreciated.

[Marina Scarr]

Killer woodpecker and you have lovely feather details. I'd like to see a little more space. Nice work with the flash.