Woody woodpecker

[Wheeler McDougal Jr.]

I took this Pileated Woodpecker on the side of a palm tree near Vero Beach, FL. I would like your thoughts about the red crow as it appeared blown out, bur when I looked at the numbers it was not. I decreased the luminous a bit which improved the detail and slightly sharpend the bird. I would very much appreciate all toughts both positive and negative. Shooting info below:
Nikon D3S
850mm
850mm (in 35mm film)
Subject dist: 21m
1/800 sec, f/5.6
Mode: Av
Metering: Spot
Exp comp: +1/3
ISO: 1600
White balance: Auto
Flash: Off
File size: 12.5MB
Image size: 1310 x 1668
Saturation: Normal
Sharpness: Normal
Contrast: Normal
Color profile: sRGB

[Doug Brown]

Hi Mac. Your exposure looks pretty good throughout. The angle is a little steep, and another round of sharpening would help. I would also boost image contrast. Woodpeckers can be a compositional challenge, and I would prefer the bird moved slightly to the left in the frame.