Sleeping Maple

This is an excellent photograph. I like the overall effect of the shot, and honestly, I can't really find very much of anything that's wrong with this picture - meaning that the stuff I do point out (because I always like to point out at least some point for improvement when I do critiques) will be extremely picky

That being said, let me start with the best parts of this shot. First of all, I absolutely LOVE the feeling that the black and white gives the picture. Not only does the greyscale make the shot much softer, but it also works well in drawing the attention to the subject. Not only that, but you managed to get such rich, wonderful, velvet blacks and greys. That's a rare talent, especially in digital photography - whether you accomplish it with Photoshop or not. You should be very proud of that.

Now, on to the suggestions for improvement. Again, this is extremely picky, but (as I believe I have commented on previous works of yours) that is mainly because I can't really find anything seriously wrong with the shot.

I really like the contrast and brightness of the shot; you obviously worked very hard with the curves and the histogram balances. However, I can't say that I'm particularly fond of the vignette effect. It's not that it looks bad, precisely; in fact, it rather enhances the subject matter. However, the vignette looks a bit uneven; it's well-pronounced at the bottom, but a little too subtle at the top. The other problem with it is that even as good as the contrast looks, the highlights on the dog's face (particularly the whites on the muzzle and between the eyes) look a little washed out - just a tad too bright. Most of that, I realize, is probably due to the lack of available light. Shooting at 1/80 at ISO 400 is a clear indicator that you didn't have bright light available. (Still, you managed to get the shot without it being the least bit grainy, which is quite an accomplishment for a b/w shot at ISO 400.)

Overall, though, excellent composition, great subject matter, and masterful execution!