artistic nudes in black and white 2 Untitled

The lines of her body and hair almost close a circle with triangles inside, which I like very much. This also contrasts nicely with the straight lines in the background. Well made, John!

Composition and light are perfect.

Hi John,

This image is excellent in BW. The background and body levels are subdue, which places an effective emphasis on her expression and black hair .

Excellent.

best Regards,  Mike

Great composition and light, an excellent b&w image indeed John.

O Yes... Marvelous Indeed... Great pose and I like it!

-r-

Great light, composition, and model.

nice one.... even if the model is too thin for my taste :)

............. long legged, lithe and luscious.

Great image.......... well done.

Regards

Mon chum I have no idea how you post process your b&w to achieve the tones and glassy look of your post process i find that a real art... I think that it was the works of such photographer as Divant, or Pirot maybe Maplethorp all created a tone like yours one in which the gray variations were so smooth... I think I could incorporate some of your style in my own works... Maybe one day can shoot or post process together it would be a real experience... tres bien... mon chum... MJ

Great play with light and lines in the composition, your B&W work is always spot on.

Best regards Tore

Perfect in all..! :-)...Ciaomau!

Many thanks to you my friends ..

.. people sometimes refer to lack of contrast, no true blacks  in my work etc.,   but I really believe that it is  a matter of taste and each of us should  do their thing  .. it would probably be a little boring if we all aimed for the same result, no?  And anyway, my monitor decides on a lot of things for me .. : -)

I can really relate to that John. Just bought a new iMac with the 21.5" screen. I couldn't believe the difference in how my work looked on it as compared to my Windows based laptop! It is substantial!

Now, on my beautiful new iMac, this shot looks fantastic IMHO. Her black hair and eyes pop beautifully in contrast to the rest of the great tonal range. They are as true black as you can get!

The difference in monitor screens is why so many warn against pixel peeping and so forth. The proof of the pudding is in the final print, not the computer screen!

Again, nice shot.

Excellent!!(7)

John,

I have been following your work for some time and am working hard to become as good a photographer as you.  The light and exposure are perfect as always.  Unfortunately, this image is not pleasing to my eye.  The pose and shooting angle accentuates the models extreme thinness.  The pose is reminicent of a contorted sculpture in a painting by Dali.  Also, the old shop building in the back is just a distraction.  Your portfolio contains hundreds of shots I like better than this one.

Cheers

Roland

Thank you for your comment Roland. This is not about the models but photography. That said, I love Dali.  

John, admirable composition exposure and tones.

That is not an attractive pose for that model, John.

While she does have many strong poses she can do, many poses other models cannot do, this is not one of them.

This calls out for pencil tight jeans and something to cover or alter the curve of her back.

Same pose with her butt on the floor and her back against a wall and her feet on another wall would be a better pose using this shape, turned 90 degrees counter clockwise. say in a hallway.  That would give a straighter look to her back.  

To the posters that applaud the model in one way or another, I am afraid some of  you do not understand what this web site is about.  John is a master in what he does, and while John's choice of models contributes to the success of his work, his models are not Danish at a bakery contest.

This is an ongoing debate that will not come to a conclusion here. I am essentially a glamour photographer, so alike the majority of landscape photographers or those that specialize in flowers, I tend to search out for beautiful and interesting things to capture. However, it is also about form and shape, light and dark, as well as moments and the feelings they evoke. Therefore, as you rightly point out Gary, this remains foremost about photography and how we go about it in each category is more important than the choice of subject matter per se.

Were this about the model and her alone, I would possibly think it inappropriate to insist on her physique, and her more so than me. However, to consider this or any other body type as not suitable for a particular pose or setting is useful commentary and opinion whether I agree with it or not, thank you. What you suggest as an alternative though is interesting as a figure study, but has a totally different objective to the one above.

I took up the point raised over Dali further up.  Indeed, once before I posted a work in which I tried to emulate a Dali like configuration on the wall … http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=6153290 

The analogy is not as similar here, but I found the Dali-like Don Quixote body type sculpture (bent over a horse) interesting and the unusual background fittingly so too. It really goes a little bit beyond glamour, but then hopefully some will realize that a few of my others works attempt that too. Many thanks dear friends for taking up so much of your time with this photo.

"To the posters that applaud the model in one way or another, I am afraid some of  you do not understand what this web site is about.  John is a master in what he does, and while John's choice of models contributes to the success of his work, his models are not Danish at a bakery contest."

Wow!, quite a statement!

We posters are well aware of what PN is all about. We either like an image or not.

The only issue we agree upon here is that John is a Master, and I for one would never consider giving him advice..... in any form. PN members enjoy Johns images and whilst we persue different genres we cannot help but enjoy his mastery at what he does. John is a gentleman, and I'm sure he enjoys the fact that someone has looked at his image and found the time to comment...... even if only "nice pic".

Should I ever venture into Nude photography, I know that John will be there to help me.......... That is what PN is about.

Oh, and the Danish?......... far too sweet for me.

John......... sorry my friend........ not my intention to mess up your thread.

Regards

Thank you very much Graham and thanks to you all again. I think we are all rowing in the same boat here and I see nothing other than well intentioned comments on this page.

Though it is not at all evident here, there is an obvious stigma attached to being a glamour photographer and it does understandably sometimes attract unwanted and unwarranted attention, either because the subject matter remains controversial or simply because some cannot see beyond the implied plasticity of the image. And if only it remained at that.

Recently, someone was posting comments on gynecology and references to flatulence under my work. What option do they leave me but to remove the photos, the models follow these pages too.Admittedly it gets a little tiring when the same photo is removed two or three times, the remarks being reproduced over and over under the stated pretext of free speech. I believe in free speech, but I believe in empathy too, dare I add a little kindness also.

I plead for tolerance for myself and for others too. We are all here to express ourselves, to relax and have a good time, hopefully to improve our photography as well. As for advice Graham, I count on it from everyone, we all have something to contribute. I welcome criticism however harsh and more than once it has saved me in extremis, before passing to publication.