Thank you to my good friends who agreed to pose for this challenge.
-----------------------------------
Thank you everyone for your great comments, and thanks for this Blue.
One thing that was mentioned I feel I should comment on: a few people with a higher brightness on their monitor noticed a piece of dark cloth on the male's genital area. Although I took many different poses with these two models, on this particular one, I felt it would be better to use a dark cloth and then burn more on top of it to darken it to black. It looked fine on my screen (which I calibrate with a professional spider), but I didn't think of checking it with higher brightness to make sure the piece of cloth didn't show anymore. Although I doubt it is really distracting (most people won't even see it), I would have preferred if the black cloth didn't show at all. Oh well, live and learn!
Processing was pretty straight forward. I shot in color, then did:
cropping
channel mixer to convert to B&W
burning
minor spot edit and minor NI
A few didn't like the "plastic look" on the male's body. I should say this was intentional and not created by Neat Image at all. I asked him to shave all just before the shoot, and applied oil on his skin to better catch the reflections.
Finally, about the final crop: yeah, I know, I cropped the foot in half. :-) My original shot has the complete foot. This crop was intentional too because I felt the overall look was best balanced this way. I tried with the complete foot, but it wouldn't work... well, not to me anyway! ;-) I finally chose to cut it. Regarding the negative space, well tough, I liked it that way! LOL!
Again, thank you all.
Cheers!
/msg edit:
I don't submit often on DPC anymore. People email me when a NUDE challenge pops up and they challenge me to submit. I tried to surprise people this time by using models other than Bianca. I hope I succeeded in that.
That said, my hat goes out to all the photographers who submit to DPC on a regular basis. I have great respect for you guys. Some portfolios around here are absolutely breath taking in their wide variety of subjects and artistic quality. I am amazed by the talent and dedication people show to their photography art. I may be known on DPC for my nudes and fetish photos, which I specialize in because it was my passion and it also became my full time job. But I am nowhere near top photographers on DPC when it comes to variety of subjects! And I am truly amazed by your work.
You have my sincere and utmost respect.
Statistics
Place: 1 out of 121 Avg (all users): 8.2327 Avg (commenters): 8.9510 Avg (participants): 8.1724 Avg (non-participants): 8.2462 Views since voting: 62704 Views during voting: 1649 Votes: 477 Comments: 172 Favorites: 89 (view)
amazing photograph .. DrJOnes is definitely THE master when it comes to tasteful yet erotic nudes .. leaving just enough to the imagination .. powerful stuff .. :)
Really amazing to see two people had the nerve to give this photo a 1. It's truely an awesome photo and totally deserves the number 1 spot for the challenge. Great job.
I wanted to add this comment after reading your comment that you made underneath your photo....My laptop has a brighter view than my stationary pc-I don't really notice the cloth around the male model's hoo hoo and ha ha's. I love the crop because it brings the focus in on the overall pose. My favorite feature about this photo is the excellent lighting that shows on the female model and the soft lighting showing on the male model. The overall picture quality, on all my computers that I have used to look at this photo, is just truly awesome and mind blowing!! Now that is just my opinion
Congrats with the win! I think a non-crop would have had less impact than this. It's simply stunning, light is pure excellence, and honest models. I love it!
This is wonderful. In my opinion it is artistic due to the flow and positions. It "moves" like a dance and makes me feel there is more about to happen.
I must say I envy the beauty of this shot. It is awesome, it speaks tons! It says look at me see how great I am!!! I would proudly hang this one over a mantel. Congrats... BTW I gave you 10 and knew it was the blue ribbon.
This was by FAR my favorite, I was will during voting, so did not have time to vote...just glanced through. This is absolutely stunning, just perfect. You are amazing.
Oh man. . . My faith in the dpc voting system is so restored :) This is such a clear cut blue ribbon winner! Truly an artistic masterpiece. Congratulations!
Beautiful job! Don't ya hate that 'Neat Image' accusation, I get that everytime I enter a challange and have never used it!! anyway, this rocks in so many ways! Big Congrats!!
Mon gars, je dois admettre que je suis tres impressione. C'est un nouveau style? J'aurais jamais devine que c'etait a toi. Excellent, et Bravo avec ta 1ere place!
Thank you kindly for submitting and sharing the information about this picture. I rarely give 10s but this got a 10 from me (and 122 other people!). Not only is this a marvelous study of the human form, but I am in awe of your ability to light both bodies so well when the tones are so different for each. A beautiful photograph which says so much in so many different languages - thank you!
Interesting concept, perfect lighting, great poses and composition (okay, maybe including his whole foot would've been better, but that's a detail), perfect postprocessing, -- I think you have a winner! 10
Some more light on the backdrop could have worked better. (I double-checked my monitor before commenting :)
The whole photo goes on the dark side a bit, and the black body could stand out some more if e.g. a spotlight was aimed to the backdrop right behind him, in order to provide some kind of aura around him.
Not trying to teach you how to shoot (you obviously know your photography) just trying to explain what I would have liked better. Only a 9 for this.
Masterful! The lighting is so excellent in this image. At first the shot felt a little out of balance to me, but the more I look at it, it is alright. I think the poses are great and the background is well chosen. The full range of tones in this image really looks great. Amazing job.
Oh yes! this has to be the Blue ribbon
Great photography great models and lighting
Top work
Just amazing I dont even know anyone who would look this good and who would be prepared for me to take thier photograph 10
Excellent job!!! I love this image on so many different levels. The pose and lighting are damn near perfect. The subject matter is beautiful and the statement is very powerful. The only tiniest nitpick I have is what appears to be a sock or dark fabric on your male models "bits". I understand why you've done this, but I think that slightly more careful placement of your female models right arm would have made for better "concealment".
I have looked at this for a long time trying to find something wrong with this picture, and I can't find anything.
It is a work of art. Great job on all aspects. Good luck. 10
Wow, this is beautiful! I love the lighting. The only thing I would change is his expression - I would like it to be a little more intense to match hers.
I really like this. the contrast is good. I think it could be improved with a different background but i can't think of what color to change it to so perhaps your choice was right on.
I like the idea of using this handsome black and white couple and the (difficult) exposure is spot on - dramatic lighting too. The pose itself doesn't work for me - posed is fine but this one is just a step too contrived for my tastes.
magnificent models...professionally lit and well executed technically. not sure about the crop of his foot and her knee, but there's enough goodness going on here to make up for it. Top notch entry...very well done.
technically almost excellent, light on her chest is a bit harsh. well composed, except I don't like how her leg and his feet are cropped. his expression - priceless!
Fantasitc! Everything about this image, to me, works so well. The position of each of the models is so close yet so uncomplicated and the lighting and editing you have done makes the skin on both models look so soft. Very nice :o)
This image is very beautiful. lighting is spot on & the dramatic poses are great. I'm just not sure what the image is saying. This one willbe a top contender
Excellent! the lighting gives strong structure to the models. My only nitpick would be that the negative space on the left may be unnecessary and doesn't help that much. well done, 8.
brilliant lighting. Only thing IMO that I dont like is the guy. he just isnt anywhere cut up or buffed enough in comparison to the female. Plus his pose is off putting to me.
Stunning - lovely study of shape, form, and light. You've managed to light both light and dark skin incredibly well. Though I have an increasinly lousy track record of picking DPC winners, I'll go out on a limb with this one and say it'll get the blue.
awesome composition ... i'd have liked to see you fill the frame with the models though. in this case i think the negative space is wasted. but it's still worth a 10! well done!!
Beautiful models and lighting. Something about the composition just feels off to me. I think it's a lot to do with where their limbs are cut and how his gaze takes you away from the focus of the shot.
Love the play of darks and lights in this shot. Good poses, attractive models, nicely shot. One of my top favs in the challenge. Hope it does well, good luck.
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