Oh... my Lord... ... love the lighting and the body too...

And...so the games begin! Well done my friend,,,it appears I need to hit the gym before the next self-portraits contest...LOL

Bravo on another superb entry

For a 44 you look just fine my friend.
I am only 36.

Well, you know what has to be next, right? A "Men of PXL" wall calendar!

Whooooooa. What a lucky time to start being active on the photography side, eh ladies?
You boys are brave! And I have to applaud on such artistic vision in the pose. Its graceful, and strong...and very reminisant of classic sculptures by the masters.

And most of all! Tasteful. Nicely played.

I'm saving up for a wide angle lens so I can do a shot like this! (nice shot. I agree with jadedink about the pose. Good job!)

Nice shot Whose next ?

agree with jadelink about the pose. superb!

Exquisite! Rare and appealing excellence! Good work author!

OK gutsy shot I agree, but dam man squeezing your thighs together to make the shot safe must have been a pain.

lol...
Art demands sacrifices...

This is an amazing shot. The pose is and the way the shadows and light fall make it a winner!

Love the lighting & pose ... and eye candy lol

Congrats.... glad you won....

Congratulations! A well deserved win!

congrats, wonderful work as always.

I think you should take off your socks earlier.
In high-res you can see the marks of your socks on your feet...lol

karaflazz...indeed, this is my first 'nude' so I will take that under advisement...but I can only wonder one thing? Are you REALLY checking the Hi-Rez that closely?!? And ummmm.....never mind....LOL

Allways.........

Nice job (but I agree about the socks). Great lighting

Ok...I agree about the 'socks' thing guys...maybe I'll try a re-do...but it took me 44 years to get neked in front of a camera.....give me a chance?!? LOL

Missy...Glad to make you day....prints go on sale next week for $29.95 in the lobby....LOL

Yay - eye candy Wow - incredibly brave and well executed. I am a little worried about you though Karaflazz lol

author, the guys are just jealous ) this is a super duper shot - love the lighting, the pose, the tones - not to mention the hottness of the model!!

Very brave image author. Great pose and excellent lighting. Looks like you really "thought" about this one.

Great image. Love the lighting and the shadows

Yes Jeremy, people are now certainly wondering...

@Author don't think your fooling anyone with this entry we all know what your up to, at some point you really are gonna have to show us a smile in a self portrait!

LOL @ Adam....yea, you caught me as usual! Taking off one's clothes to detract from the lack of smiling is one of the oldest tricks in the book..

@ Everyone else...thank you for the kind, thoughtful comments...WOW, I'm just totally in Awe...

I totally have a new look upon the people of PXL after these kinda contests Going home to practice holding things betweeen my boobs now.. LOL (for those that know a previous shot I posted NOT of me though)

Dang jfish....who told you about the next shot I had planned?!? No Fair!!!!

@ Amanda - it's all in good fun...you wanna hold something between your boobs, then hell yeah! "you go girl!" LOL (an nice cold mug of beer would look nice!?!)

lol I was just waiting for Amanda's comment... after watching her post in last self portrait contest last night. BEWARE AUTHOR... MnMCarta is coming... hehehe... this is really a thoughtful portrait author. keep it up !

I hope you wiped the seat of that chair off when you got finished.

Oh sorry. *correction*. last night i was watching some contest sexy o something.. Amanda's friends pic.. it was not self portrait..lolzzz

So in the last self portrait contest a bunch of people copied this Author's entry, who's gonna start the fun this time

Author, I'm surprised! I love your lighting and the dramatic shadows. You've done amazing at replicating the famous pose of the thinker.
I can't help but to think...you have tattoos! I am not as shocked by it as excited, and would love to know the stories behind your ink choices. I believe every tattoo has some story behind it, and usually tells A LOT about the person.

And...men of pxl calendar was mentioned...I can't wait! If we could only get 12 amazing entries!

Guys...you heard it...the Ladies want a "Men of Pxl" calendar!!!! Who's with me? (we can split the proceeds...or donate to a worthy charity, like the "itsmymoment home for under-appreciated artists" LOL)

Love the Sock marks! great shot!

One of my favorites! Lovely and well done, piece of art author!

Really nice.

Fabulous!

Congrats on second.... my second fav in this contest....

I give you the credit for starting the idea here...you did an awesome job, andd I'm so happy to see this one place. Look how it spurrred the bravery and creativity from so many others!

Congratulations!

Thank you for the dedication my friend...good to 'see' you again!

dude... this photo is sick....

A-m-azing!! ))

ps> you might want to wok more on them printed dollars - they might get you in trouble with the local authorities! )

There is an indication on the printed dollars that says "for photography use only".
The printing store asked me what was the purpose of those dollars,so they place some kind of "watermark" on them.
So i am legal...for a mafia guy!!!

OK. First, the mood you have created is phenomenal! I feel it to the point I literally have goosebumps....REALLY.
Subtle but to the point without over kill.
The same goes for the title. Which is perfect btw.
The old school phone - Nice touch. I love your expression. And by all the smoke, you must have a lot of patients.
The lighting and composition of course is great. I could go on and on!
I am inspired!

bandit...you're praising the 'master' of lighting here...yea, he's good (an understatement!)

I meant it as in - the lighting and composition is great as usual, but his creation....
He really out did himself this time! (double entendre intended)

BTW, What is up with the new avitar?

Don't get me wrong...I understood, indeed...a superb portrait as always. The attention to detail in the author's themed portraits is always complete.

Author ... YOU ROCK

I knew it! You do live in a cave! Lol. Perfect job yet again my friend

And we have our first!!! Come on ladies the door has been opened

I've always enjoyed hanging with the guys.

Life is really really GOOD....lol

ahhh.. so much better now.. LOL

'bout damn time! Kudos, author!

About damn time to end this 'sausage-fest'...LOL

GREAT SHOT and welcome to the club!!!

I'm glad to be a part of it, although am inclined to agree that there should be a nude self portraits contest.

I wonder if there is an adult filter for this site though

uuuhaaaa

Very nice image author, well done.

Love it.

Will you marry me?

Amazing!!!!

Love it...Great shot!

Great texture & light tones.

I love the lighting and texture, but I do not like the composition much. I think the eye is too close to the top, and you even cut off a bit of the eye. The eye is what draws your attention, and because it is so high up you are distracted from the rest of the photo

Have to completely disagree with dem90, The tight crop is what I like the most about this. Great Job Author!

Stunning!

Roller skating inside your pores? hehehe great job

I'm with Adam here...this is a GREAT image. The very tight crop makes the image IMHO. The tones and texture are superb as is the lighting. Top notch work author!!!

I thought the crop is perfect

like this very much -- reminds me of the old T-Max grain

superb, love it. A new fav for me.
A teeny-weeny bit more above the eye, really just an itty-bitty more skin I would have loved.