Mark - thanks for that, I'll try it out.

John - it's so dark as I often shoot models in abandoned buildings etc, where I am often at 800 ISO, 1/20s at f2.8 on a monopod or tripod, the model is some distance away from me so the actual area of the focus target (which is larger than the little red square) is much larger than her face, so if you aim at the head then you get more of the background in the focus acrea, and as the background generally has more contrast ts locks onto that instead - trust me it does, I do this quite regularly (not just with Pentax cameras, but Canikons as well as used by my friends).
So I generally pick another part of the body as it fills more of the focus target area, then it struggles with the lack of texture.
The LED torch idea sounds as if that would work, thanks for the idea.

First, I have read the manual, and can't seem to find the answer, but I may have read the wrong part of the manual

I have a K-7, and my only gripe is that sometimes in low light when shooting a model it will fail to focus on the models skin, and focus on the background instead. I am generally shooting with a wide open aperture, and always use the single centre focussing spot. It seems that poorly lit bare skin does not have enough contrast/texture for the K-7 to focus on, so it sees a bit of background and focusses on that instead.

I have heard that LiveView is the answer (or get a K-5!!!), but I cannot work out how in LiveView to zoom in so that I can check whether the subject is in focus.

Any suggestions on how to better focus, or how to zoom in during LiveView most appreciated.

I had forgotten the sense of humour of some of the contributors on here
Must remember to visit the forum more often.

Ah Yes

Gareth, I'm surprised you got arrested.
If you cover the model up as soon as you get spotted (I have always managed to cover the model up before being spotted) then I do not see what offence you have committed?

Interestingly my wife is happy for me to shoot nudes, but would not be happy with me doing lingerie or glamour shots!

I enter quite a few photographic exhibitions aaround the world, with some success.

The general rules are that in the Middle East no nudity or implied nudity at all, in the USA no nipples and definitely no hint of a pubic area, and in the rest of the world anything tasteful (which I would hope mine are!!) will get accepted.

I think America's prudish public approach to this is directly related to them being the world's largest producer and consumer of pornography.

Smeggy, I am doing my little bit to turn the tide.

As Christmas I did a calendar of my images link - nudity of course and I was pleasantly surprised by who had a copy. Male and female colleagues at work took a copy home, and their wives/husbands/partners loved the images and insisted it went up in their kitchens - these are couples with children aged between 8 and 14. They take their children around art galleries and saw no difference with my work, which gave me a very good feeling. My work is now on display everyday in over 40 homes around the country. So all is not lost!

The best though was when my Mother who is over 70 asked if she could have a copy of 'Simply Red' (see my gallery) for Mother's day to put over her fireplace, and my 86 year old father-in-law also has one of my calendars in his kitchen.

Smeggy, I thought nudity was usually a pre-requisite for producing kids, not making them die!!!

On a serious note, I am bemused that the story starts off highlighting the fact that an 8ft painting of a nude is shortlisted for a portrait competition, and because its a painting they can happily display a picture of it. If it was an 8ft photograph I doubt they would have displayed the image, or even mentioned it. It's a sad, sad world

For those who look at my images on my gallery, they will know that one of my main inspirations is a model called Holly.

Well it appears that she inspires some other artists as well

link - contains nudity - but it's on the BBC News website, so it must be OK

I'm usually too busy for spontaneous photography, hence why I shot models.
Once I have booked one it then forces me to come up with ideas, find locations ready for the date of the shoot etc.

There are lots of ideas for location and events at The Photographers Resource and other websites.

Good luck with the challenge Father Ted, I presume the 'beating' will be metaphorical