Hello!

I'm still kinda exploring photography right now and have been mainly just testing out some of the creative zones on my camera. But what I am really asking is how to get this.
kind of look. I think its got something to do with exposure but I'm completely oblivious on how to do it. I'v tried alot of different things and ruined alot of roles of film that take a long time to develop but for some reason I just cant figure it out. Some tips would be greatly appreciated. If you would like to see some more pictures like this just go to google and type in Nigel Parry. He's got a few that are pretty cool.

This looks pretty old school to me. To bring out texture in skin they used to use a green filter when shooting b/w. The first thing you need to do is analyze how the image was lit. Look at the shadows and the reflections. Look at the eyes, many times the light source is reflected in the eyes. This shot has very little highlights in the eyes. I would have to say that this was lit by a small un-diffused light (probably a flashbulb, you can tell by the sharp defined shadows) that was placed high and slightly camera left (look at the shadow under his nose). Also the light was closer to the subject than the camera creating the contour lighting effect (see how the light falls off quickly on the sides of his face). That may also have been helped by the inverse square law. You gotta look that one up on your own.
You may want to check out work by Yousuf Karsh and Edward Weston. I can't think of the photographers name that first described contour lighting all I can remember is that he hated Ansel Adams. Hope this helps:)

After looking at this shot more. I'm thinking that it could have been lit with a fresnel spot like they use in movies.(I think this is more likely) That could give the same kind of light fall off on the face. I really don't think that this was shot outdoors unless they really did a lot of work to it in the darkroom.

fresnel

I did a series of portraits a few months ago in the studio for this kind of effect. I used a softbox off to one side of the subject turned down low just to provide a constant light source and an umbrella flash mounted above casting light down to create the shadows. This just creates an image with light coming from the right directions. A good bit of the work is done in the darkroom (or photoshop). Increase the contrast in the image until you get the desired effect on the skin tones not worrying about anything else in the image. After you get the skin tones the way you want them, burn out any extra noise or information in the background. Just a side note: use a low ISO/ASA film or digital setting (50 or less, 100 at the most). I've had more success in the studio using low speeds like this, especially in Black and White.