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Anyone with a camera, a willing subject, and a dirty mind can produce erotic photography. Regardless of the motivation - whether you are wanting to spice up your relationship, wanting to improve the odds on an online dating service, or you may simply want some good ‘reading material’ - the following practical tips offer a chance to take hot photos and get those sexual juices flowing.

We take you through the necessary steps to complete a successful photo shoot, starting with coming up with a Concept, creating the appropriate Setting, including how to work with Lighting, and finally, discuss Photo editing. And we didn’t think it would be right to offer advice on DIY erotic photography without trying it out ourselves. We were lucky enough to have someone willing to expose himself for a sample photo shoot (see the gallery above).

Concept
Unless the image of someone doing dishes or sitting on the couch watching TV turns you on (which it might), you’ll want to come up with a concept for your shoot. A certain level of role-playing is involved when taking erotic photos. It doesn’t have to be cliché, unless of course that’s what you are after. Think of situations that might turn you or your subject on.

We explored with our camera a fantasy in which a business dinner went terribly right. We imagined a business owner bringing a potential new client to a high-end restaurant, to entice him with good food and wine, and undoubtedly, his charm and sex appeal. After a successful dinner and a copious amount of wine, the sexual appetite built up between the business owner and his dinner guest, our subject. Our shoot occurs after dinner, with the business owner inviting his, now, new client back to his house, and once there… the clothes are ripped off.

Setting
The setting should be used to reinforce the concept. It could be indoors or outdoors. You may want to include props like wigs, sex toys, uniforms, etc. We used several props for our shoot including a fake fireplace, plants, shag rug, and business suit.

Lighting
Lighting is key when it comes to erotic photography. Never use flat lighting such as two lights in front of the model. Use lighting on a 45 degree angle or from the side to achieve a wrap around effect of light on the model’s body. Some lighting issues can be resolved if you have photo editing software (see below).

You’ll definitely need a DIY Lighting Kit. Professional lighting kits are ridiculously expensive, but a quick trip to your local hardware store will get you the three (or more) lights with stands, reflector board, and power cables you’ll need for a successful shoot. For our shoot we purchased two halogen work lamps with stands for around $50 each and one without a stand for $12. We also purchased some insulation foam for reflectors, but we didn’t end up using it. The stand-less units are not ideal for your main lights but it can be useful for fill lighting.

For reflectors, use any of the following: windshield sunshade, sheet of foamcore, polystyrene sheet, whiteboard, survival blanket, stiff cardboard, or for the more economically minded, tin foil on cardboard. We also found that an umbrella can work wonders when you need to reduce glare. Just place the umbrella in such a way that you can see the light directly through the camera lens.

Try out the interactive flash simulator below to learn about the basic 3-point lighting setup…

Photo editing
Much of what you lack in photography skills can be overcome using photo editing software such as Photoshop. You can make your photos come alive by manipulating the levels of hue and saturation, and brightness and contrast. Use the cropping tool to improve composition. The two photos below illustrate how you can take an amateur looking photo and improve it using photo editing software. I cropped the photo so it no longer looked like the subject was dancing or walking and used the desaturation and brightness tool to create a moonlight effect.

Notes:

• Plug the lights into various outlets to lighten the load.
• Lights get hot. Do not touch or you might burn yourself.
• Legal contracts may not be sexy, but you should consider a Model Release Form so you have protection if your photos end up all over the Internet. This is especially true for celebrities. Click here to download a sample form from iStock.

If you use our tips, and want to share your results with us for posting, we will gladly show the world your successes! Email us ‘contact  AT  blurbberry.com’.