How to Take Erotic Pictures

Taking pictures is fun. Taking pictures of yourself with little or no clothing on can be even more fun! Yes indeed. You don't need to be an exhibitionist/aspiring porn star to like the thought of yourself captured on film like this. You also don't need to have the perfect body. I consider my own body to be no more than average, but still, the feedback I have received for my pictures so far has been overwhelming and positive.

There are many uses for erotic pictures of yourself. On the Literotica forums, for example, many people use avatars that show glimpses of them -- some less, some more explicit. There is also the amateur pics forum, where people often show off their assets. This experience can be quite liberating and help you see your body in a completely different light -- and I mean that in the most positive way. Also, if you are a writer, you might consider submitting in the illustrated stories or poems category. A nice, erotic picture in the right place might add lots to the story's intended atmosphere.

There are even more possibilities for those pictures outside of Literotica. Construct a sexy calendar as a Christmas gift for you S.O., for example. Surprise them with a sexy screensaver or send them an email including a nice pic when they can't be with you. Sounds like fun? Well then -- let's get started.

Camera: A digital camera is strongly recommended. This is for several reasons, the most important of which is that with a digital camera, it is easy to transfer the pictures from the camera to your computer. It is also cheaper, considering the amount of pictures you will probably take. You can see your picture on the screen right after you took it, which helps determine if the angle worked that you tried, or if there was a distraction in the picture that you weren't aware of before. Then you can try again right away.

I use a Canon Powershot A70. I have had this camera for several years, and it has always worked very well for me (I have dropped it on rocks and into the Scottish sea)

Software: A software that will allow you to view and alter your pictures is also a very good idea. For simple cropping, I use IrfanView, which is available as a free download on the internet. If you want to go fancier, you can invest in a program such as Photoshop.

Setting: Chose your background and lighting very carefully. A messy room in the background tends to distract from the picture and make it look less professional. A white wall can appear a bit clinical. A bed is often a nice setting, especially if it has fresh silk sheets, which will make you feel sexy as well. Artificial lighting can make you appear pale, especially if you are just using the regular lights of the room or the flash of your camera. I have taken my best pictures using the sunlight from my window, which works fantastically and I recommend it. If the sun is strong enough, the background (my messy room) appears completely black in the pictures and I don't have to worry about it.

However, don't kill your brain worrying about all of this too much. This is what we have all that software for!

Props and Poses: Simple, naked pictures can be very erotic and pretty. Often though, it is much sexier to get dressed up a little bit, or to show only small parts of your body and leave lots to the imagination. So if you don't feel comfortable showing all of your body, pick your favorite body part! It doesn't have to be anything obvious, like your breasts (although I have yet to figure out how any pair of breasts could not be sexy). You could pick your legs, neck, hands, feet, shoulders, hair... whatever you find pretty about yourself. Don't feel forced to show your face either, I never have and likely never will.

As an example, here is a picture of my belly:

Next, take your clothes off. Then get dressed up and/or accessorize! This can be a simple as a pretty pair of panties or your favorite lingerie. There are so many things that can add to a sexy picture, however. I've used a scarf, earrings, a collar and chain (why yes, I'm naughty), earrings, a plastic leaf, necklaces, bracelets and ice cream (you heard that right). Keep in mind which part of your body you are planning to photograph, of course. If you picked your legs, how about a cute pair of legwarmers or some high heels? Get creative! Rip an old shirt! Make sure it really is an old shirt though! There is probably a ton of stuff in your closet or dresser that you could use. As you can see below, I once used a bookmark, hanging it around my neck and letting it dangle between my breasts.

Taking the Picture: Finally, you are ready to get this show on the road. When it comes to snapping the actual picture, there are several possibilities. First of all, get a good friend or your S.O. to do it for you. This is easiest; although the bad part is that they may not understand how you want the picture to look. It may also be a little bit awkward to ask a friend for such a favor. On the bright side, doing this activity with your S.O. can be a lot of fun and may lead to sex, which is always good.

If you decide to take the pictures yourself, there are two options. One, get very friendly with your camera's self-timer. You will also very likely have to use a tripod. Two, hold the camera in your hand while you take the picture. Full-body shots are pretty much impossible with this technique, and the picture may end up blurry if you cannot hold the camera far enough away. You will alsohave to crop your shots. I actually use this technique the most, and in the uncropped shot, you can clearly see how my arm is coming forward to hold the camera.

While taking the picture, don't be afraid to try out different angles and poses; after a few shots, look at the display to see how they look. It helps a lot if your camera has one of those displays that you can flip, so you can see yourself while you are taking the picture. If you don't, having a mirror behind the camera may help you figure out if you have it pointed the right way. This also gets a lot easier over time; with a bit of practice you will learn your angles quickly.

One important rule: Unless your memory card is tiny, you should not have to erase any pictures. And you really shouldn't erase them until you have seen them full size on the computer screen. Even if you don't like them on the display, remember that the full size pic may make some things look a bit different. I have definitely looked through my pictures on the display of the camera before and not found a single one I liked in a series. After I saw them on the computer, there were plenty.

On the Computer: After you're done taking pictures, transfer them to your computer of choice. I recommend a separate folder for your naughty pics, so they don't pop up in between the holiday pics you're showing your parents. I usually cut and paste the pictures I just took into my designated folder, where they are password protected. This is for several reasons, first of all so I remember which of the pictures I have already looked at, and second of all so they don't stay on the memory card. Those cards are portable devices that can fall into the wrong hands. Not a good thing!

Cropping comes next -- it is a must for me because of the above mentioned awkward arm holding the camera. When cropping, I usually pick a detail that the picture displays well. In this case, I like my shoulder, so this is the part I may actually use. Even when you want to use most of the picture, consider cropping it a bit in case there are distractions in the background. In IrfanView, you click and drag to select the area you would like to crop around, then chose "crop selection" from the Edit menu.

Literotica has size restrictions on their pictures, so you may have to do some resizing as well. Do this after you crop. Make sure the aspect ratio is preserved when you do this, otherwise you will end up with a distorted picture. A Literotica avatar can only be 150 x 150 pixels big. When submitting an illustrated story, the pictures can be no wider than 320 pixels and no higher than 240 pixels. Again, in IrfanView this works by selecting "Resize/Resample" from the Image menu.

Depending on what kind of software you use, there is much more you can do with your picture. Many softwares allow you to lighten or darken areas, play with color schemes, convert the picture to black and white (which often looks very classy) and much more. I encourage you to try out all the features that are available to you.

In the end, remember to have fun with it. Don't worry if your pictures don't turn out quite like you imagined in the beginning -- you will soon figure out what colors, angles and lighting flatter you. Experiment and remember that you have full control over the pictures. Anything you really don't like can be deleted right away; and anything you love will surely be admired.