Tips on taking better pictures/videos The most common mistakes new models often make usually deal with the pictures they produce. Whether they are out of focus, not framed correctly, or just not a very appealing pose, we've seen them all. With a little practice and playing with the camera your pictures can far exceed anything you may have imagined, but like everything else, it will take some work. Let's look at several areas. The Camera If you do not have a digital camera yet, we suggest you buy the best one you can afford. Make sure it has a built in flash, zoom lens, and is at least a 2 megapixel (more on that later) resolution or higher. Remember that these are going to be the tools of your trade and skimping now will only cause you some grief later. There really is no substitute for quality equipment. Nekkid.Net may be able to help you purchase your equipment if you need it. Make sure you talk to Jim, Mike, or CW about this beforehand. Not everyone is a good photographer, but they can be with practice. Take the camera with you everywhere you go and play with it. Try taking pictures in different lighting and see how they come out. Don’t rely on the image you see in the cameras viewfinder or display, the image may and often looks different once its' been downloaded to the computer. Learn all you can about the camera. The real benefit of a digital camera is once you've purchased it, outside of batteries you don’t have to pay for film or having the pictures developed. So play with it as often as you can. The Lighting Using the built in flash on your camera is often not enough to produce quality images. Often using the flash will wash out a great shot causing it to look too light. We suggest that you buy some additional lighting in order to get the images that you need. We use a three light set up on all of our photo shoots and have found that it is plenty for 90% of the images. Before you go running off to the photo store and faint at the cost of a decent lighting kit, why not build your own for about $75. Simply go to any hardware store or even a Wal-mart type store and pick up 3 shop lamps with the reflective cones. You can also find extension cords and a power strip to make it a complete kit. All of those items can be bought for less than $50. By using sheets of white and darker color poster boards (less than $.50 each) you can create a clean object to bounce the lights off of to create softer and more professional effects. If you're handy with basic wiring, you can splice in a dimmer switch to the lights to better control the lighting. This can also be done to a slight extent by also using various wattage bulbs in your lights. Like the camera, we suggest you practice setting up the lights in different locations and aimed at different places while you're taking your pictures to see what works best. Facing the lights directly on the subject always makes a bad picture so try bouncing the lights to diffuse them a bit. The height of the lights will also greatly effect the shots as well so once again, practice. If you would like help or suggestions on lighting you can contact Mikey or CW for more information. The Background You are the star! Men and women are paying money to see you. Make sure that they do. You don’t know how many pictures we receive with a great looking model that destroy the shot because they are standing in front of a pile of dirty laundry. The setting is just as important as the model. Make sure what is behind you is clutter free. Make the bed, put away all personal pictures, pick up items not directly needed for the shot even if only a part of that item will (or may) be seen in the picture. The ideal indoor background would be a neutral color sheet or cover tacked to the wall. Natural shots of you around the house are also good, but you need to take precautions. If you have family pictures on the wall you will need to bring them down so that they do not appear in the shot. You may be proud of your children but having their school pictures on the wall in the background of your pictures is not only in bad taste but also borders to close to child porn for our tastes and we will refuse any of those shots regardless of how good you looked in the pictures. Fuzzing out the pictures later simply adds to the unprofessional look to the shot and makes it look like you have something to hide. Although we expect you to keep your personal life private (as do the members to an extent) there is no reason to make shots like that when all it will take is a couple of minutes before you get started to remove those things to begin with. Always look through the camera before any photo shoot and have a plan. Try to keep things simple in the background. The more cluttered and unorganized the background the less the eye will be drawn to you. The Outfits I know it may seem odd discussing clothing for adult sites but most shoots start out fully clothed. There are several reasons for this. First it gives you that strip tease look as you take off layers of clothing and pose rather than just starting off butt ass nekkid. Secondly, it may seem odd but you need to build a feeling that you are a real person and not just an object. Strange? Not really, most of our customers read your bios and FAQ sections before they decide to join your site. They want to feel as if they know you in some way. By showing them how you look with clothes on up front it adds to that illusion. Third, it gives you teaser pics for each update that can be seen by non-paying members to entice them to join your site. Now, what to, and what not to wear. You do not want to wear clothing that is city or state specific. There's two reasons for this. First off if you have in your bio that you live in Tampa Fl. but you really live in Atlanta, you might tip your hand a bit by wearing a Braves shirt. Always try to keep the illusion going. Secondly, like politics, if you're wearing a Braves shirt it may actually cost you a member or two if the person on the other end of the computer is a Mets fan. Another item you may not think about are tags. Those stupid little tags that hang out of your bra or panties. Cut them things off. A great ass framed by a sexy red thong is ruined by a tag hanging down. Another benefit for outfits that you may not have thought about is sales. One of your members may offer to buy the panties you were wearing in your latest photo set. If you paid $5 for them at Wal-mart, and was able to sell them for $25, just how much money do you think you would be losing each month by starting off nude? People are all different. Some would love to watch you start off in your street clothes while others may want to see you start off in lingerie. Others may want to see you dressed up like you're ready to take on the town and others may like to see you in a shower scene with your clothes on. There's no wrong or right to this, it's just different strokes for different folks. Change it up often and try not to get into a niche and become to predictable. Listen to your fans and do their requests as often as you can. They may surprise you. Research Here's the fun part. Research. Go to other adult sites and see for yourself what makes and breaks a picture. Look at the poses, the backgrounds, the general themes they use. Do they use props? How do their shots progress? Do they use elaborate sets or is it kept simple? Try to look for ideas you can use for your next photo shoot. We try to discourage plagiarism. Do not copy another model pose for pose and set for set. Simply use your research to get ideas. You need to let your own personality show through.