Following up from the "Sexy photos of men" threas, I've decided to set myself the challenge of trying to take some tasteful nude photos of myself to give to my wife as a surprise (along with one or two rude ones, perhaps!). I'm hoping that she might find them sexy.
This is very unfamiliar territory for me. I'm no exhibitionist and I'm certainly no pin-up, although there are aspects of my physique which I think are probably okay. The main reason why I want to do this is to confront head-on my own shyness and lack of confidence about my body. By mentioning the idea on here, I hope that I won't back out easily* -- it'll feel as if I'm "doing it for a dare" (even though nobody has actually dared me!). Hopefully it will give my wife some laughs (hopefully for the right reasons!) and maybe a few thrills.
I was wondering whether anyone here has tried this before. The practical difficulty that I can foresee is that, although I have a tripod, I don't have a camera with remote control or a forward-facing display. I'll try to address the first problem using the self-timer (crossing my fingers that I can get into position in time!) and the second one by pre-framing the shot as best I can. It might be a fiasco, but even terrible results might give us both something to giggle about.
Any tips or encouragement gratefully received!
* See... I'm having second thoughts about making this posting now!
I can't offer much advice on the content of the photos, but depending on what kind of camera you have, you migth be able to pick up a remote quite cheaply on eBay. I did this for my camera and it makes things a million times easier!
If you're low-tech, a couple of big mirrors and learning to use the self-timer on your camera would be the way to go. In my opinion sexy shots are all about creating nice, interesting shapes with your body. The better you get at posing (not like that!) the better the chances of taking a really good picture!
I make my husband or a friend do all mine now, but when I was single and living with my parents I was quite the internet exhibitionist :P You need a decent size room to do it well - I used to set up the tripod a couple meters from the foot of the bed, then set out a few markers like pillows, books, whatever really to mark the edges of the shot. Timer, do a pose, then look at the pic and tweak things that aren't right. So if that angle makes my thigh look fat, rotate a bit, or if my belly is sticking out same pose but suck it in, etc. Usually took about 50 and got like 3 or 4 that I liked mind - it's time consuming if you don't have someone to direct :P
What I do now on the rare occasion I want to self take, or if I'm feeling picky and want to direct myself, is set up my webcam on the tripod with the camera balanced on top of it (tricky) and the webcam hooked up to my laptop so I can see what I'm doing. Only works if you have a webcam and either a laptop or your computer set up within view of where you're taking your pics.
Can't give any advice on posing really - I'm a woman and I don't really like men just to look at (I'm all about the personality and things like touch, sound etc with men) so I don't know what'd work. Good luck :D
I don't even have a tripod:( let alone a remote lol. I usually just set the self timer, point the camera in the rough direction of where I'll be and then leg it into position. You do indeed end up with some quite hilarious outtakes. or even just rubbish pics where half of you is chopped off or the angle is unflattering (not much choice/variation when you have no tripod & no photographer).
My tip would be to take loads of pics, and several variations of each pose/shot so you have more chance of one of them looking good. And keep checking the pics you've taken as you go along so you get an idea of what works and what needs changing. And don't dwell on the unflattering ones!
Sometimes it's easier and less denting to the confidence to just take photos of certain body parts that you/your wife like, rather than your whole body. Might be a good way to ease yourself in and can also be sexier as it gets the imagination going.
Oh and if you don't want to go through all the drama but still want to surprise your wife a quick little phone pic sent during the day can be very sexy imo.
It's a little time comsuming and you feel like a plonker but when you end up with a nice pic it really does help your confidence and gives you something to make you feel better about yourself on down days; so worth persevering...
Rambled on a bit but, yeah, no-one to take photos of me so I've become quite the expert
I tend to only take photos from my webcam and have perfected the most flirtateous poses for my partner. As we're in a long distance it's kind of essential. I have learned to take lots of pics at my own pace with a range of outfits and poses. Some webcam programs have a self timer option- that's what I use for the handsfree option. There is a good range of great value webcams. I bought a good brand name one from tesco in a sale. (Logitech is a good leading brand).
I have taken snapshots ffrom my phone too for awkward shots that I wouldn't have been able to take with the webcam etc. They're quite hit and miss though especially with lighting.
Good luck and let us know how successful you are. (Perhaps not the exact details) =P
I admire what your doing. It's quite tricky and as others have said you'll have many many more misses than hits. I've only done this once and it was a bum shot for this forum.
I think the most important thing, about taking photos of yourself, is to make sure you are relaxed and you are having a good time (which I am sure you will ). If you're really conscious and nervous in the photo it will appear in the image. Doing it for the first time is really nerving! After a few shots, you'll relax but perhaps have some props or something so the focus isn't entirely on you.
This may be getting a bit too in depth but using ambient light is very flattering and you'll get some nice shadows etc.
We've been taking erotic photos of us alone, together and with friends with a self-timer for years. Practice makes perfect! At least with digital cameras you don't have the problem we had of getting the pics developed, in the old days high street photo shops wouldn't handle photos of sex so we had to send them away to private developers. These days you can see the results immediately and delete the awful ones, without anybody else having to see them.
I think the most important thing, about taking photos of yourself, is to make sure you are relaxed and you are having a good time (which I am sure you will External Media). If you're really conscious and nervous in the photo it will appear in the image. Doing it for the first time is really nerving! After a few shots, you'll relax but perhaps have some props or something so the focus isn't entirely on you.
I could not agree more... when I first started taking self-portraits (just normal ones, not for this purpose) it was very obvious in the image that I wasn't entirely comfortable, but now after getting used to it that has mostly gone away..
Also I highly recommend looking at other people's pictures as not only will it give you ideas of your own, but you will also be able to tell how the image was set-up (e.g. lighting etc). Finally there are lots of tutorials and guides that are easily accessible that will help you.
Many thanks for those replies and words of encouragement. My embarrassment at the prospect of taking some nude snaps of myself will now be tempered by the knowledge that I can't back out because a lot of people have taken note of what I'm intending to do. I haven't yet worked out that I won't need to prove to any of them that I've gone through with it.
Based on your tips, I'm going to try my luck with some natural light (as opposed to flash) photography with the camera fixed on a tripod in self- timer mode, and me screaming around the room trying to get into the shot in time, With a bit of luck, the photos will be too dark to see anything, and I'll run out of energy and enthusiasm before I can take enough to have any usable material.
If I do get any good shots, then I'll consider using part of it as a replacement for my current user photo to give it a more personal feel. If need be, I'll use something mundane like a bit of knee. Hopefully there's no danger of that putting anyone off their lunch.
Many thanks for those replies and words of encouragement. My embarrassment at the prospect of taking some nude snaps of myself will now be tempered by the knowledge that I can't back out because a lot of people have taken note of what I'm intending to do. I haven't yet worked out that I won't need to prove to any of them that I've gone through with it. External Media
Based on your tips, I'm going to try my luck with some natural light (as opposed to flash) photography with the camera fixed on a tripod in self- timer mode, and me screaming around the room trying to get into the shot in time, With a bit of luck, the photos will be too dark to see anything, and I'll run out of energy and enthusiasm before I can take enough to have any usable material. External Media
If I do get any good shots, then I'll consider using part of it as a replacement for my current user photo to give it a more personal feel. If need be, I'll use something mundane like a bit of knee. Hopefully there's no danger of that putting anyone off their lunch. External Media
Knees can be sexy! Pretty much any body part can be sexy if the mood is right and it belongs to a decent human being. I think we'd all consider ourselves lucky to get a bit of cuddly hubby knee action. External Media
Good luck, have fun, and I agree with Monster, mirrors help!
I took advantage of a couple of spare hours while I was on my own today to take some nude (or nudish) shots of myself. As I expected, I found that it's rather difficult to take photos on your own using a compact camera with no forward-facing display and no remote control (just a 10 second timer). Also, as others mentioned, I had to take a lot of shots in order to get a few photos that don't have elementary problems with them.
Still, I persevered and I think I've ended up with a reasonable set of tasteful photos that I can give to my wife as a surprise, plus a couple of ruder ones that I hope will be an even greater surprise and yield dirty laughter from her. I think I can say at this point that it was fun. I have no delusions that I'm any vision of male perfection, but I still felt confident enough for the first time to put my unclothed body in front of the camera and feel sexy about it. Hopefully my wife will like what she sees!
In case anyone wants to check up on me, I've uploaded some of my tamer shots (ones that conform to Lovehoney Photo rules) to my Flickr account ("cuddlyhubby") at http://www.flickr.com/photos/cuddlyhubby/
Many thanks to everyone in this thread for your support.
your wife is one lucky lady. what a lovely thing to do, certainly like the results, tasteful yet effective, and loving the black and white too, certainly adds something to the effects too.
Maybe, if there is a next time you could do some macro shots
I've taken all of my pictures (on the blog) myself, but mirrors and tripods are useful! Also, instead of a forward facing display, how about setting up your laptop (if it has a webcam) near to the camera with the webcam input showing, that way you'll get a vague idea of what the camera will be taking :)
