Shooting Dope Content on a Budget

By Clarabelle Woods

You don’t need a fancy camera to shoot really pretty porn! In fact, if you’re just starting out or on a tight budget, I’d argue that a fancy camera is the last thing you should be spending your money on. Lots of top models shoot content on their cell phones, and most phones can shoot high enough quality to put lower end digital cameras to shame.

1080p HD is industry standard for clips. If your phone can do 60fps, that’s a fun bonus — but not necessary to get your clip store up and running. Some phones even do 4k, but be prepared to deal with giant file sizes, long render times and seeing your pores in higher definition than you ever wanted.

In addition to utilizing everything your phone has to offer, here are some ideas to help you shoot dope content on a budget.

Lighting is Key

If you’re going to invest in anything, invest in a solid lighting set up. Depending on the room you shoot in and the kind of content you shoot, you may want to get a ring light, soft boxes or umbrellas, but I highly recommend getting some sort professional lighting. If you have a ton of natural light, you may be able to get away with just using that and a lamp or two, but that severely limits your working hours and your filming location.

Most cameras perform best in well-lit conditions, so a lighting kit is a cheap way to boost the quality of your content without upgrading your camera. Do some research on the different types of lighting kits available, and be prepared to spend $40-$100 on your first set up. If you think your content looks blurry or dull, try upgrading your lighting first before springing for a new camera. It’s so, so worth it, and I wish I’d gotten my umbrella lights sooner.

Bluetooth Remotes for Snapchat and Pictures

If you do a lot of Snap content or photosets, a Bluetooth remote shutter is an amazing tool and will let you work without having to use a self-timer or pressing the record button manually.

They break easily, but are less than $5 each and save so much time for Snapchat shows, pictures for promo or custom photosets. I love that I can see what the picture looks like before I take it and that they can start a video recording too.

Dress Up Your Space for Less

If you’re like me and shoot almost all of your content out of your tiny bedroom, you’ll want to be able to change up the background of your clips from time to time so things don’t look too monotonous. I do think there’s some value in having a cohesive aesthetic (so your fans can recognize your content at a glance), so you don’t need to go full makeover mode, but switching the angle of your camera (e.g. shooting from the other side of the bed) and changing up your accessories go a long way towards making your space feel refreshed.

My two favorite hacks are:

• Rotating pillow covers on the same pillow insert. This means less storage of bulky pillows, and you can mix/match them.
• Changing up the plants I have in my room has a big impact on the space. I have a ton of plants and rotate them through my clips as needed. Sensual, romantic clips get trailing ivy. Bratty femdom clips get spiky cacti.

LEDs: Versatile Backdrops

I’ve seen some people recommend hanging curtains or paper backdrops behind their filming set up so they can change the background more easily, but I know the constant hanging/rehanging would get on my nerves. Consequently, I prefer to use LED strip lights.

I set them on the ground behind or around me so that the strips themselves aren’t visible, and they provide a really vibrant color that can be changed at will. Use these strategically though. They’re super bright and can wash everything out if you place them wrong. If you don’t like the super saturated colors of the LEDs, a set of slightly sheer curtains makes for a nice backdrop too, and you can swap them out for a different color if you get bored.

Video Editing Basics

If you’re already using a desktop-based video editing program (rather than editing directly on your phone), this tip is free! I highly recommend watching a few YouTube tutorials for color grading in whatever video editing program you use. A few tweaks to the saturation and some white balancing will make your clips look brighter and clearer. Consistent video editing and color grading will also match your clips to each other better so your video library looks more cohesive.

Those are some quick and inexpensive tips for sprucing up your filming space. If you’ve got a hot tip of your own, drop it in the comments!

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Clarabelle Woods is a clips producer and online sex worker. When she’s not naked online, she enjoys the great outdoors, the company of plants and a really good book.

Header background by Jessica Lewis from Pexels.