Mark Helfrich is a Hollywood film editor, who has worked for decades on big-time box office productions like "Predator," "Rambo," "X-Men 3," the "Rush Hour" series, and the Elizabeth Berkeley epic "Showgirls." (Who could forget?) Last year, he made his directorial debut as the helmer on "Good Luck Chuck," starring Jessica Alba. Since he's deep into film and pictures, he naturally has a strong interest in photography—specifically, artistic nudes, like the ones he contributed to the coffee table book, "New Erotic Photography," and the others in the gallery on his website. Unfortunately, there is one key piece of this equation that seems to be missing. Movie director + erotic photographer + R-rated sex comedy = no Jessica Alba nude scenes? That doesn't quite add up right, does it?

· Mark Helfrich - Photography (markhelfrich.com, via notaboutlove.com)

We're big fans of the DIY ethic, mostly because whenever our bosses ask us to stay a little late and put in some extra work our response is usually, "Do it yourself!" But there's a different kind of DIY that we're also fans of, and it's in the same style as the homemade self-sufficient photography that made MySpace famous. Photographer Uwe Ommer devoted a whole book to the self-shot naked portrait, helping his models to create nude photographs that they snapped on their own. Ommer obviously lent a helping hand with the setup and lighting, so the results are miles above the pouty-look-in-the-mirror snapshots that are a staple of social networking profile pics. But the concept remains the same—leave a beautiful girl alone with a camera and see what she can create. We don't want to ruin the surprise for you, but it's pretty hot.

· "Do It Yourself" - Photos de Uwe Ommer (uweommer.eu)
· Uwe Ommer — "Do It Yourself" (book @ taschen.com)

Color film was invented about 400 years ago (give or take), yet some photographers and filmmakers still stubbornly continue to use black and white to capture their subjects. Why is that? Well, people still listen to records on vinyl and look at dusty old paintings in museums—so why not use an antiquated technology to depict beautiful women too? Silver Beauties (alas, it's not a site for 60-and-over pornstars) certainly thinks that way and if you're looking for sexy photos of the world's most gorgeous women you'll find them here—as long as they're in black and white. The portfolios on view include nude and lingerie shots of actresses, models, and a bunch of international babes you probably haven't heard of, all free for your browsing pleasure. And just think: if you're color blind, you won't even know the difference!

· Silver Beauties: Pictures of beautiful sexy women in black and white (silverbeauties.com; thumb of Letitia Casta)

We used to get in trouble a lot when we were growing up for what our teachers referred to as our "attitude", though we never exactly understood what that was supposed to mean. And now that we've had a chance to examine the portfolio of the Buckinghamshire (UK)-based erotic photographer who simply goes by the name of Mark, we're more confused than ever: after all, we don't recall running around school topless in full clown makeup or with studded codpieces on our face, and we definitely would have remembered showing up for class with gas masks on or with giant clothespins clamped to our nipples. Somehow, though, Mark's very sexy alt-style models make naughty things like that look almost innocent—and a hell of a lot of fun. If that's what attitude is all about, we totally should've tried to misbehave more.

· Photos With Attitude (photoswithattitude.net, via fluffylychees.blogspot.com)

The charmingly antiquated phrase "boudoir photography" usually conjures up slightly tacky images of marabou-trimmed negligees and overstuffed satin pillows: the Sears portraits of erotic photography, if you will. But that doesn't describe the work of Eddie Ostrowski, whose photos you may recognize from those Gawker Artists banners that pop up on this site every once in a while (and which is how his work came to our attention). Bringing talent and technique to the endeavor of taking sexy photographs, Ostrowski makes the genre of boudoir photography actually seem, well, classy. So if any ladies out there reading this are looking to look your best for that special someone, you might want to give Ostrowski a call. We hear his services are available for hire.

· Eddie Ostrowski (eddieguy.com)