These days it seems like everyone is a photo-editing pro, digitally removing blemishes and adjusting lighting before sharing their personal snaps on social media. But it still likely wouldn't occur to most people to touch-up their nether regions in Photoshop.

It certainly occurs to Josh Ryan, though. The 41-year-old photographer spent years shooting nude covers and centerfolds for Playboy, which means he's seen - and retouched - it all.

This week, the Los Angeles resident talked to Cosmopolitan.com about what it's like behind the scenes at a nude shoot, revealing the ways the crew will make a mode feel more comfortable (hint: it involves alcohol), how Hugh Hefner chooses his favorite shots, and just what goes into touching up the final image. 

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Secrets of the trade: Photographer Josh Ryan, who shot this cover of Playboy, shared what it's really like to shoot nude models for the publication

In December, Playboy published it's last issue featuring nudity, following 62 years of naked ladies that included Marilyn Monroe, Pamela Anderson, Shannen Doherty, Lindsay Lohan, Kim Kardashian, Charisma Carpenter, and Jenny McCarthy.

Josh started working as a photographer there in 2006, and continued to shoot pictorials through the end of its nude run last yer.

Some of his covers have included Dani Mathers in May 2014, Kennedy Summers in December 2013, and Heather Depriest in September 2015.

But while he insisted that the pictures that make the magazine are of 'pretty solid models' who can go mostly untouched, there are some 'minor exceptions'.

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Dream job: The 41-year-old worked for Playboy for a decade and shot many covers and centerfolds

Liquid courage: He said most models were pretty comfortable coming in, but some needed booze to loosen them up

Because Hef doesn't like tattoos, they're nearly always edited out - which means Josh has had to digitally remove his fair share of scrolls and Chinese letters.

He also might need to make heads, arms, and feet smaller, fix 'bulging knuckles', or add a little boost to the bust.

'I'll be blunt: If there's a girl that needs a little help up top, I'm going to give her shadows and use Photoshop tools to make her boobs look bigger, and I'll bring her waist in,' Josh said.

But it doesn't always go that way. He explained that when he first started shooting for Playboy, they wanted to 'get away from' the Pamela Anderson look, which meant they might even angle or edit a model's chest to make it look smaller. 

Editing: He also said that though the models were 'pretty solid', there was definitely some touching up involved

Then, there are the more intimate parts.

'If some girl's anatomy down below is quite different than others', I'm going to give it a little tuck and a trim, or a shadow here and there to make the picture not really be about that,' he admitted. 'The biggest thing is, we don't actually want to draw your eyes to those areas. 

'I don't want someone thinking her boobs are way too small or way too big, or her vagina doesn't look pretty in the picture. I want it to be about the actual photo, not about how naked she is. 

'So we shadow things and darken and lighten and clip and trim. It happens.'

Of course, creating a printable nude portrait for the magazine was more complex than making a woman's lady bits looked flawless.

Ample assets: Sometimes breasts would be altered to look bigger, but if they were too big they might be edited to look smaller 

First, a girl who wanted to be a Playmate would do a test shoot to dry out. Hef would rule on whether she made the cut, looking for what Josh said is the 'It Factor'. 

For the shoot, Josh would pick themes, which were based on the girls' real-life interest. If she rode horses, for example, they'd do a horse-themed shoot on a ranch. 

The photographer said that by the time the girls came in for the big shoot, they were mostly already comfortable. They needed to be, in order to be able to strip down in front of a 15-person-or-bigger crew.

'You're changing in front of people, it's not as glamorous as people may think. Everyone has a job and they're focused on that,' Josh said.

Sometimes, though, they might need a little help relaxing. In those cases, the girls might have a little alcohol.

Pro: In addition to shooting for Playboy, he has also worked with celebrities like Nicole Scherzinger

'We've been known to grab a bottle of wine here or there if it makes the girl feel more comfortable. Just in moderation, but it help takes the edge off. I'm not against it,' Josh said.

Other times, he wou;d find a way to boost their confidence. One of his big techniques was having them take a few shots, then go back into hair or make-up.

While they were getting fixed up, he would quickly retouch the photos and put them into a centerfold layout, which he could show the women when they got back.

During the shoot, he would take 1,500 to 2,500 photos total, then narrow the batch down to 200 for the art director, who would give three final layout options to Hef. The 89-year-old boss would then pick the final picture. 

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