Another advantage of amateurs as opposed to "hot porn star" types - in my experience, a good photographer can get better results with an amateur. To be frank a lot of the porn star types might not know what to do with a pose if they're forced to wear clothes and not handle vulgar objects (look at Billy Zane's acting for example). You don't need to fly all over the country. Pick a good location. If you're lucky enough to live somewhere like L.A., you can do just about anything from scenes that look tropical to winter (yes, there is a ski resort in the mountains above LA). The setting isn't what the shoot is about - but it is the tone of the shot. This is what mainstream photographers do. I'd recommend trying some shots with the zoom on - that way you get the model in focus, shallow depth of field, can give crisp results. Shoot outdoors if you can in any case - studio lighting is great but a lot trickier to get professional results with than the sun (tip: light the background, not just the model, if you use studio lighting, and never use a simple on-camera flash unless your theme is dungeons).

-doug