Here's a thread to give you some insight into shooting porn.
http://www.gofuckyourself.com/showth...o+shoot+p orn
I'm not sure what your skills are with a camera but today getting that bit right for porn is a piece of piss. In fact even in the days of film it wasn't rocket science. Get the exposure and focus right and you're half way there.
Complicated lighting are for niches that don't sell so well today. Most of the lighting in porn is pretty simple. HD produces a good image and being able to test and review the scene before shooting on a monitor or laptop, makes life very easy.
The problem today is shooting a decent scene within the budget of what most people will pay. Finding good new models. A buyer will not want models who have been shot to death by everyone else. Then shooting something that sells.
That's the biggest problem for a newbie. Anyone can point a camera at a girl or couple having sex.You need to be able to turn a film into porn. What ever your skills are with the equipment shooting porn is about skills with people.
As for shooting for yourself, depends how much money you can afford to invest before you need to get a return on your investment.