No?
Go into message settings and turn MMS on.
Then you can just text someone a picture.
Mine is the same, picture messages fail constantly, unless sent through iMessage. PITA!!!!
I'm with O2 if that helps.
Mine does this all the time i have to reset network settings every time i want to send a picture...
Phone your network provider, it could be that they are disabled on your account. I had this previously with vodafone.
Whatsapp is the way forward, Its what 69p? how much are picture messages to send these days? i use it more for texting that the actual sms app