Photographing Cakes

One of the things I notice repeatedly lets small cake businesses down is the way they take photos of cakes. It's no good making the most amazing looking cake and then ruining it by taking a photo of it in the dark or with loads of mess behind it.

In some ways, the taking of the photo is just as important as the cake itself. So, here are my top tips for taking photos of cakes.

First, make sure you take a photo of your cakes on a plain surface or back drop. DON'T take a photo of your cakes with all your dirty baking equipment in the background, it's not attractive and detracts from the cakes. All you want the customer to see is your beautiful creation. So often I see photos of cakes on the kitchen work top with stuff in the background. It's so simple to just clear a space and put a white sheet or piece of pretty wrapping paper/wall paper in the background.

Number 2: Wherever possible, take photos in natural light and when it is bright as possible. Make sure there are no shadows (see below) or streams of light affecting the photo. The best time to take th photo is when the sun is shining. If you take a photo in the evening when the sun has gone in, get a bright light - I have a light box which works really well as it imitates natural light (not only is it great for photos but it's great for winter days when I'm feeling a bit sluggish and have long hours to work.)

My next tip is something that I don't always do, so use your best judgement. Try to take photos of the cakes when they're not in the box. When you've got 24 cupcakes in a box it's just easier to take a photo of them all in the box, but try picking out some of the main designs and take a photo of them on their own. But when it comes to celebration cakes, DO NOT take a photo of them in the cake box. It looks messy and you can't see the whole cake. Even if you're short of time, you can still take 2 minutes to take it out of the box and take a photo. 

If you do take a photo of your cupcakes in a box (as above), be sure to crop out as much of the box as you can and focus on the cupcakes themselves.

Using the above tips you will be able to take great photos of your cakes and really make the most of your creations. 

                                      
   



Happy caking and photo taking!


Lucy

I'm Back (I hope!)

I can't believe I haven't posted anything for 3 years! I'm going to try to post more now and have lots of recipes to share so fingers crossed, I can try to make time again. I've been really busy the last few years and the business has grown every year. You can follow all my cake adventures on www.facebook.com/heavenisacupcake and www.twitter.com/heavensacupcake Happy caking!