OK....I have just been making cakes for friends and family. But Friday my niece called and said that a friend is getting married in December and wanted to know how much I would charge for making her wedding cake. That's when I realized that even though I have never done a wedding cake (outside of the tiered cake in Coarse 3) I still need some type of portfolio. Does anyone have suggestions on how to compile one? I don't want it to be too fancy but I don't want it to be cheesy either.
Thanks!!

You can just keep it simple. Print up some pics like 4x6 or 5x7 and put them in a small photo album. I have seen alot of people use this for thier portfolios.

i currently just have a colorful binder for all my cake photos. I'm also into scrapbooking, so i kinda decorate the pages up a little (nothing fancy, just some different colored cardstock here and there) put my photos of my cake on the page, with a few different angle shots, and then underneath i describe the cake, like what flavor the cake is, the frosting, teh filling. Then on the back of the page i have notes of how much frosting i used for the cake, how long it took to make, the overall cost, etc. Usually no one ever sees the info i have on the back of the page, its just a referance for myself....

What wonderful ideas you guys. I need to build a physical portfolio too. I love the idea of listing stats on the back of the pages.

wow thats a gret idea..i was wondering the same thing..thanks

I have a Kodak Easy Share camera and printer dock..was worth the money lol I simply take a picture of my cakes and print them out and keep them all in a nice $18.00 photo album lol. It has a space next to each photo for notes/memos so I state simply what it is like 2 layer chocolate cake w/chocolate buttercream and filling.

Hi,
Love your ideas about keeping stats on the backs of the pics although for large orders or complicated cakes I do keep notes especially for those odd sized pans that are hard to keep track of how long to bake. Anyway, I have taken my digital photos and pasted them on Powerpoint slides and given each cake a name such as someone's wedding or "Sweet Sixteen" or "Spring Delight" etc. then a brief description along with different angled photos of the same cake on the slide. This gives the customer a good look at the cake from different sides and a larger photo. I've now catagorized by showers, weddings, birthdays and then a cookie section.

Thanks!! Everyone has such great ideas...now I know where to start!

Speaking of portfolios, are there any tricks of the trade for photographing cake? (lighting, angles, etc)

thanks

(and those other comments about building the actual portfolio were very helpful, re: organizing,etc)

Alot of people recommend getting a blank piece of fabric, or a few in different colors just to have as your back drop. Some use thick thick poster type board that can be bent around three ways.. typical use is in presentations I remember it being used in school alot! lol can not think of the proper name sorry...

Currently I have my husband hold up a dark navy blue blanket behind my cakes while I take the photo... or a dark green towel... because they look blank and unless the flash hits it directly you can't really tell the color is off lol.

The perfect place to take the photo... in the middle of no-where! No clutter anywhere near the cake so that the cake is the only thing you see.

I've seen alot of people place the cake on the floor (clean of course lol) so that the only thing you can see is the carpet/flooring and the blank wall behind it. Makes for a perfect picture if you have pretty flooring and pretty walls lmfao. I've also seen people place it in the middle of the table as a center piece and capture it with nothing behind it but the wall or a window or something like that. Could also find a spot outside infront of a nice tree or flowering bush or something similar and snap it on a table in front of that.... I've seen that alot!

thanks, that helps a lot!

What good ideas everyone. Thanks!

I use a black sheet for a background. I bought it at Walmart for $2-3.

I use either a white bed sheet or a black piece of fabric, clip to my light above my table and place the cake in front of that. My problem is still trying to figure out my new camera.

thanks for all the other ideas.

Natutal light is best .... avoid flash when possible. WHen I take pics, I always take one with flash and one without, then pic the best one for the album.

The best way to photograph anything is in filtered natural light without your flash on. I take mine outside on my deck and photograph them in the sunlight (though not in direct sunlight). You are looking for the natural light with no shadows. If you use your flash you get garrish shadows and washed out spots instead of nice contiguous soft lines. If it's not a nice day out it's harder to take a realy nice picture.. especially with a not-so-great camera. If you have a nice back drop, like a garden or a nice stone wall, you don't need a drop cloth, but a large piece of fabric makes a nice back drop.. something contrasting to your cake so you can see the details.

Not that all of my photos are taken like this.. LOL.. but I am just starting to build a portfolio and I can take a nice picture so I am starting to make sure that I take GOOD pictures of my work.

Another thing you can do with wedding cakes is have the photographer take pictures of your cake and order some from them. It's not expensive and you are pretty much guaranteed a great picture.

Thank you so much, you all are so helpful!
(I'm so happy I stumbled upon this website!)

I have about 8 100-page photo albums ... the little ones that are just one photo per page that you slip in. I get doubles of all my pictures and put one copy in the photo albums. I leave them in the parent waiting room of the karate studio which I attend. They get looked at A LOT! Especially by the little children who can turn the pages easily and recognize some of the characters. (I do all the cakes for the karate birthday parties.)

My second portfolio (so to speak) is my web page which is just a photo sharing website that i love called WINKFLASH. I have all my "photo albums" sorted by the type of cake ... Animals, characters, dolls, religious, sports, people, vehicles, etc. I have the link attached to my signature line in my e-mails plus here on cc. I figure eventually people will get curious and click on it!

I do mostly sheetcakes, so it is easy to take a good picture. I stand on a bar stool (which I'm short enough to do without hitting my head on the ceiling) and get right over the top of the cake for a good picutre. I zoom in as close as possible.