When you were starting out and wanted to show potential customers examples of your work, what did you show? I know that some decorators have very thick binders full of examples. Some of have done pretty good stuff, just not that many. What would you show or say?

I show them my photo album so they get an idea of my style and what I'm capable of doing. Then I talk to them about what they had in mind and we go from there.

For wedding cakes I also show them pictures of cakes from here and google images. Most of the time the bride picks elements of several cakes and we use them to design her own cake.

I am just starting out, and to make matters worse my photography skills are still in their infancy. I have a notebook of photos of cakes I've done (not that many), and people are welcome to look at it. I also have notebooks of photos of cakes that I haven't done. When I hand one of these to a client I say "These are not my cakes. They are cakes that I like and can do, and you might get some ideas from them." Even my pickiest customer to date--wanted photos, tastings and references--barely looked at my own book. She already had a cake in mind that she'd seen on a wedding website and knew what changes she wanted. She was sold on me through our email correspondence, and the tasting was really just to decide what flavors she wanted.

I ask brides, "Have you seen a design or photo of a cake that you like, or are we starting from scratch?" If they've seen photo's, they usually have those with them and we never have to drag out my photos. If they've no idea, I get the book with my cake pics and the book with internet pics. I tell them, "Making cakes is like any other craft, like knitting. If I can knit, I can follow any pattern to make any sweater, whether I've made that sweater before or not. So my pics show you that I can knit ... the internet pics are the patterns."

Do you have any dummies you can create some cakes with? On my Flickr site is a great example of how you can get 3 or 4 cake pics with just one cake. On Flickr, look for the 4 pics entitled "Daisy's Pink Center". I have an assembled cake with no decor, an assembled cake with pink ribbon, and an assembled cake with pink ribbon and daisies. Take a pic at each stage, then add more decor and take another pic. Scrape it off and start a new one.

Do you have any dummies you can create some cakes with? On my Flickr site is a great example of how you can get 3 or 4 cake pics with just one cake. On Flickr, look for the 4 pics entitled "Daisy's Pink Center". I have an assembled cake with no decor, an assembled cake with pink ribbon, and an assembled cake with pink ribbon and daisies. Take a pic at each stage, then add more decor and take another pic. Scrape it off and start a new one.




Indydebi What a great idea....one cake many styles. Thank you from a newbie,

I went to an art store and bought a little 5x7 portfolio book. I am just a hobby baker right now...but I thought that I would start collecting my pictures now so that when I'm ready to have my own shop, I'll be ready with the portfolio as well.