I was wondering how everyone takes pictures of their work...Do you have a professional do it or do you do it yourself?
Do you have any tips for taking the pictures yourself so it looks nice? I am having a hard time figuring out what background (material etc...) to use.
Thanks for the help!

I have a photo "booth" set up in the bakery. It is covered in wrapping paper... a bottom board and a three-section project board. Two clip lights are attached. I have a tripod and a good camera... and I still have so much to learn.

I bought foarm display boards - the three sided kind used by kids at science fairs - in black and white. They're made by Elmer's. I have a rectangle of black suede cloth to use as the base for the black set up and use another piece of white foam core for the base of the white set up. I configure the "photo booth" on my kitchen counter under a pendant light.

I shoose either the black or the white setup depending on the colors of the cake. Since I generally setup and photograph on the way out the door, I needed something that was fast and easy to set up, works reliably, and was easy to store. This approach did the trick!

Lol I use my plain brown table...
But IMO the camera makes a big difference, get your self a good camera ( a professional one) & you are ready to go, where as to your background it doesn't have to be plain, I love pictures taken beside other decos, especially if it matches the colors of the cake/cupcakes

HTH

One of the best tips is to place your cake in natural light. Try to take it next to a window and use a good camera. Cell phone cameras are not very suitable IMO.

I mostly use my light wood table in the natural light from the windows in my kitchen. I place the cake on the table and angle the camera so that nothing is in the background except the white of my cabinets.

Almost every picture in my profile was taken where I just scooted all the crap I had been using to work on the cake over to the right just so it's out of sight.

I agree that a good camera is essential....doesn't have to be full on professional, but one with settings that allow for sharp focus and blurred backgrounds (portrait mode on most point-and-shoot cameras).

I did recently purchase the tri-fold elmers board and will play with that as well.....and I agree that the background doesnt have to be free of everything if the stuff around the cake is complimentary....such as snapping the picture once the cake is set out at the party/ceremony/celebration. seeing it in it's intended element is a nice touch. Often times though, I meet people with the cakes and never see them at the parties. :/

Thanks soo much for all the replies! VERY helpful! I think I will try the tri-fold Elmer's board!

The tri fold boards are great, I have a white and a black I have just gotten

I take my own pictures... I agree with the natural lighting, it makes a HUGE difference. I hate having to take pictures on a cloudy day, and if I finish at night I'll wait until the next morning even if I'll be rushed. I open my blinds all the way to let as much light in as possible.

Also, for a backdrop, I've used a plain white sheet for the longest time. I just put one of my kitchen chairs on my kitchen table and drape the sheet over. However, I don't have time to iron it every time and you can see wrinkles sometimes! So, I just went to the dollar store and got a roll of plain white wrapping paper that I can unroll and drape over the chair and the re-roll when I'm done.

I take LOTS of pictures, lots and lots, and then weed out the best ones later. Take pictures from lots of different angles, above, below, tilt the camera for some, take lots of close ups of the detail... I probably take at least 50 pictures of each cake. I figure I have to get all of my shots while I can. I don't want to deliver the cake then get home and take a look at my pics only to discover I didn't get any good ones!

I also use picnik.com, a free photo editor to correct the contrast and exposure of my pics if needed, I'm not a wiz with my camera settings so this helps a great deal. A lot of times a picture that looks very dull can be brought to life!

One last thing, this is a project I plan to get to at some point... A DIY light box, it would have to be pretty large though to fit a cake, but if you have the space it looks like it would help create some very professional looking pics: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-to-make-a-inexpensive-light-tent

A little while ago a member of CC posted a link on the forum that her son had done up for photographing cakes. It was really good and had lots of tips and hints on how to take good pictures of cakes even using a point and shoot camera. Unfortunately I can't find the forum anymore but I bookmarked the site www.cakedalaska.com/Caked_Alaska/Photo_tutorial.html I found this had some great information in it. Hope you do too.

Thanks so much for the links- HappyCake10609 and Cakegirl74! VERY helpful!!! Thanks a million everyone!