How Do You Take A Great Cake Picture?
Decorating By cakechica27 Updated 12 Jun 2007 , 5:22pm by cakechica27
I've seen some incredible pictures on this website. How do you take a great picture of a cake / cookies? Any tips on lighting, background, etc.?
I haven't figured this one out yet either... my pictures always have bags of frosting, tools, cutting boards, books, etc. (even prescription bottles) in the backgrounds.
I'd love to know how other people are doing their pictures also!!
I don't claim to take the best pictures, by any means, but one thing I've noticed is that natural light is by far the best light. It shows truer colours and there's no glare or anything from the flash. I always try to take my cake pictures next to a window in the daytime for the best result. Make sure the light is behind you as you take the picture, or your cake will look too dark against the light.
I also try to take the pictures with as little else in the picture as possible. Often I'll set a tray in front of my back window and take the pictures on it - so you only see the finished cake, not the extremely messy kitchen it just came out of!
The more natural light, the better. If you can, take a pic with and without a flash to see the diff. Wow!
Watch where you stand to make sure you are not casting a shadow across the cake.
If you are taking them at home and don't have a good place to set them for photo-ing, have your hubby hold a sheet or tablecloth up behind the cake.
Here are a couple of pics ... the first was taken with no flash and my daughter holding up a t.cloth so you wouldn't see the kitchen background. It's a styrofoam display cake for a 50th anniversary. THe 2nd is with flash. On the second, you can see the side shadows and a "too bright" look on the front of the cake, where the no-flash is a nice even look overall.
I have 2 lighting systems in my kitchen. It was so interesting to see the harsh shadows across the cake when I had both sets of lights on. I thought I was helping by having lots of light. I turned off one set and got great lighting ... the colors were less washed out in this one and the detail showed up much better.
One photographer showed us how she pointed her flash away from the cake .... it gave extra light but not that FLASH of light that washes out the color and detail. (My 14 yr old was with me and she is an aspiring photographer, so she got a lot of good lessons that day!).
Hi,
I'm not the greatest at picture taking myself but I do use a white display board behind the cakes. This way it blocks away all the other clutter or whatever else is behind the cake when it's on my counter. I bought the display board at Michaels for under $4. It's the tri-fold kind and comes in lots of colors too. I asked Boween once ( notice her stunning cakes and the great lighting in her photos) about what she does and if I remember right she said she uses a lamp and an overhead light but she hasn't been around in a long time to ask for sure.
Hope that helps at little.
KimAZ
yeah ive seen those tri fold boards, sounds like a great idea
thanks for the tip
I take most of my pictures at night because that's when I complete it. During the day I'm at work except on the weekend. I take most of my pictures is complete darkness or almost complete darkness. I really don't like to get all the kitchen stuff in the pictures. The tri-fold board sounds like a great idea, maybe I will try that also.
I agree with Indydebi...more natural lighting etc. I'm still trying to take great pictures and sometimes they come out great and other times....well, I'm sure you will see. LOL But I have a table by 4 windows and I try to get pics before it gets dark 'cause it does make a difference in photos. I never know what atmosphere I'm setting up in so I take a few before I leave to deliver.
Also a great editing program. Cropping is a lifesaver 
That's one way to take care of all the unsightly things going on in the kitchen ha ha ha ha. I use Picasa 2...it's free and I love it. Even when I have taken pictures in less than perfect settings, I can get good lighting, sharpen the pic, highlight features etc. Also, take your time when taking a picture...I've rushed it sometimes and it shows. I also take several pictures of different angles. I have a camcorder with a digital camera so the SD card allows me to take lots of pics and delete what I don't want plus the card is reusable. I rushed a pic this weekend and I'm kicking myself for it...my Rosey 40th. I'm still learning but I'm wayyyyyyyyyy better than I used to be. Anyone know of any good books? I could use some fine tuning
right now I have been taking mine outside and placing on a table with a table cloth, if I need there to be a backdrop I have someone hold the table cloth up for a backdrop .... natural light is absolutely the best and for the summery looking cakes the shadow the cake casts on the table cloth can be a fun effect as well, I try not to takethe photo inside if at all possible
i put hang a satin sheet in behind my cakes and then i take pictures with and without flash to see what looks best. i have a digital camera so on average i take anywhere from 25 to 50 pictures using all angles, then i go through them on the computer and pick the best one!!!
i take anywhere from 25 to 50 pictures using all angles, then i go through them on the computer and pick the best one!!!
Glad to know i'm not the only one =) I can take pictures of one 6" cake for 30 mins and I get a look from my BF like what are you doing!
I have found that using fleece as a back drop helps to absorb alot of the light from my flash. All of my photos with the black in the back ground are the fleece. I keep forgetting to pick up some white fleece to try that out too for my darker colored cakes.
I read the tip somewhere on here about the fleece and have really had good luck with it.
HTH
I by no means take great photos but I do use a background which helps. I usually decorate on my turntable on my kitchen table. So after I am finished I leave it on the turntable and take all my supplies off the table. Then I just use a regular white queen size sheet and wrap it around the turntable to cover up the background that way you can't see the mess!
I ran this question by a friend who is a professional photographer. She said to position the cake near a window (blinds drawn, lot of light), have absolutely nothing else in the background, turn the flash off of the camera, and snap away. This is supposed to pick up the details on a cake. She also recommends purchasing the tri-fold board and using it in the background, which some of you have mentioned. I don't know about you, but I'll be trying these things next time!
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