AZ,

Now you've explained, it makes perfect sense.  Thank you for sharing!

Okie dokie, here's a few of my cakes. Please excuse some of the photos, I know the backgrounds on some are awful. 

I've put the Angel one on because it amuses me. I don't know what I was thinking, but that angel is particularly well endowed in the chest area!

The Calla Lily one is my wedding cake, hence the dreadful shot. We got married in the Valley of Fire, and came back here for our reception a couple of weeks later. I was finishing that cake off in my wedding dress five minutes before leaving for the reception, so didn't have time for a photo  Also, I wanted it completely plain, but hubby wanted the hearts (which were runouts - the ones on the bottom are marbled orange, which in the photo just looks like they weren't coloured properly ). I still think it would have looked better plain!

Kipper and the Dragon and Castle are both Debbie Brown designs. Oh, and the cakes in the fishing and Angel designs were provided by the customer, which is why they're not very tall. I've stopped allowing that now as I decided I needed control over the quality and look. If I make it and it tastes awful/looks wrong that's one thing. If someone else does and I get the blame, that's another thing entirely!

AYou have no reason to feel the slightest bit inadequate. Even the crudest of the cakes you've shown us is "well above my pay grade."

AI'm quite a newbie and I think your cakes are great!! if anything, I think I would change the way you photograph them. Sometimes it's all in the styling of something that gives it a whole different look.

The lightning plays a big part, and the backgrounds; avoid shadows at all cost, and also black backgrounds. For the last cake I made, I used a background of white paper, a Styrofoam board to reflect light on one side, so it didn't look dark; and I used daylight (from my window) - By no means I'm an expert, but I think they turned out pretty nice. Do not take photographs from above the cake as it will make it look smaller, I read that in a tutorial right here on Cake Central, among other very useful tips.

AShoot, I think your feelings of inadequacy are unjustified! Great work!

I think your work is very clean -- which is something I really notice! LOVE the KFC bucket of chicken -- hehe.

Gah!! Now I feel inadequate! LOL!!! Your cakes are amazing! I love the KFC bucket, so cute :) You have NO reason to feel inadequate!

Tell me: Does the KFC bucket "taste just like chicken"? (Or for those who remember the Food Network comic relief station-break of a few years ago, does it "taste just like mopane worms"?)

For those who don't remember the Food Network spot to which I refer, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mopane_worm#In_popular_culture

BTW: was the logo on the KFC bucket cake done by hand, or with edible printing?

Now I feel I must have an inadequate memory about mopane worms.  I DO remember "Where's the Beef" and I worked for 'Col Sanders'.  I even slept at a Holiday Inn, but No I don't remember mopane worms.

Well, unless somebody decides they want a cake that looks like mopane worms, and the baker/decorator feels "inadequate" to duplicate their appearance in BC, fondant, gum-paste, or royal, we're once again veering far enough off-topic that somebody's probably going to get another off-color insult from "ApplegumPam." (And that somebody is probably going to be me.)

At any rate, being humbled is part of life. So is being reminded of one's limitations. Feeling inadequate? That's a choice. Or as Maxwell Smart once put it (Season 1, "Hubert's Unfinished Symphony"): "I may never get to play with the Philharmonic, but on the other hand . . . is Leonard Bernstein licensed to kill?"

Thanks very much all, much appreciated  Still in awe of the Cakenweenie lot though 

The KFC bucket was for my youngest's birthday last year. He asked me for it the morning before his birthday, and wanted to take it into school the next morning. There's nothing like plenty of time to plan!  Yes, the Colonel was hand painted. I'm relatively ok with copying an image like that, but ask me to sketch a cake for a customer and it looks like my 11 year old has drawn it  I only use edible images where I want it to be properly realistic, like for the champagne bottle. Or if I've run out of time... 

Must dash, I'm in the middle of a week of re-making a load of wedding cake dummies that got ruined in our loft, for a fair this Sunday. Looking on the bright side, I get to fix the bits I wasn't so happy with first time around. That's what caused this in the first place - I wanted to make a Corpse Bride cake for the fair. Doubt I'll have the time this week but I will give it a go soon as it's stuck in my head now.  

ps - I have no problems with off-topic, it's not like it was a 'burning issue' thread in the first place 

This just occurred to me today, after visiting the webstite for wreck cakes. 

For a very long time, I'd visit that hilarious site and thoroughly enjoyed it, and still do now.  But I was making myself feel adequate in my level of cake decorating.  Telling myself how much better that I was than those goofballs.  However much it permitted me to feel superior, it did not permit me to learn anything more, and may have given me the excuse to stay at the level that I was stuck in.

Now I can look at the 'cake disasters' section here and laugh, as I've had enough of them myself.  But it was only when I moved away from pampering my feeble feelings and got ahold of my reasoning, that I challenged myself to take those intimidating steps into.....gasp.......gumpaste for example.  or......horrors.....tappits.

and the biggest panic of all........Cooked Swiss Meringue Buttercream.......put it off for years.   Fear of SMBC, boy it seems absurd now, but there you go.

A

Fear is the power of the Dark Side...! ;)

Thanks! the forums and tutorials are very helpful.  I'm glad I got over the hesitation & fear of trying new things.