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The Importance of Good Cake Photos


As you may be able to tell, I’m not a great photographer. I have all the right stuff, including an insanely expensive Canon camera, and not a clue how to really use it. If you’re like me, you’ve got two choices, learn, or bring in a pro! Now I’m not saying you need a great shot of every single cake. Let’s face it, some make it out the door without even a happy snap, but when it comes to promoting yourself, it’s vital to get the right shots.

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Photo by Renee Bell

As you can see here, my photo of the painted cake, verses Renee’s photo, well let’s just say, the photos speak for themselves..

Painted Collage

So what can you do to get a better photo? Here’s Renee’s top 5 tips for taking a better shot of your next cake:

1. Natural light – nothing beats it. It makes colours pop and whites true. Just remember you don’t need a lot of space – most people are surprised to see some of the crazy places I find with the best light (sometimes the best light in my house is in my bedroom so I set up on my bed!)
2. Solid backdrop – Don’t put anything behind a cake that competes for your attention. Make the cake the thing you can’t takes your eyes off. A plain white wall is a great choice, as is soft white brick, wood, or pastel shades. I generally tend to stick to white, or greys with my images – wood is lovely but it can often throw an orange tinge to the image so takes a bit more experimenting with to get the colours right.

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3. Think about whether you need landscape or portrait images – think about where you are going to use these photos. There’s no point taking a bunch of random shots, delivering the cake, and then realising that you needed a close up of the piping, or that the rest of your photo album is filled with a particular perspective. It’s great to shake things up, but throw in a few normal front shots for good measure. If you want to add text details to the side of the image, or if you want to crop really wide panorama for a You Tube banner shot you will need to have enough space around your cake to do this.
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4. Add props – flowers, sweets, a cup of coffee next to your cupcakes, even a hand reaching up to hold the cake. These are all great ways you can add some drama or dynamic movement to your images and give your viewers the opportunity to connect with the image by imagining themselves in that situation. Experiment, like I did in this shoot. Vanessa bought two bunches of flowers, and some sweets over, and I played around with all of them just to see what looked best. Which one is your favourite?

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5. Make sure the feeling of the cake shines through – ultimately every cake tells a story, just like a painting or any work of art. Look at the images, and really make sure you are capturing the essence of the cake. Does it make you feel playful, is it light and delicate, bold and striking? Make sure at the end of the day, the images you share evoke that feeling.

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What issues do you have when photographing your cakes? What do you struggle with?

Be sure you are on our newsletter mailing list (top of page), as Renee has a cake specific eBook coming out soon, and I’d love to keep you in the loop!

If you live in the Newcastle area, or close enough to travel, contact Renee for cake decorating photoshoots. She is brilliant, and sweet, and the perfect photographer for me and my cakes.

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