Photographing your cakes, do you use a special light?

Well Elizabeth….I. HATE taking pics of my cakes!! I gave up with my camera…couldn’t figure out the lighting…hands shook..result..blurry pics. I didn’t want to go buy a tri pod. I treated myself and bought a IPad mini. I now take all my cake pics with my IPad mini…..so easy. But there is a tutorial on a Cake Central on how to take good cake pics..which includes lighting etc. Check it out….. :o)

Thanks June :)

I have 2 inexpensive studio umbrella lights and a metal adjustable rack that can be used to hang fabric or any other type of backdrop. The lights help but the most important thing is to learn to use your cameras manual settings correctly. An iPhone also will take pretty decent photos but they aren’t high resolution or large in size. I do think it is important to invest the time and a little money in your photography because your future clients will see your photos before ever seeing your cakes in real life in most cases. See if they have cowboy studio lights maybe on your amazon UK site. That brand is inexpensive in the US on amazon and works really well.

Thanks Bliss, I will look into lights maybe for my birthday x

I am terrible at taking pictures. Even though my cakes are only for the family, I would still like to take some good pictures of them. Have been reading about using a light box and came across these two tutorials http://thebearfootbaker.com/2012/01/you-are-my-sunshine/
and http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-make-a-inexpensive-light-tent.

Elizabeth, hi, I’ve been taking my pics with my Samsung camera (iPhone people will now scream but Samsung pics are better than iPhone) until 2 weeks ago when I bought a DSLR camera. I am still trying to learn how to use it :-) You can not take pictures at night, you need natural light so you have to wait until the next day. I think a light box is an option, I will also check Goreti’s links! Lighting is very important and sometimes you can adjust them with a software but not all the time!

I use this with a longer tripod for all my photos , you can view them at https://www.facebook.com/EnticingCakesByChristine
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Photography-Lighting-Equipment-softbox-Holders/dp/B0091PNEBW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1393602853&sr=8-2&keywords=80CM+PHOTO+STUDIO+BOX+kit

I completely agree about natural light, but that’s not always an option. The bad thing about a light box is cakes don’t fit in them very well. Here’s the photo station we built in our kitchen:

http://cupadeecakes.blogspot.com/2010/07/photo-booth-station-complete.html

My recommendation is to learn the most you can about the camera you have. But my pictures immediately got better when I upgraded my point-and-shoot to an entry level DSLR. My DH and I started taking photography classes and learning the basics of aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc. and our photos got better. Now we’re learning to use post processing programs like Lightroom and we can already see a difference in our photos.

all or these photos are taken with an 80cm softbox with a tripod . The advantage is good all-round light at any time eg 2am when some or us Finish. :)

http://www.enticingcakesbychristine.co.uk/day-zoo/

I use a DSLR, but most of my pictures have been taken with a sony compact camera. The trick is to position your cakes in natural daylight (not bright sunshine). I use a silver pop up reflector to reflect the light on the opposite side of the light source. I have daylight lamps, for evening shoots, but the pictures are so much better in natural light. If you’re finishing your cakes late at night, can’t you wait until the morning to make use of the natural light?

Amanda xx