Photographing a wedding cake, tips please!

[Rob.Marsh]

Hi all,

My Dad decorates wedding cakes for a hobby and is outstanding at them. He is doing our wedding cake for our wedding in August.

Anyway, back to subject...

He keeps a scrap book and has asked me if I can take the pictures for him this time, and I really want to do the cake the justice it deserves.

Have you peeps got any tips?


As far as lighting goes I have three flash guns, an sb 26, jessops 360AF and a cheaper flash that does full or 1/16th power. I have 2 light stands, 2 shoot through brollies and an 80cm 5 in one reflector.

I'll be taking the photo in the evening on wed, in thioer conservatory.

Never having done food related shoots before I am hoping I can get a few pointers.

Thanks in advance!

Rob

 

[Richard King]

you missed the second question off..

There is shooting a cake to make it look good

There is the second question... consistently shooting cakes, week after week, so they look good and all look the same for a website (for example)

The first question is easy, by implication the second scenario requires plannning and note taking

.. tips -

Crop right in and do some details, and get some steps out and shoot from above, the side, etc. etc.. in other words vary the shots lots

White balance using a EXPO disk or grey card first. Icing inst allways white

Remember the sun (via nets in a conservatory) will be a different colour temp than your flash. So you need to gell the flash and tweak your camera. As icing is usually white (ish) it will show casts awfully

Keep the background uncluttered

You may just need a reflector to light the other side slightly (ignore the flash and use natural light)

Or if indoors, use the flash and a reflector to achieve the same result

Bounce the flash to avoid shadow in background

Play with the exposure - its amazing how much detail 1/2 or 1/3 a stop will reveal or destroy

 

[Rob.Marsh]

Thanks for some of your pointers there Richard.

you missed the second question off..

There is shooting a cake to make it look good

There is the second question... consistently shooting cakes, week after week, so they look good and all look the same for a website (for example) I'm not too worried about that, i'm doing a favour for my Dad.

The first question is easy, by implication the second scenario requires plannning and note taking

.. tips -

Crop right in and do some details, and get some steps out and shoot from above, the side, etc. etc.. in other words vary the shots lots

White balance using a EXPO disk or grey card first. Icing inst allways white Cool, i thought I would have too, the icing in this case is ivory, so is a no go completely for white balance.

Remember the sun (via nets in a conservatory) will be a different colour temp than your flash. So you need to gell the flash and tweak your camera. As icing is usually white (ish) it will show casts awfully. Unfortunately I'll be shooting when in the evening when it will be dark ouside but duly noted if I ever do any in the future.

Keep the background uncluttered

You may just need a reflector to light the other side slightly (ignore the flash and use natural light)

Or if indoors, use the flash and a reflector to achieve the same result

Bounce the flash to avoid shadow in background

Play with the exposure - its amazing how much detail 1/2 or 1/3 a stop will reveal or destroy

Thanks again, I guess it will be a case of trial and error and making sure I have pleny of time to take loads of shots to experiment with.

 

[Nod]

If you (or they) have any plain colured curtains that will compliment the colours on the cake, use one of them as a base/backdrop. IMO, daylight is a better option than flash - less kit to fall over onto the cake and spoil it (and your day). Watch out for burned out highlights and most important of all, have a great day for the wedding!