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Let's look at 10 ways to make your cake photos better
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Typically, a plain background is preferable to a very busy background so that all of the
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attention is on your cake. If you want to take your cake photo in the kitchen
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move the appliances off the counter so that there's a plain background that doesn't
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distract from your cake. This is much better than this. The exception to a plain background
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is if you're setting a scene, for example with this Christmas cake photo with the tree in the
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background, which has a very different effect to the same cake with a simple white background
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Lighting is one of the most important things to get right when you're taking a photo of a cake
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There's natural light which is beautifully soft at some times of day and when it's not hitting
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the cake directly. There's artificial light which usually has a yellow tinge and very harsh shadows
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And if you have it, there's studio lighting which has soft shadows and even brightness everywhere
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On a cake, this is what they look like. Artificial light, natural light and studio lights
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I think the best trick for great photos is to make the background blurry or out of focus to
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really draw attention to your cake. I'll show you this on a phone in a second. On a camera
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change this by adjusting the f-stop or f-number. For the best results, move your cake as far away
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from the background as possible. I like to use f2 which makes the background really blurry or
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out of focus. Let's crop this a bit. Now scroll up to an 11 and look how sharp or in focus the
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background is. Those lines are really obnoxious here but when they're blurry in the background
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they look more interesting than distracting. On an iPhone, choose portrait mode and tap the f
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up here which will display a bar over here. Scroll anywhere up to 16 or anywhere down to 1.4
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and look at the difference. 1.4, 16. I know which one I prefer. Adding fabric like a kitchen towel
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can complement the colour scheme of the cake. It can hide the join between the counter or table
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and the wall and it makes the photo a bit more interesting. Leave it against the wall for a
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splash of colour or pull it forwards to cover up more of the background. Next, look at the difference
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between a photo of a cake on its cake board on the counter and then lift it up onto a cake stand
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On the counter, on a stand and there's a kitchen towel too. Here's another one. On the counter
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on a stand and on a stand with some fabric. For bonus points, instead of putting the cake on its
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cake board onto a cake stand, lift it off the cake board by chilling it in the fridge for a few hours
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and then slicing underneath it with an offset spatula and lift it up onto the cake stand without
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the cake board. You won't damage the frosting because it's cold and firm. Doesn't this look
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much better now than with the cake board in the photo too? Every cake has a front and a back
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Sometimes it's obvious like on this cake which has a message and trees on the front side only
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but often you choose the front and back when you decorate a cake and take photos of it. The back is
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your least favourite side with any imperfections and the front is your favourite side. Make sure
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the front is facing the camera when you're taking your photos. Photo props sound fancier than they
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are. Whatever you use to decorate the cake can be a prop like piping bags. If they're in the background
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and just enough in focus to know what they are, they can make the photo more interesting without
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distracting from the cake. Instead of decorating tools, you can use other things you have that
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match the colour scheme or the theme like these cute Christmas trees from Target that actually
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inspired this cake. After taking the time to set up your cake and lighting and props and camera or
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phone, take the time to take photos from different angles and distances and positions so that you have
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a variety of shots to choose between or use them all on social media on different days or on
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different pages of your website to show off different parts of the cake. It's also a good idea
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to take both landscape and portrait photos or zoom out so that you can crop the same photo into a
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landscape and portrait version to use on Facebook and also Instagram for example. I hope these 10
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tips will make your cake photos better! Learn hundreds of cake decorating techniques over on
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my online cake school on britishgirlbakes.com. You'll find individual courses and also memberships
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to take your cake decorating from beginner to professional. I hope to see you there
