I certainly think a photo can make or break the cake. I am no means a professional photographer, but I like to remove any distractions and place on a plain cloth or drape it behind the cake. I like natural light with no flash. So then i need to use a tripod to avoid the shake.
it's all about:
lighting -- pro's usually use minimum of three lights -- two from front, key & fill (bright and soft) and one from side back -- rim.
and think -- last time you had a pro portrait -- did they use an ON camera flash -- nope! -- on camera produces lousy results for this kind of work.
good background -- plain or mottled color to complement colors of cake.
strong tripod - to steady camera and make focus easier to do
attention to details of focus and composition.
It's really weird...some cakes look better in pictures, and some look worse. And some don't look at ALL the way they looked in person!
To take a good picture of a cake, first make sure that you have a good background. I use one of those student 3-D cardboard report stands draped with cheap fabric from Wal Mart. Second, the light is important. A flash can reflect and distort the colors. So try to get as much natural light on the cake as possible so you either don't need the flash, or the impact of the flash is minimal.
I agree.
But at midnight or later when I finish most of my cakes, the only option is the kitchen counter/stove/table with the yucky yellow light from my overhead lights! Then most cakes are packed away in their box to be delivered wherever I am taking them the next day - sometimes I can grab a better pic in natural light but most times, the only documentation I have is the late night digital pic I grab in my kitchen.
Flood or shop lights work well, and you can even find them with stands so that you do not have to hold them. A bit more work, but you could build a light box large enough to sit your cake in. I will post a link for instructions, but you will most likely need to make it larger in order to put your cake in. If you do make it larger, I would make it out of larger pvc, or I would make it out of 1"x4" lumber, or else it will probably not be very stable. For the back ground you will most likely want to find something bigger than what they use, so it will go all the way to the edges of the light box.
http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber/light_box_light_tent
My daughter, who just got married, has a photographer friend and I was picking his brain on this very subject at her wedding in June. He suggested I use an all black background. I went to Hobby Lobby and bought one of those 3 panel sided display boards and some black cotton fabric. The cakes I did this past weekend are photoed (sp?) this way and wow! what a difference!! They're in my gallery. I'll never do it differently again.... looks just like a professional did them!
Ambient light, which is the light present without any help from the photographer , such as what you would find outside can be quite kind to your subject. If you have the opportunity, move your cake outdoors to a place in the shade. If your camera allows you to set the aperture to a lower f-stop, such as f-2.8 to f-4, it will give you a sharper foreground with a soft background. Nice for a portfolio. Or if your camera won't let you do that, try the protrait setting. It will also give you a shallow depth of field with a softer, less obvious background. I have done that on the black and white plaid cake and the pink flower cake in my picture file. Both were shot without fill flash with a f-stop of 2.8 Otherwise, if my pictures are just for my own information, to help me to remember the steps I used or some other thing, I take them indoors with my flash, if needed. Backdrops can be just about anything depending on what you are trying to protray. Fabric is always nice as long as it isn't all wrinkled up.
Hope this helps a bit.
I always take one on the turntable before I move it just in case I drop it!
When I have to set up one on site, I bring my black velvet dropcloth with me and wrangle someone into holding it up for me. I have several funny pics of friends peeking over the top of the cloth saying, "Are you done YET? My arms are hurting!"
TxAgGirl,
Thank you very much for posting that question. I always feel that my cakes look much better in person than in pics! 
For this reason I really hate taking pics of them! The ones I'm really proud of looks crappy (
pardon my french) 
in photos!
Thank you again
khoudek,
Thanks for "picking" the photographer's brain for much needed info. 
Stay Sweet
When I have to set up one on site, I bring my black velvet dropcloth with me and wrangle someone into holding it up for me. I have several funny pics of friends peeking over the top of the cloth saying, "Are you done YET? My arms are hurting!"
I hadn't thought of this. One more thing for my husband to help out with. I'm going to try this at the next site.
yes....
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-22610-photography.html
i am NOT have a good morning! -- still sleepy!!
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%
