With a certain nation-loved show back on our screens, it’s inevitable that your Instagram feed will soon be filled with beautiful (and not so beautiful!) bakes. And what better way to remember your tasty treats than by photographing them. Follow our show-stopping photography tips from the Jessops Academy to capture your baking beauties!
Double Bake:
This requires a little planning, but it’s worth it if you’re taking your cake shots seriously. Always try to make two of your chosen recipe so you’ve got a “stunt double” for the camera. This means you can prod, poke, slice and dice your model, and still have a delicious untouched version to tuck into later on. Trust us: your cake might look delicious once it’s come out of the oven, but no-one will want to eat it once it’s spent time being prodded in front of your lens.
Natural Light:
The easiest light to work with is natural: site your impromptu studio near a large window out of direct sunlight and you should have plenty of illumination to make your cake shine on the camera. Careful if you’re shooting something super-glossy, as you might spot your window frame reflected in the cake’s icing.
Set the Scene:
Your cake might look the part, but your plates and table need to be on point as well. Make sure they’re not letting the side down by selecting your cleanest, chip-free crockery (a quick wipe with a vinegar-soaked cloth will remove any smudges or finger-marks and don’t choose patterns that’ll make the scene too busy. A folded (clean) tea towel is a great way to add colour to a shot without making it too complicated.
Change your point of view:
So many food bloggers simply take shots of their creations from where they’re sitting. Change your point of view for a more interesting photograph: try getting down to the cake’s level and shooting alongside it, or standing above the deck and taking a flat-lay style photograph. You could choose a lifestyle background such as a marble slab or wooden panels – plain backgrounds work more effectively with complicated subjects. If you’ve created macarons of many colours then try a simple, clean background to ensure they stand out from the crowd.
Think Deep:
Controlling depth of field is the key to creating delicious-looking bake photos. You’ll need a DSLR or mirrorless camera to achieve this, or a compact with a wide aperture lens. Choose an aperture of around f/2.8 or f/4 and focus on a key detail of your bake – perhaps an icing feature, or a layer of jam in the middle of a slice. This’ll blur out the background and give you that professional feel to your pictures.
Fill the Frame:
If you’ve baked something in vast numbers (such as cookies or fairy cakes) then make sure they’re filling the frame: having a couple hanging off the edges of the photos will make it look as though your cakes go on and on for ever…
