How to Photograph Wedding Cakes
In this How To tutorial I’m going share with you some great tips on photographing wedding cakes.
Aside from camera settings which I’ll assume you can work out on your own, the main elements to consider are location, including the background and the angle at which you and your camera are positioned.
Photo by Kathryn Andrews Photography
Location:
The location of a wedding cake and the backdrop behind the cake are key in nailing a great wedding cake shot. Some venues are great at allocating a special place to display the wedding cake but not everyone sees things through a photographer’s eyes. Windows, plug sockets, light switches, fire extinguishers and signage can often appear in the background directly behind the beautiful cake which isn’t ideal.
This is an area that often gets overlooked when it comes to wedding planning so I would gently advise my clients (perhaps when sharing images of wedding cakes with your clients) to ask the wedding co-ordinator where the cake will be positioned so they can negotiate an alternative location before the wedding day if necessary. Alternatively, arrangements could be made for a drape to be hung behind the cake, creating a more appealing backdrop.
Photo by Kathryn Andrews Photography
As with most detail shots, it’s a good idea to photograph a portrait and landscape version as this will not only give you more options when it comes to album design but will also appeal better to editors of blogs and magazines if they have more than one option when designing layouts.
Photo by Kathryn Andrews Photography
Your Positioning:
Aside from the background, the way in which the cake is photographed is also important. For a great shot, you need the cake to look important and grand in the photo. To achieve this, your eye and camera need to be level with the base of the cake which will usually require you to crouch down. This will give the cake far more prominence in the photo compared to if you were to simply stand and shoot down at the cake.
Photo by Kathryn Andrews Photography
If you photograph wedding details well and give them prominence in the photos, your images will more likely appeal to editors of wedding blogs and magazines as well as the talented people who made those wonderful creations. Photograph the cake well and the person who made it is likely to remember you in future. I’ve included a few of my favourite wedding cake images here, all of which were taken at real weddings. If you’d like more inspiration I recommend looking at magazines or wedding cake websites to see how the cakes have been photographed.
Photo by Kathryn Andrews Photography
I hope you found this useful and if you know anyone else who would benefit from this post, it would be great if you could share it with them. If you have any tips on photographing wedding cakes or would like to leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.
