Ruffles! They take about a million years to create (If you have ruffling experience you will KNOW what I'm talking about) but OH how gorgeous they are. I've fallen especially in love with random imperfect ribbon type ruffles lately which are just a little bit different from what’s become the ruffle norm of either sticking to one small neat repeated shape or the more formal neater type of ribbon ruffle.

Do you take your cake photographs using natural light? If you sit your cake in any location in any room the light from the window(s) will shine onto one side of the cake and the other side will be darker. Often the effect can be flattering, but sometimes part of your cake falls annoyingly into shadow and in a bright sunny room the effect can be quite pronounced. A reflector screen can be used to bounce the light back onto the dark side of the cake so when a photograph is taken the light in that image will be more evenly balanced. Let me show you how to use one, so that you can decide if this type of thing would be a useful addition to your cake photography arsenal. Reflector screens come in different sizes. I have two, a large one (110cm, pictured below) and a smaller one (60cm). The larger one obviously reflects more light over a greater area but is quite big and cumbersome to use - you might need a tripod to hold it up, and it's often difficult to place it close enough to the cake. The smaller one still does a great job, is much more dainty and compact, and is easier to move around and position correctly. The down side is that it may not be suitable if your cakes are extremely tall.

Watermarks are important for various reasons. Firstly, they identify a photograph (and cake) as unmistakably yours to potential future clients. There's no better way to show your brand in your images than by actually showing it (could be your logo, your name, even your website address). 

Do you make wedding cakes? Do you deliver your cake to the wedding venue and set it up in place? What's your strategy for getting a good photograph of it before you leave? Do you just point-and-press or do you put a bit more thought into it? There are lots of useful pointers I can give you which will help you to take better venue photographs (one of the bonus lessons in my upcoming photography course will tackle this subject in more detail), but today let me start you down the right road by getting you to think a little bit about what's behind your cake when you set it up, i.e. the backdrop. You obviously have less control over your background at a venue than in your kitchen/studio but there are a couple of tips and tricks you can have up your sleeve. If the cake table is positioned in front of a beautiful backdrop you can jump for joy as you're on to a winner. Set your cake up, take your pictures and give yourself a pat on the back! In the following example the background was plain white with fireplace and picture frame detail. The cake table was far enough away from the wall to allow the background to be blurred out (blurring is achieved by using the correct camera lens).

You're a cake maker and you take photographs of your cakes. You have a smartphone on your person 99.9% of the time so it's a no-brainer to use your phone to take your cake photographs with before you share them with the world. Right? But have you ever wondered if there's a better way? A way you can improve those images you're getting and take them up a notch. Wouldn't it be good in this saturated world of a million scrolling images to make your own stand out from the crowd and portray a more professional image of yourself and your work. The answer is a simple one, and it's a DSLR (or mirrorless) camera. If you were to twist my arm and ask me to name just 5 reasons why you should make the switch here's what I'd tell you.

It's that time of year again! The trees are up, the presents for the daughter are on the premises but as yet still in their hiding place and not wrapped. I had grand illusions that I'd be finished the Christmas prep this year by about 4th December and then I could just put my feet up for the rest of the month, watch Gremlins and Die Hard with my glass of Baileys and a cosy pair of socks on. I was clearly delusional :-D It's always fun though despite the busy-ness to throw a few Christmas cupcakes together, so I thought a little tutorial would be good for a couple of quick and easy toppers - specifically the little Christmas tree and Rudolph that you see from this selection of four. 

Cake deliveries don't have to be a horrendous experience. Let me share my top tips with you to reduce your delivery stress!

A short article you can skim through. If you like more words you can read the long version.

A longer article you'll need a seat and a cup of tea with. If you like less words you can read the short version.