Shoot your cake!
One of the things to love about “foodie people” is their willingness to share – recipes, where to source great produce and specialist ingredients, favourite places to eat, drink and visit – and more importantly a willingness to share their story and knowledge at events and workshops.
On Tuesday night at Vanessa Baxter: Kitchens without Boundaries’ Foodie Network Event, three speakers shared their passion for their business: Lisa King from Eat My Lunch, Joe Swatland from Rebel Food and Vicky Te Puni from The Workshop.
Vicky from The Workshop (Facebook & Instagram) spoke about creating your own mini studio at home, and how to use ‘key’ and ‘fill’ light when taking food or product images. This inspired me to share my cake photos (raw and untouched by photoshop) from the ‘Shoot Your Cake!’ workshop Julia and Vicky ran a couple of months back. Funnily enough, this workshop was where I first met Vanessa!
Julia and Vicky from The Workshop.
Like-minded foodies and cake bakers gathered at Studio One Toi Tu one Saturday morning in May, with a single goal in mind – to take better cake photos. There were so many things to consider:
- The story you want your image(s) to convey
- Building the audience's rapport through content and images
- The best use of backgrounds and colours to evoke an emotion
- How to maximise the use of natural light
- Varying the camera angle to make an impact
- Getting the props and styling right
- and many more...
Overhead shot... no props
Playing with props and camera angle
The impact of a black background... my favourite shot
Who ate the missing cupcake? (taken with iPhone)
Creating negative space and focusing on one hero cupcake
A simple flat lay (taken with iPhone)
Playing with props and angles
We got to ‘eat our cake’ too. Thanks to Jackie from Cake & Co who provided beautifully decorated cakes for the shoot, and for us to take home too. A big thank you to Fossick and Forage for the props, without them our images would have been a little bare.
For information on the next ‘Shoot Your Cake!’ workshop click here: The Workshop.
Michelle