The before and after… A Cinderella Story
The Before
To the right is perhaps one of the cakes I loved most in the early months of my bakery. I could officially make buttercream flowers that looked like buttercream flowers, arrange them in a beautiful bouquet, and when the mom and daughter came to pick it up—their smiles still warm my heart!
BUT, while this picture gets the general gist of my passion across, does it make you sit back and think—yes, I want to eat that?
I can’t answer for you, but for me it doesn’t. Looking at the picture with my trained eye, I see the yellow lighting that makes it look a tad unappetizing (the opposite of what I want!) and odd shadows. You can see my attempt at fixing the background with a white piece of fabric. This picture is a picture of a business owner who has too many other things to do than figure out how to make her cakes photograph as well as they look in person.
Finding my fairy god mother
Several months later, after I get an official ‘proper’ camera, I’m feeling more comfortable. I’m getting more orders. My customers trust me more to deliver really detailed, beautiful designs. My dream cake comes through the pipeline: a Victorian inspired floral cake.
I’m delighted. I mean delighted. I spent more time making this cake than entirely necessary because I was having so much fun! The color palette, the flowers, the detail. Yes, yes, and yes.
It comes time to photograph the cake and I’m so glad I had some practice at this point because I actually quite like this photo. It shows the detail on the top of the cake beautifully, the lighting (while moody) is not yellow. I can look at the picture and think, ‘That’s a beautiful cake!’ I might even think ‘I wonder how it tastes? If someone can decorate like that, they have to be able to bake well.’
But that’s just me. Maybe you think something different?
Either way, I think we can both agree that it’s better than the above picture.
The glass slipper
Fast forward a couple of years. I don’t own the bakery anymore, but I’m still photographing like it’s my job (a job I dream of). I spent an hour making this cute little funfetti bundt. I spent more time than that planning exactly how I want to photograph it.
What’s the vibe? What’s the color palette? How can I add movement to it so people feel like they’re there?
This is the outcome. A picture I very much look at and think, I wish that was in my kitchen right now. I want cake. I want frosting. I want the flowers in the background (which happens to be my favorite bouquet I’ve ever found).
This is what I want to bring to your restaurant. Years of practice and passion, honing my skills so I can show off your skills.
I know what it’s like to be a small business owner, and I know firsthand how good photos can immediately start growing your business. This is what I want to bring to your restaurant — the ability to make your customers feel like they can taste your food just by looking at a photo.
