I love creating and writing cake books and even though I do months of work before a first photoshoot, a book doesn’t feel real until the camera shutter clicks and the first cakes are safely digitally stored on a server, as well as in cake boxes!! This has definitely been true for the book I am currently working on, but now with 5 days of photoshoots completed and thousands of images stored, it is starting to feel like a real cake book. I can’t tell you that much about the book as it’s all top secret but I can tell you that it is based around colour and I am thrilled with what I have made for it so far. I do have my favourite cake and it’s in wonderful bright colours, however I have three more cakes to create, so who knows, my thoughts may change. Interestingly I often find that my favourite cake before a photoshoot is different to my favourite in the finished book, this is usually because the styling and lighting play such an important part – so it’s not all about cake!
Props help to enhance a cake, so it’s vital to get these spot on. I start collecting bits and pieces as soon as I’ve designed a cake, however I am not a stylist so like to leave the final choice to the experts!! I am however gradually learning what works and what doesn’t, so sometimes I make successful suggestions.
I’ve always loved the colour and texture of fabrics. My grandmother was a great seamstress and most of my memories are of her sitting at her sewing machine, so I guess I feel a bond with fabric. The colours in the photo above might give you a hint or two as to so of the shades and tones I have used in a couple of my cakes!! For the styled shots we use these to cover surfaces and for example, to use as make shift curtains.
Lighting is key to all good photography and for the first time ever my book cakes are being shot using natural light with a little help occasionally from a background flash.
The other first is that rather than being in a cramp studio we are out on location – how refreshing!! It has been something I’ve always wanted to do however in many ways it’s a lot more challenging especially when you have the British summer weather to contend with!
I plan to write about the step photoshoot days shortly but in the meantime…
Happy Baking and Decorating
Lindy