People who photograph newborns and families or have children older than one year are likely already familiar with cake smash photos. But if you’ve never heard of it, the name sums it up. One-year-old toddlers worldwide are breaking specially crafted cakes to mark their first birthday as part of a rapidly spreading fad. Naturally, such a significant event should be documented in photographs where you come in. But what is required to capture an enjoyable cake smash event on camera? You should consider including Cake smash photography as one of your services whether you already photograph newborns, families, or other events, or if you’re looking for a fun way to expand the clientele for your photography studio.
Table Of Contents
- 1 Ten tips to take cute cake smash photos
- 2 Conclusion
Ten tips to take cute cake smash photos
Choose the Cake carefully.
There are a few recommendations to keep in mind when purchasing or creating the Cake. The perfect icing to use is buttercream or another light icing. As children can get lost behind larger cakes, we discovered that more miniature cakes, up to 8′′–10′′ in diameter, perform excellently for the images with children. Most of our babies wouldn’t have consumed much “cakey” food before age one. Giving a baby a small piece of Cake or cupcake before the session will help them become accustomed to the novel food and sensory experience, so they won’t find it unusual, and you can take the cute cake smashing photos.
Outfit ideas
We will first plan the day’s theme, colors, decorations, and attire with great care. You are welcome to bring unique goods, such as t-shirts and tops with a child’s name printed on them or anything else you would want to utilize.
Props and décor!
When taking cake smash photos, a lot happens between the props, the Cake, and the baby. Using a color scheme and selecting similar colors will help you avoid creating visual disorder by avoiding jarring color combinations. On the color wheel, similar hues are close to one another and, when combined, produce a unified overall appearance. It can be tempting to keep including objects in the frame, but remember that less is more when it comes to props. Keep in mind that the focus of a Cake Smash photo session is your baby and this milestone; let the baby and the Cake be the stars! I suggest a few natural wooden toys like cars or horses if you struggle with bub.
Take Your Cake Smash photos From Every Angle.
We are visual storytellers as photographers, and excellent storytelling necessitates careful composition and shooting from various angles. Every scene should have wide, mid, and close-up shots regardless of whether we are filming the action at eye level or top-down from above. Doing this can create a more decadent tale and provide more compelling images for family and friends to enjoy. Children, especially those under one year old, can be very unpredictable. When photographing a cake smash, here is a helpful fundamental starting point for adjusting your camera settings so you can concentrate on shooting:
- Shutter Speed: Use a quick shutter speed to keep up with a young child who may be moving quickly. To reduce motion blur and maintain pin-sharp shots, keep your shutter speed at or above 1/200.
- Aperture: You’ll want to keep the majority of the frame in focus because it’s likely that the background and adjacent props received a lot of thought. Keep your aperture range between f/2.8 and f/5.6, depending on the light available.
- ISO: Out of all the settings, I usually prioritize maintaining a low ISO to reduce noise in the photographs. Your precise ISO setting will vary, but if it reaches a point where image quality suffers, try adjusting the other settings mentioned above or think about bringing more light into the scene. More about this is covered further down.
Cute setups for cake smash photos
Floor |
Backdrop |
| Don’t pick to set up on your expensive rug or carpets when doing a cake smash photoshoot at home! Instead of trying to remove chocolate cake or electric blue buttercream from the white carpet, set it up on tiles or floorboards instead. | A bare, light-colored wall is the most accessible backdrop to create. Try a low-cost DIY cake smash backdrop if you don’t have a plain wall next to decent natural light. A long piece of vinyl and clipped it to the top of a backdrop frame to solve the floor and background problems. Vinyl isn’t the most affordable material for backdrops. But it makes a fantastic backdrop for various events because it’s easy to clean up cake stains, doesn’t wrinkle or need ironing, drapes beautifully, and is simple to store. |
Use natural light
Use gentle natural light to create an airy appearance that complements cake smash photos nicely. Your cake smash can take place outside or indoors close to big windows and doors. An unattractive result of bright light entering through your window could be clearly defined shadow lines. In that case, utilize sheer materials like chiffon or curtain netting to diffuse the light. As overhead lights obstruct your natural light source and create unwelcome hard light shadows, switch them off.
Take some close-ups
The best Cake smash photos show the specifics of the main event. Draw attention to the baby’s hands and feet in the Cake by moving in close. Bring all the complicated details to light. It is related to the topic of this session. These images will enhance the narrative and look fantastic as spreads in prints or albums.
Gear
To control the shutter speed and aperture, you must have a DSLR that can be used in manual mode. If your camera is currently in an automatic way, switch to manual mode to take photographs you’ll enjoy. I advise using a lens with a focal length of about 35 to 50mm. This collection is ideal for cake smash pictures because it lets you get up close while still showing the setup.
Don’t forget to take baby cleaning shots.
Save your cleanup time after taking cake smash photos. It’s the ideal chance to take more unique pictures! Use a container as a temporary bathtub, but avoid plastic tubs because they aren’t the most attractive. Additionally, it keeps the infant from falling into the water and frees up your hands for shooting. There are countless possible additions, including a rubber ducky, flowers, and sliced fruit.
Edit it Professionally
These portraits might be arranged next to one another in an album spread or a grouping of wall art. To put it another way, if you edit in a robust and fashion, edit that way throughout the entire collection. Alternatively, if you decide to edit a photograph in black and white, think about altering other black and white photos that can complement the original image on an album layout. To speed up your post-production workflow and get professional results in the fewest clicks possible, I advise employing professionally created presets when it comes to editing.
Conclusion
You may incorporate cake smash photos into your workflow if you operate in one of these portrait photography subgenres. I sincerely hope that these Cake smash photography techniques were helpful. Cake smash photography is a natural fit for the lifecycle of a typical client, which frequently includes engagements, weddings, maternity sessions, newborn sessions, cake smash experiences, and family portraits.