Wedding cakes. Lots of them 
Is it food or product photography? Normally, when I have a subject to photograph which sits in two or more categories, and determining the right strategic approach to the photographic style is difficult, I consider the target client rather than the paying client. Occasionally, my clients don’t always recognise the characteristics of their products that entice their clients to buy, possibly because they are too close to their own product and view it differently.
Here, I have two clients. A website design company and their client who designs and makes wedding cakes. Joanne (the cake lady) and her target market had very similar views on the subject matter to hand, wedding cakes. Yes, they had to taste right and have a variety of fillings available, but the initial impact had to be looks.
Brides are very particular regarding the aesthetics of their wedding cake. It has to have a “wow” factor, and definitely must be different to anything their friends may have had. So, similar to product photography, we would highlight the features of the cake, but it mustn’t become purely a product. It should also look good enough to eat.
Quite often with product photography, hard light is used to accent features and create texture. Now, those things are important here, but due to the context the subject is related to (weddings), the overall approach should be a little softer.
So, besides the wedding cakes, what else would the website require? I managed to talk the rather attractive business owner, Joanne, into having a headshot done for her website and social media profiles. This was more difficult than it should have been, as Joanne is extremely camera shy to say the least. She absolutely abhors having her photograph taken, and it took a fair bit of effort to coerce her into standing in front of the camera.
We moved into studio 3 which was setup already for low key, whereas studio 2 was basically white walled for the cakes.
And what of Katrina, the young lady who pushed Joanne to get suitable images for her website?
Oddly enough, Katrina didn’t exactly hesitate when asked to step up to the mark, and the smouldering look was instant. Quite the model 
Katrina’s company is The Irregular Bell Design Co.
Joanne’s cakes and designs may be viewed at www.petitebelle.co.uk
