CLOUGH'D 9 COOKIES
  • Home
  • In-Person Classes
  • Shop
    • STL Files
    • Printables
    • Buy Online Classes
  • Online Class Pages
    • Fall Textures Class 2022
  • Tutorials at a Glance
  • Newsletters
  • Tutorials
  • Portfolio
    • All Things Baby!
    • Animals
    • Bridal & Wedding
    • Beach/Ocean Animals/Nautical
    • Careers & Hobbies
    • Flowers
    • Food and Beverages (in cookie form!)
    • It's a Party!
    • Holidays >
      • Valentine's Day
      • St. Patrick's Day
      • Easter
      • Halloween
      • Thanksgiving
      • Winter Holidays
    • School & Graduation
    • Showpieces
    • Sports
    • Building Our Kitchen
  • Reflections of a Cookie Widower
  • Freezing Cookies
  • FAQ/ Contact
  • About Me
  • Press
  • Privacy

Reflect your best work: Use a reflector while photographing

2/19/2016

1 Comment

 
DISCLAIMER: I am not a trained photographer by any stretch of the imagination.
I don't know about aperture and ISO and raw images and such.  
I just like to take pretty pictures of my cookies.  
I just wanted to share one little trick for anyone else like me.
Picture
Decorated cookies can take a LONG time to create. I think that it's really important to have a great photograph that showcases your hard work! Since I also sell my cookies, I want a great picture that will be appealing to my clients.  
Here's my photographing set-up in my studio. I arrange a small table near the glass storm door, allowing lots of natural light to shine in. I lay my cookies and props on photo backdrops, like ones found at SwankyPrints. It was a little after noon and overcast when I took this pic, thus creating the shadows.     
Picture
I use a white, foam backboard (think science fair project backboard) when I photograph my cookies. It has seen better days, but it still works!  
Picture
As I photograph, I place the backboard opposite of the light source. For example, the light was coming in from the right in the picture above. I placed the backboard on the left side of the cookies. The light from the door on the right reflects off of the board and illuminates the left side of the cookie-scape. I know it's a simple concept, but it makes a big difference!  
Let me show you some examples. 
1. NO backboard used.  
Notice how much shadow there is on the left side of the cookies?
Sometimes, I REALLY like the shadowy effect. It can show off the texture of the cookie.   
Picture
 2. Backboard used to the left of the cookies, at a 90* angle to the table.
There is a lot less shadow here, but the definition in the tail was lost a little to the brightness. The picture is much brighter, overall.      
Picture
3.  Backboard used to the left of the cookies, but angled away.
This resulted in a little bit of shadow, but not too much.  
Picture

Here's another look at the three pictures, side by side, for easier comparison. 
Picture
no reflector board
Picture
90* reflector board
Picture
reflector board angled away

Three more things to note:
1. Follow your photographing heart. Do what you think looks good! Some might think that all three of the pictures above are garbage. I'm okay with that! I like them, and that's what matters to me. Tomato, Tomahto. 
 2. Still consider using photo editing software. I use the editing features in iPhoto most often. Some small tweaking with software can make a great photo even better!
3. PLEASE, WATERMARK YOUR PHOTOS. Not only does the photo belong to YOU, but the subject of the photo is YOURS, TOO. I won't get into discussing those individuals that steal photos- boy that burns my biscuits! But when you watermark your beautiful photos, people can find you!! I have been able to reach out to many cookiers to ask about technique, design, or even just to say a kind word, all because the picture was watermarked.    
Now get out those cameras and take some great pictures!  
1 Comment
Liz
2/19/2016 10:20:19 pm

Thank you Amy for the wonderful advice!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    I'm Amy. Wife, Mom, former science teacher- and now full time cookie baker on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Pull up a chair and we'll create!  I'll bring the coffee- maybe Mike (The Cookie Widower) will make it for us.

    Categories

    All
    Adding Texture
    Airbrushing
    Christmas
    Creative Cutter Use
    Easter
    Fall
    Flowers
    Gingerbread
    Halloween
    New Years
    Other Treats
    Pilgrims
    Plaid
    Rainbow
    Recipe
    Royal Icing Transfers
    Ruffles
    Sanding Sugar
    School
    Sewing
    Spring
    St. Paddy's Day
    Summer
    Thanksgiving
    Tips And Tricks
    Tutorial
    Valentines
    Video Tutorial

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    May 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    November 2017
    September 2017
    March 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013

Copyright © 2022 Clough'D 9 Cookies *All rights reserved*
  • Home
  • In-Person Classes
  • Shop
    • STL Files
    • Printables
    • Buy Online Classes
  • Online Class Pages
    • Fall Textures Class 2022
  • Tutorials at a Glance
  • Newsletters
  • Tutorials
  • Portfolio
    • All Things Baby!
    • Animals
    • Bridal & Wedding
    • Beach/Ocean Animals/Nautical
    • Careers & Hobbies
    • Flowers
    • Food and Beverages (in cookie form!)
    • It's a Party!
    • Holidays >
      • Valentine's Day
      • St. Patrick's Day
      • Easter
      • Halloween
      • Thanksgiving
      • Winter Holidays
    • School & Graduation
    • Showpieces
    • Sports
    • Building Our Kitchen
  • Reflections of a Cookie Widower
  • Freezing Cookies
  • FAQ/ Contact
  • About Me
  • Press
  • Privacy