How to Photograph a Birthday Cake With Candles
Birthday parties are great places to take pictures but capturing a birthday cake throughout the course of the event can be difficult when conditions are constantly changing. While there are a number of things that can be done to help keep conditions fairly manageable for taking the pictures, oftentimes the best remedy is understanding what manual settings should be made on the camera itself. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
Photographing the Birthday Cake
-
1
If you're especially proud of the way the birthday cake looks, try placing the cake in an area decorated with streamers, glitter, presents or other birthday-related items to capture the look before it gets eaten.
-
2
Place the cake in an area where natural light can bring out the true colors of the scene. This will allow for your camera to be set on a high ISO setting and a have fast shutter speed, which will minimize blurriness.
-
-
3
To capture the birthday cake as the candles are being blown out, either set up the scene beforehand or make sure the camera has the right settings. If the birthday is taking place outside where plenty of natural light is available, automatic settings of a fast shutter speed and a high ISO will be the best way to capture the moment.
-
4
If the lights are turned off or there is little natural or artificial light available to lighten the face of the birthday guest of honor, be sure the camera's flash setting is turned off. Using a flash in a dark room will cause the picture to appear washed out.
-
5
Set the shutter speed to 1/60th of a second and place the camera on a tripod or some other stable place to eliminate shake caused by holding the camera. If you know where the birthday cake is going to be brought, set up the camera beforehand so the scene is framed properly. If your camera has a burst shooting mode setting--allowing many frames in rapid succession--use this to ensure there will be plenty of pictures to choose from after the event.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
If shooting a child's birthday, try lowering the camera's perspective to capture the scene from eye level with the child. Use the macro setting to get an up-close look at the birthday cake details. This can be especially interesting after the cake has been cut and eaten.
