How to Photograph a Birthday Cake
A good birthday cake photo comes down to three things most people skip: getting low, getting close, and timing the shot before the candles burn down or the icing gets touched.
Get the angle right
Shoot from just above table height rather than standing and looking down — it makes the cake look like the centerpiece it is, instead of a small object in a wide room shot.
Light the candles last
Take a few 'before' shots of the full cake in good light, then let the candlelit shot be its own separate photo — mixing both in one frame usually means neither element is exposed well.
Time the blow-out
The best candle-blowing photos are usually taken a half-second before or after the actual blow, when the face is animated but not scrunched around blowing air.
Should the room lights be on or off for a candlelit shot?
Off, or dimmed as much as possible — ambient room light competes with candlelight and flattens out the warm glow that makes a candlelit cake photo work.
