Wedding Reception Photographs
Since many of our weddings are beach weddings, much of the focus of the day is drawn to what actually takes place on the beach - the ceremony and formal pictures of the family and bridal party. In our article on How to Prepare for Beach Wedding Photography we talked about tips to prepare for your beach wedding with us as your photographers.
But after the ceremony and the formals are over, the focus then shifts to the celebration at the reception – another aspect to the wedding day that requires just as much attention, but is photographed in a much different way. At the reception, we make sure to capture the special planned events, the momentous candid shots, and the important detail shots.
The planned events include moments such as the grand entrance of the bridal party, the announcement of the bride and groom, the bride and groom’s first dance, the father/daughter dance, the mother/son dance, the bridal party dance, toasts, bouquet toss, garter removal, garter toss, and cake cutting.
Some of the candid shots may include moments such as the best man doing a crazy dance on the dance floor, the flower girl asleep in the corner of the room, the bride giving her grandmother a hug…anything and everything that happens at the reception.
The details that we photograph at the wedding reception include things such as the table seating display, the guest book or framed picture for people to sign, the centerpieces, flowers, party favors, chair covers and bows, other special table decorations, the cake table display and of course, the beautiful cake. This article is going to focus on wedding cake photography tips.
Wedding Cake Photos
For the weddings that have their wedding reception outdoors, the ideal situation would be for us to take pictures of the wedding cake while there is still available daylight. Using daylight, as opposed to photographing the cake after sunset, allows us to take wedding cake pictures without using flash.
With enough daylight, we typically photograph the wedding cake using our lenses with a wide open aperture. This allows as much light in as possible and it creates a shallow depth of field for striking images of the details of the cake.
When outdoors at night we will set our cameras on a tripod or use our flash equipment for wedding cake photos. When possible, we will bounce our flash against the ceiling of a tent, a wall, or even a reflector to create a more natural look than using direct flash on the cake.
When the wedding reception is indoors, we take pictures of the wedding cake using a tripod as well as using bounced flash. If the cake is near a window and there is enough available sunlight, we can also take wedding cake photos using our lenses with a wide open aperture.
Our Nikon 50 mm 1.4 AF lens is a studio favorite for wedding cake detail shots. Photographing the cake details at a 1.4 f-stop brings in as much light as possible and creates images where the details are tack sharp in the foreground and everything else is out of focus.
When there is not enough light to hand hold our cameras without flash, then we use the tripod to take pictures of the cake without flash. This allows us to still get wedding cake photos with the lighting provided without flash. We also take wedding cake photos using bounced flash off of low ceilings or a wall. This works best when the ceilings are white so that the light reflecting on the cake is a clean white light.
Types of Wedding Cake Photos
When photographing the wedding cake we start by taking a straight on picture of the entire wedding cake and cake table. For this picture it is important that we center the cake and pay attention to what is in the background. We proceed by taking closer and more focused pictures of the details of the wedding cake. The flowers, the beads, the monogram, the cake topper, and the sea shells are some samples of the details on a wedding cake that we photograph. The most artistic wedding cake images are when we use a wide open aperture and focus on one detail such as a flower on the cake so the only thing in focus is that flower and the rest of the cake in the picture is out of focus.
We also take wedding cake photos from all different angles – shooting from the top of the cake to the bottom of the cake, from the bottom to the top, from each side, and so on. Since the details on each wedding cake are different, we are able to take artistic shots unique to each different wedding cake.
Creative and Fun Wedding Cake Photos
In addition to close up pictures of the wedding cake, we also like to take some fun pictures with the cake such as the cake in focus in the foreground and the bride and groom’s first dance out of focus in the background. The cake, the cake location, the room set up, and the lighting all play into what type of creative pictures we can take with the wedding cake.
One of the reasons that our wedding packages include two photographers is so that while the first photographer is taking pictures of the bride and groom on the beach, the second photographer can be taking pictures of the details of reception site, including pictures of the cake.
This is when most of the still life pictures of the cake are taken because usually it is before sunset and there is more available light. This is also a good time to take the detail shots of the cake because the guests have not entered the banquet room yet and we can photograph the cake and the whole room without people in the background.
During the reception, there may be some opportunities for candid pictures of the wedding cake such as pictures of kids staring in awe at the cake or sneaking icing from the cake.
Wedding Cake Cutting Photographs
And of course, one of the big moments of the night is the cake cutting. For pictures of the cake cutting, we take a few pictures beforehand of the bride and groom together next to the cake. After the bride and groom have cut the cake together, it is up to them how they want to proceed with feeding each other the cake.
Some wedding couples keep it "nice" and feed each other using forks. Other wedding couples use their fingers to feed each other, and still others just go straight for the cake smashing. No matter what the scenario, we make sure to capture the cake cutting moment by moment.
The wedding cake is what everyone looks forward to seeing and tasting at the wedding reception. A lot of planning and care is put into the details of both the outside and the inside of the cake, so it is no wonder that when selecting which images to use in their wedding album, a picture of the wedding cake is almost always one of the bride and groom’s choices. Wedding cake pictures make great selections for the wedding album as full page images, small images, or even as background images.
Some excellent bakeries that are used frequently by our wedding couples include Mason's Bakery, Ana Paz Cakes, Ella's Cakes, the Ritz Carlton Bakery, and Gulf Shore Bakery.