4 Tips for Better Buttercream Flower Photos
January 6, 2025
By Dara Waitkus, The Piped Peony
4-minute read
We’ve all been there—your buttercream flowers look amazing in real life, but your photos? Not so much. Suddenly, those flowers look like blobs, or the lighting makes it seem like you piped them in a cave. Don’t worry—capturing the true beauty of your buttercream flowers is easier than you think! With a few clever tricks and hacks, you can take photos that do your flowers justice.
Here’s how to level up your buttercream flower photography game:
1. Find Your Focal Point
Meet your flowers where they are. Your camera’s “eye” should be looking directly at the majority of where your flowers are facing. If your flowers are on the side of a cake, take a straight-on shot. If they’re on top of the cake, grab a stool and go for a top-down, overhead photo. For cupcakes, if the flowers face out, a straight-on shot is perfect. If they’re pointing toward the ceiling, well…that’s where you need to be! Okay, not literally on the ceiling (unless you have Spider-Man skills), but a stool or step ladder can help you nail that overhead angle. Remember, buttercream flowers don’t look their best from awkward side angles—show them off from their best view!
Pro-tip: When you’re placing your flowers on your project, think about where you’ll be snapping that all-important photo. After all, if there’s no picture, did the project even happen?! As you start arranging your flowers, be intentional about where you put them, keeping in mind the angle you’ll be photographing from. Remember, you’re not just creating an edible masterpiece—you’re also crafting a valuable piece of marketing material that shows off your talent. So take your time and be thoughtful with your placement!
Need some guidance on flower arrangement? Check out The Piped Peony Academy’s class, Special Spackle: Placing Buttercream Flowers on Cake Sides . This class will teach you not only how to secure buttercream flowers on the sides of your cake so they don’t slide down, but also how to arrange them with a keen eye for aesthetics. It’s packed with tips to help your cakes look as stunning in photos as they do in real life!
2. Use Side Lighting
Lighting is everything when it comes to capturing stunning photos of your buttercream flowers, and side lighting is one of the most flattering techniques you can use. Side lighting occurs when the light source is positioned to the left or right of your subject, casting soft, directional light across the surface. This highlights colors, adds depth to avoid flat spots, and creates subtle shadows that add dimension to your buttercream flowers.
For example, when light gently grazes the piped petals from the side, it reveals the intricate details of your work, giving your petals a translucent and natural beautiful look. It can also hide imperfections at the base of the flower, with subtle, natural shadows —because let’s face it, we all need a little grace sometimes! Side lighting works wonders because it doesn’t wash out the details the way direct front lighting can, nor does it create overly dramatic shadows like harsh overhead lighting might. It’s a balanced approach that feels both natural and artistic.
To achieve side lighting, place your cake or flowers near a window with light streaming in from the side. Natural light from the sun is the most natural source of light.It’s also free! If the sunlight is too intense, diffuse it with sheer curtains or a thin white cloth or simply hang a sheet up on your window!
Pro tip: Natural side light is definitely my preferred source of lighting for pictures, however if the sun isn’t cooperating, I will often supplement natural light with a softbox or I will use a softbox entirely in a darker room for consistent, reliable results. To use a softbox light, position the softbox beside your cake or cupcakes so the light comes from the side, and lower it to be level with your creation. This angle evenly illuminates the entire side of the cake, enhancing its natural beauty by adding depth, soft shadows, and gentle highlights.
3. Choose a Neutral Background
Your flowers are the stars, not the cluttered background. Stick with plain white, gray, or other neutral tones to keep the focus on your piping skills. Bonus: Neutral backgrounds also make your flowers pop without competing for attention. Here’s my set-up: Amazon White Backdrop with an Amazon T-Shape Portable Backdrop Stand.
Pro-tip: If a neutral, clutter-free background isn’t an option, you can easily blur your background with your phone’s photo settings to mute the distraction. On an iPhone, simply go to portrait mode, and adjust the f-stop—the small circular “f” icon in the corner of your screen—and lower it for that dreamy, professional-looking blur.
4. Edit with Adobe Lightroom
A little editing magic can take your photo from “meh” to “wow,” and Adobe Lightroom makes it easy—even if you’re not a tech wizard. Its intuitive sliders let you tweak settings with a simple swipe, so you don’t have to spend hours figuring it out. Focus on these four:
- Exposure: Brighten your photo for that clean, crisp look.
- Sharpen: Fix those blurry spots and make every petal pop.
- Shadows: Adjust for a light, airy feel or deep, dramatic vibes.
- Contrast: Add boldness or softness, depending on your style.
You can edit right on your phone with the Adobe Lightroom App. Don’t love the idea of adjusting the coloring and lighting yourself? No problemo! Lightroom has a ton of natural filters to choose from to make the editing even easier.
Pro-tip: Did you know you can edit short videos in Lightroom too? It’s a game-changer for adding that perfect touch of light or sharpness to your reels and social media clips!
And here’s another exciting pro-tip: Lightroom lets you blur the background of your photos! If you didn’t have a neutral background during your shoot or your phone lacks the f-stop functionality we mentioned in Section 3, no worries—Lightroom makes it effortless to create that professional, blurred-background look.
With these tips, your buttercream flowers will go from deliciously beautiful to downright photogenic, and more importantly, you’ll be creating pictures so you can market your work, or just showcase your talents and amazing skills! Remember, your buttercream flowers deserve to shine as brightly in photos as they do in real life. Now go forth, take those show-stopping shots, and get ready for the flood of “OMG, how did you do that?!” comments. You’ve got this!
