Keeping it real

As you are aware, I follow a number of different baking blogs. Wanting to improve my blog, I decided to carry out some research into popular blogs and what makes them so darn popular. After trawling through numerous blogs, I realised that the blogs that were the most popular displayed professional looking cupcake photos, not to mention incredibly tasty looking photos too! After making this discovery, I conducted further research into how to improve my blog photography. I was soon faced with the harsh reality that I need to buy a professional camera, take photography lessons and then enhance my photos using Photoshop! So, what’s an aspiring bland Asian cupcake baker to do?!

As much as I would love to do all those things and more, I really can’t afford to! Like many people, not only am I money poor, I am time poor. So I am going to use what my mama gave me (my thinking cap that is) and make the internet my new best friend. I have spent most of tonight (and yesterday and possibly the day before) looking up photography tips and reacquainting myself with my good old friend Photoshop.

Early this year, after enduring one of my favourite baking adventures, I was really disappointed and left somewhat empty inside that I didn’t get a good photo of my achievement – the Super Mario cupcakes. In particular, the close up of the Mario and Luigi cupcakes was out of focus and the colour looked some what distorted. After about half an hour on Photoshop this evening, I manage to get a fairly drab looking photo and turn it into a semi-decent one. Check out the before and after shots:

Above image: Before editing

Above image: After editing

Given that half the taste of cupcakes is in the way it looks, it is so important that you capture the cupcake in the right way to do your little works of art justice. Ok, it is getting late (and well past my bed time), what is the moral of the story? If you want ample cupcake praise (and let's be honest, who doesn't!), you not only have to make a pretty mean looking cupcake, you got to photograph it well too. And in the event that you don’t, there is always Photoshop to help you keep it real. Hells yes! Fo’ show!