# Advice for a cake smash session?



## NORTHERNGAL (Aug 10, 2014)

A friend has asked me to photograph her baby's first birthday cake smash session. I've never done this before. I'm in the process of building up my equipment and only have a speed light. From what I've seen and read, it looks like I'll also need a suitable backdrop and a softbox/quality lighting. Any suggestions? I don't have a huge budget but would like to start offering these sessions, so I don't mind spending a bit for some new supplies.  Thank you!


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## KmH (Aug 10, 2014)

You need to get the speedlight off of the camera so you can easily change the light direction.

What flash unit do you have?
What kind of batteries do you use in your flash unit?

For this kind of a shoot I often held a speedlight with my left hand and the camera with my right hand so I could change the light position on the fly.
Another key is to set the flash unit to a wide angle beam. You will probably need to turn the power setting down.
Which brings up another key - using the flash unit in manual mode.

Using the flash at less than full power also allows the flash unit to recycle quicker.


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## tirediron (Aug 10, 2014)

You need to stop being involved in the shameful abuse of innocent confectionery!


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## ZombieQueen (Aug 10, 2014)

I recently did two cake smashes in the same weekend, I'm very much an amateur, but had two friends request them and I had never done them! We opted to do outside shoots because I'm more experienced outside and I have zero indoor equipment to produce quality indoor shots. One friend is an antique furniture designer, she brought her own props she had collected/made, but they're easy to find/make yourself on DIY and at flea markets. The other friend wanted something more upbeat since her daughter had a twin brother who had died at birth, so in the background was his teddy bear. Anyways, I'd suggest looking into outdoor, they're fun and require less equipment, I used no flash for ours and the conditions both days were exactly what I had hoped. Here are a couple of shots! Good Luck!!!


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