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thesmashcake · 4 years ago

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Photography Books Everyone Should Read

I’m a huge proponent of learning - and I’m a bookworm. Always have been. When we first opened the photograph studio I was still traveling out of town for my day job, and one of the best things I could do for our business was suck down photography books - which suited me just fine. Daniel has his favorite photography authors and so do I, but I was also reading about customer service, photography marketing practices and how to sell.

Our favorites include (in no particular order) books by Joe McNally, Seth Godin, Scott Kelby and Jack Mitchell.

Joe McNally

Joe McNally is so prevalent and such a great writer he gets his own section. Joe writes wonderful, wonderful books about location lighting, environmental portraiture, and how to "get the shot" in a down-to-earth, straightforward manner that cuts through the clutter. Joe’s worked for some of the biggest names, Sports Illustrated, Time, National Geographic. We’ve seen him speak a couple of times. When you get a chance to see Joe in person, be sure to take it - it’s worth your cash and your time. Read:

The Moment it Clicks - Photography Secrets from One of the World's Top Shooters Hot Shoe Diaries, The: Big Light from Small Flashes Sketching Light: An Illustrated Tour of the Possibilities of Flash

Books on Photography Lighting

Light Science and Magic by Fil Hunter, Steven Biver and Paul Fuqua Light Science and Magic is an excellent book on how to dramatically and quickly improve your photography with a comprehensive theory of the nature and principles of light, with examples and instructions for bringing your photography forward quickly.

Picture Perfect Lighting by Roberto Valenzuela In his photography book Picture Perfect Lighting: An Innovative Lighting System for Photographing People Roberto explains his truly original system for understanding and controlling light in photography. Roberto introduces the five key behaviors of light, which are essential to understand in order to improve your knowledge of photography. You can also see Roberto speak on creativeLive.com.

The Flash Book: How to fall hopelessly in love with your flash by Scott Kelby Scott Kelby is an incredibly well-known photography author, speaker and educator in the photography world. His photography book The Flash Book: How to fall hopelessly in love with your flash, and finally start taking the type of images you bought it for in the first place will change the way you appreciate light.

Photography Books on Posing

Posing a cake-covered little one isn’t really the plan for your day, it’s not like you’re going to get them to sit still. However, Mom & Dad almost always want to get a couple of shots with that cake covered baby. Never say no - you are there to make money and more unique poses equals more cash in the sales room. You need to have your family posing basics down. Here are some photography books on posing that we’ve certainly appreciated.

The Photographer's Guide to Posing: Techniques to Flatter Everyone by Lindsey Adler Posing is truly a crucial skill that photographers need to have in order to create great photographs. If you’re looking to improve your ability to pose your subjects this photography book The Photographer's Guide to Posing: Techniques to Flatter Everyone is a wonderful way to expand your skill set. POSE!: 1,000 Poses for Photographers and Models by Mehmet Eygi With special sections specifically for families with newborns, young children and maternity pictures, this is a great book to add to your photography library. POSE!: 1,000 Poses for Photographers and Models also gives you information on how to get your clients to engage with props for more natural pictures.

Business Books for Photographers

We know we harp on business education for photographers. We can’t stress enough how important it is to understand business practices, selling and customer service. You can be an amazing photographic artist - but if you can’t pay the bills you’ll go right back to your 9-5.

The Non-Designer's Design Book by Robin Williams A lot of photographers don’t start their business with much of a budget. Most of us are creating our own ads, websites etc for the first year or two. The Non-Designer’s Design Book is a godsend. Straightforward, simple principles will have your business looking professional in half the time.

Hug Your Customers: The Proven Way to Personalize Sales and Achieve Astounding Results by Jack Mitchell Sarah Petty initially turned me on to this one. I think I’ve bought about 6 copies - I keep giving them to businesses we’re helping. Jack’s customers are some of the most loyal in his industry - they keep coming back because they receive such AMAZING customer service. This is a wonderful book to help you out of a shoot-and-burn mentality into a customer service driven boutique photography studio.

Why We Buy - The Science of Shopping by Paco Underhill A witty bestselling book on our ever-evolving consumer culture—full of observations and important lessons from the cutting edge of retail that will help you understand your clients’ needs and wants. Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping helps you explain to your clients what your artwork brings to them.

Selling Retail by John Lawton Selling becomes easy as you practice your techniques. This easy-to-grasp book is packed with the specific ammunition you need to transition into an in-person sales photography studio. Like “Hug Your Customers”, Selling Retail explains what your customer needs to feel secure in their purchasing decisions and safe that you have their best interests at heart.

Purple Cow by Seth Godin Purple Cow brings forward the premise that you are either remarkable as in “to be remarked upon” or invisible, and that to survive as a successful business you need to be different enough to stand out from the competition. As a business it is incredibly important to be seen and Purple Cow strives to help you change your mindset and open you up to different ways of advertising. We have a appreciated a ton of Seth’s books - here are some more of his unique books about business.

I try to read at least one business book a month and I have read and reread several of those listed here, but there are new authors all the time - be sure to leave us a list of who else you think we should be learning from.

Thanks! - Clare More In Depth Book Reviews: You Are a Badass at Making Money Never Split the Difference

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thesmashcake · 4 years ago

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How to Become a Photographer in 2021

We opened our first studio location in 2009 - and we did a lot of things wrong. We made several costly mistakes on our way to becoming a photography business. A profitable photography business. Becoming a photographer would have been easier if we had the foresight to do the following things. Not all of these were possible for us because of our family’s needs, but if we were looking at how to become a photographer in 2021 - here’s what we’d do.

Go Make Friends

I’m the social butterfly of the two of us, and Daniel is a little more… reserved. Photographers that have seen Daniel on YouTube might not believe this, but it’s true. We still had three kids at home, and Daniel had his hands full during the week while I traveled for work, so we weren’t out making photographer friends. Tagging along with other photographers as a second shooter or doing walkabouts with the local Professional Photographers of America association would have been great for a lot of reasons, but at the top of the list is that the additional training and industry support would have made a difference.

Intern

You don’t really have to call it interning, but even being a fly on the wall of other photographers’ shoots teaches you things; what to buy, fun locations, how to interact with clients. And we all need a support network - so this is one more way to make friends. In our experience the photographer next door might not be super open to bringing up the competition, but that doesn’t mean the photographer an hour away will feel the same. Some photographers end up joining the studio they’ve interned for - and if you aren’t super excited about all the paperwork and responsibility (especially in the beginning) joining a photography studio that’s already up and running might work out really well for you.

Build up Your Portfolio

This is another reason to intern. As long as the photographer you’re working with is ok with this - those picture you’ve taken will really help round out your portfolio. And remember you ABC’s - Always Be Culling. I know from experience that my affection for my client skews my opinions of our pictures. Daniel is far better at separating his emotions from the final photograph. My opinions of the pictures are more on point 6 months after we’ve taken them, when my enthusiasm for the client has mellowed. We try to do a pretty significant update on our website each winter after the season slows down. We when were first starting out it was once a quarter.

Narrow down your Field

Trying to be all things to all people is exhausting and confusing. It’s really hard to keep your advertising on message when you’re trying to be the photographer everyone needs. We’ve done wedding photography, product photography, stock, headshots, family, senior, newborn and cake smash photography. And probably a couple that I’m not thinking about right now. Don’t. Pick a couple genres, maybe 3, 4 tops. Stick with them. Pick options that work well together. Options that need the same gear, or the same studio, or pick the ones that light up your world and make your heart happy. Stick with those. If you’re a wedding photographer consider boudoir photography. If you love cake smash photography, try newborn and maternity photography. Newborn and cake smash photography props and gear overlap. Wedding and boudoir photography are the same client base.

Don’t try to be all things to all people.

Get to know the local camera shop

This one we did right. Our local camera guys are great. Nice guys, good photographers, and more interested in us as a long term (i.e. successful) client than a large single sale of gear we didn’t need. The owner sat down with Daniel on one of his first visits and mapped out what camera gear he needed, in what order. You’re not going to get that at the local big box store. We haven’t bought everything through them, but we’ve spent a lot of money there over the years. And when I need something today I can run up the road. While we’ve watched other camera stores disappear around us, they’re still here. Support your local guys when you can, you’ll need them later.

Find a business coach

This first year, maybe you can’t afford one. Reach out to the SBA (Small Business Administration), their SCORE program will give you the help you need for free. Having another person that (gulp) sees your business financials and that you can be completely real with is invaluable. And another cheerleader in your corner won’t hurt you a bit.

If your first SCORE coach isn’t a good fit, find another one. Our first coach didn’t fit AT ALL. Our second coach(es), a married couple just like us, are still close friends almost 15 years later - we still see them for holidays and get togethers.

Set up sustainable pricing

Build a price list, tear it apart and build it again. I don’t remember who it was I heard say this, but they said that no matter what you wrote on the first price list to DOUBLE it on the second one. Keep it simple. Try for one page. And if you aren’t comfortable charging AT LEAST $400 for a shoot, maybe don’t give up your day job just yet. Set photography sale minimums now, don’t put yourself in a position where clients come back later and you have to explain why you’ve changed your entire structure (we had to do this, it’s not fun). Even if you have a price list and then offer a discount for something specific, you won’t have to justify your price increase the next time while you’re building your business. You can read more about us fixing our photography pricing mistake if you need further justification.

Institute In-Person Sales

And never look back. ESPECIALLY if you’re not a wedding photographer. Clients expect to spend real money on wedding pictures. But for the rest of us…

Unfortunately the photographers that have populated the marketplace the last 15 years have killed the public’s expectations of the cost of photography. $150 for a disc of 20, 40, 80, ALL the images isn’t going to get it done. And if you’re not there to counsel your clients about the best products for their pictures, they’re going to stick with what they know, and what’s comfortable. Clients say “I’ll have the disc please” or “I’ll take the big one, that 8x10”. This isn’t how your business will survive. We more than doubled our sales when we switched to projection. Huge TVs are cheap now - you’ll make it back in 2 clients. Do it now.

More about in-person sales in photography.

Read

Read photography books. Read business books. Read style magazines and watch for upcoming trends. Just read. This was another one we did well. I’m a bookie (no, not that kind) at heart, so I can’t even tell you how many photography books we moved around. And moved again. And again. There are some of our favorite photography books on the shopping side of the website and some wonderful business and sales training books too. I spent a lot of time in airplanes those first couple years, so I had a lot of time to kill. This one can’t be oversold. The best thing you can possibly do is educate yourself.

Believe in yourself

Having a business partner through those first years helped us get through the doubt and the anxiety that we were doing the right thing. Find people that will build you up. Build a mood board about why you want this, why it’s your dream. Write a journal. Commune with nature. Do whatever you need to do to get in the mindspace that YOU ARE WORTH IT, that your art has value, that you have something unique to share with the world - do that. Photography is often a bumpy ride at the beginning

My husband will have no problem telling you that he became a photographer later than he should have. He actually photographed his first wedding at 17. But, family and friends impressed upon him that photographers don’t make money, that artists don’t make money, so he joined the Navy instead of pursuing his dream. Twenty years later and we love what we do. He should have started earlier - don’t wait. If wanting this is what keeps you up at night - GO FOR IT. Just do it right.

- Clare

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thesmashcake · 4 years ago

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Why I Quit Wedding Photography for Smash Cake Photo Shoots

Why I Quit Weddings & Shoot Smash Cake Photography Instead

Hello again everybody and thanks for stopping into TheSmashCake.com. In today's blog we are going to cover why I dropped weddings like a dirty diaper and went looking for a better use of my time. As you can tell I have a chip on my shoulder when it comes to weddings. It wasn't always there. One day after shooting several not so great weddings that chip just magically appeared and wouldn't go away. Now I would love to sit here and tell you war stories about those weddings because they’re entertaining as hell. But it simply wouldn't be fair to the people involved. And in all honesty, gossiping never does anyone's reputation any good. So in today's blog we're going to avoid going full tilt negative and simply focus on the logical reasons why I quit the world of weddings and exchanged it for smash cake photography.

The hours

Looking back on the several not-so-great weddings that I mentioned above I have to say that in retrospect maybe I was just exhausted. Maybe it was being that tired that made it just a little harder for me to emotionally digest the disrespect, the battles between family members, and the overall pressure cooker that is a wedding. Why was I worn down to the nub you ask? The hours. Those of you who shoot weddings you know that when you sign on for 8 hours worth of coverage you're really into the job for about 35 to 50 hours. That encompasses the consultation, the engagement shoot, the wedding, all the editing, blogging, ordering and you name it that goes along with delivering a wedding. If you shoot one or two weddings a year those hours really aren't a big deal but I guarantee that if you shoot enough weddings it becomes a grueling slog of a job and can really suck your will to live.

On the smash cake side of things we figured that at our studio each one of our projects consists of 10 man hours. Compare that to the 35 to 50 that you'll put into most weddings. A big reason for that huge discrepancy in hours is of course the fact that we only spend about an hour and a half on average shooting each smash cake session. This makes it very easy for us to get needed rest between jobs, schedule family events or even just be home for dinner on the day of a smash cake shoot. That last point leads me effortlessly to my next one.

Weddings can really impact your life

It honestly felt like I never saw my kids when I shot weddings. At our studio our busy season for portraits starts in early July and ends mid December. After that we had a few weeks of chill time with the kids and then we were right back at it with indoor winter weddings. But unlike senior portraits and family portraits that can be scheduled midweek, weddings are almost exclusively on weekends. Which meant that during the week our children would go to school and we would maybe we get a few hours with them in the evening. Then on weekends mom and dad were gone shooting weddings. This caused some very significant stress within our family and was a big reason why we started questioning whether or not weddings were right for us.

Smash cake photography on the other hand was generally something that was done late morning and midweek. I could go into the studio in the morning, photograph a smash cake session, do the cleanup and still be home in time to catch my son's baseball game. No more explaining to a tear-stained little face why daddy couldn't be there.

Weddings took a massive toll on my body

Shooting for 8 hours straight no matter what you're photographing is physically demanding. I don't care if you're 20 and are in better shape than Dwayne Johnson. lugging around a camera and an off camera flash for eight straight hours is going to take its toll on anyone. Not to mention chasing around the bride and groom all day like a meth-crazed paparazzi.

It takes time to recover from that kind of strenuous activity (even if meth isn’t involved.) As an example, when I was younger it took me at least 12 hours to recover from a wedding. Unfortunately time has moved on and it now takes me a full day (or two) to get off the couch after a wedding. Feeling myself slow down forced me to read the writing on the walls. If photography was going to be my long-term career I needed to stop punishing my body and find something I could do well into the next decade.

For me smash cake photography is that something. With my smash cake sessions I'm chasing around a toddler for about an hour and a half. Yes it's still physically demanding but it's not eight hours worth of physical abuse. Plus with all the time I'm saving not shooting weddings I can fight off the effects of aging by hitting the gym. You can't argue with finally having enough time to put yourself first.

Bridezillas & their families behaving poorly

When you tell anyone on the street that you're a wedding photographer the first thing they want to talk about is Bridezillas. This has become such a common part of weddings that it feels like some of the brides have meltdowns just because they think it's expected. The first time you see one of these meltdowns it's pretty easy to give your bride the benefit of the doubt. A wedding day consists of tight timelines, conflicting personalities, and the icing on the cake is the thousands upon thousands of dollars spent on the big day. With all of that at play, it's pretty easy to understand why somebody would get so stressed out that they go absolutely nuclear. But if you do enough weddings you'll start seeing people meltdown because they think it's expected. It's like watching low-budget reality TV but unfortunately instead of being on your couch you're smack-dab in the middle of it. After a few of these it really became impossible for me to just shine it on. Unfortunately it began to affect my opinion of not only weddings, but of people as a whole.

In contrast when I arrive at the studio for a smash cake session everybody is thrilled to be there. No one at my studio calls in sick on smash cake day because it's so much fun. As far as my clients are concerned they took the day off work so they can go play with their child. They couldn't be in a better mood! Yes, there are still some meltdowns but they are nothing a milk sippy and a few Goldfish crackers can't fix.

Nobody takes a smash cake photographer to court

If you go looking on the web you can find thousands of articles about wedding clients suing their photographer. As we mentioned above it takes thousands of dollars to create the perfect day and with that kind of money a play people take things very seriously. As an ex-wedding photographer I completely understand the client's side of things, and when photographers screw up I understand why lawyers need to get involved. But sometimes the photographer doesn't even need to make a mistake to have their clients threaten to sue them. I know photographers who have had their client use the threat of a lawsuit to weasel extra hours of wedding coverage, a better/ larger album and even a massive discount on the price that was agreed upon in the contract. My very last wedding client tried something similar to this and it immediately had me asking myself if the juice was worth the squeeze.

Now imagine If I arrive late to a smash cake session? Or if all of my cameras were to fail during a smash cake session? Maybe I accidentally forgot to backup my files and they all got deleted. NOBODY is going to take me to court or threaten to sue. Yes I would have to call the client and yes I would have to profusely apologize but at the end of the day I wouldn't need a lawyer. Worst case scenario we reshoot the session and the child gets a bit more sugar that week than they normally do.

The editing is so much easier

When you photograph a wedding you're chasing your bride and groom indoors, outdoors, under trees, basically all over hell and back. Each one of those locations has drastically different lighting conditions. Every different lighting situation calls for a different editing solution which takes a massive amount of time. Editing is part of the reason why each 8 hour wedding takes you 30 to 50 hours to deliver.

With smash cake photography most of the time you're shooting in one location. Maybe that location is in the studio or it maybe it’s in a local park but for the most part the lighting conditions never change. So when you put your images into Lightroom you can batch edit. You can make changes to one photo and then copy those changes and paste them on all the other photos. You would not believe how much time this method of editing saves you. The editing wasn't exactly the deciding factor when It came to whether or not we drop weddings, but it was an extremely nice bonus!

Dollars per hour

The way we ultimately decided to give up weddings without any guilt was by looking at the dollars per hour. When we were deciding whether or not to give up weddings I really felt like a quitter. I felt like I was being lazy and that I just needed to suck it up. Even asking if I should give up weddings brought up massive feelings of guilt and made me feel like a failure. Fortunately for me my wife reminded me that we are running a business and that logic not emotion is a better place to make business decisions from. She simply advised me to look at what we make on a wedding compared to the amount of man hours that go into delivering these projects. Her thinking was that if we make a better average dollar per hour doing something else then we will simply go do that. No guilt, no agonizing over this decision, just use logic to make the best business decision possible. It was an elegantly simple solution.

So in the end our average wedding took us 50 hours to deliver and unfortunately we only made $3,000 on our last wedding, giving us an average of $60 an hour. For our smash cake clients an average session takes 10 hours and I'm proud to say that our average sale is $2,200 per client. This gave us $220 per hour.

It was very clear to us where the dollar per hour was and after you add all of the other physical and mental rigors of wedding photography it was a very easy decision. We decided to drop weddings like a hot rock and never look back.

Let's wrap it up

Now I hope writing this blog did more than just provide me with a captive audience and a forum to vent my frustrations. I really hope that those of you on the fence about wedding photography use the dollar per hour method to help you make the best decision possible.

I also think it's fair to point out that there are a lot of wedding photographers out there that are making $10,000, $15,000 and even $20,000 or more per wedding. When you're putting those kinds of numbers on the board, the dollar per hour method is going to tell you you would be an absolute fool to ditch weddings. So don’t.

But, in my case all of the other factors like family stress and physical well-being played a huge part in my decision making process. But OMG five digits per wedding might be worth sucking it up. I would like to think that even if we were making $20,000 a wedding that I would put myself and my family first. In the end it comes down to each individual photographer and what you personally need to be happy. For me... happy came in the form of chubby little babies smashing cakes.

I hope today's blog helped and if you'd like to turn this into a polite conversation about the pros and cons photographing weddings I would be happy to hold up my end of the conversation in the comments section below.

Thanks for reading, have a great day, - Daniel

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thesmashcake · 4 years ago

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Smash Cake Outfits For Boys- 5 Go To Styles That Work

If you're like me from time to time you go down the Amazon rabbit hole looking for first birthday outfits. When you finally come out, it's three days later, you're severely dehydrated and your mother is worried sick! You’re also no closer to finding the perfect outfit than you were the day you followed the white rabbit into the cyber shopping Wonderland.

This scenario plays itself out again and again at my studio especially when we're shopping for little boys. So, to save you guys time, frustration and a possible duel with the Red Queen, I created today's video.

In today's video I outline the five types of boy's first birthday smash cake outfits I use for my photo shoots and where to find them. Again, my goal with the video is to save you guys a ton of time/ frustration and help you source outfits without spending days lost in the deep dark recesses of the Amazon.

I really hope the video helps. If there's something I missed in the video or you have any questions please feel free to ask in the comments section below.

Until next time happy watching and have a great day,

Daniel

Here are more first birthday styles for boys for your shopping pleasure. Enjoy!

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thesmashcake · 5 years ago

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How to Balance Flash Outdoors

Cake Smash Lighting Outdoors

Well I don't know where you are right now, but here the sun is out, the birds are singing, and summer is in full swing. Summer in the Pacific Northwest is a glorious thing but honestly it only lasts 3 months and then we're right back to cloudy grey skies and seriously deficient Vitamin D levels. That last bit does not make for a happy winter so when summer is here but you better believe us PNW dwellers take full advantage. I have a fully dedicated studio set aside just for smash cake sessions but in the summer time I much prefer to take my studio lighting outdoors. There's just something about being in the fresh air with the chubby little one-year-old smashing cakes in the grass that makes for a perfect day at the office.

I recently mentioned to a friend and newbie photographer that I take my studio strobes outside and her question was “How in the world do you get flash outside to look natural?” This is something I've not had to deal with in years because it's just become second nature, so I didn't even think to write a blog about it. My friend was right. I remember when I was just learning how to use flash that balancing it with natural light (so that it looked real) was a huge problem for me. I suspect that there are other smash cake photographers out there having the same problem. I've set out to a make an instructional video specifically for smash cake photographers on how to balance flash with natural light. Unfortunately this is our busy season and we are experiencing a huge landslide of paying clients so making videos will have to wait. But it's summer NOW and you guys are probably running into that problem right NOW so I need to give you the information you need right NOW. Right?!

This led me to search out a really good video by Robert Hall that explains the nuances of balancing flash with natural light to create natural looking photos. Robert is a brilliant photographer that has been teaching on YouTube for several years and I really enjoy his straightforward videos. Robert has actually created an entire playlist of videos about how to work with flash and I highly recommend you check out the entire series. It's completely free so the only thing you’re investing is your time.

So go ahead and click below to enjoy Robert’s video on how to balance flash with ambient light. This will help you right now in the summer months when your clients are probably begging you to do smash cake sessions at the local park. By incorporating flash you are going to be able to stop action and get crisp beautiful photos and if you balance the flash correctly you will get beautifully saturated colors as a bonus. I could spend hours going into all the benefits of flash and probably will throughout the lifetime of this blog, but for now just have a look at Robert’s video and try using flash outdoors. It will give your photos a look that the natural light your competition is using won't be able to achieve.

Also while you're watching the video I would encourage you to thumbs up or comment on Robert’s video and if you really like what he's doing definitely subscribe to his channel. In case you don’t know every time you like, subscribe or comment on a YouTubers videos it helps YouTube realize that their content is relevant and pushes them to the top of the search results. This in turn helps keep these guys in business and helps keep you in free information. So don’t forget to spread some YouTube love.

Thanks again you guys for reading this blog and checking out this video about using flash. Don't forget that when you're ready to make the leap to flash we have a pro shop where all of the equipment we use at our studio is available for you to purchase. The reason we only recommend what we use is because over the years we've used a lot of junk and I'm not a big fan of recommending junk. So the only things available for purchase on our website is the stuff we actually use (or have used) because it's the stuff that actually works. Click here to visit the Pro Shop

Once again you guys thank you so much for stopping by and we'll see you next time,

Daniel

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thesmashcake · 5 years ago

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Mind Blowing 3-D Cake Tutorial

Hello and welcome back you guys to another exciting blog where we talk about my flaws as a human being. One of those flaws, as I mentioned before, is that I am a self-admitted cake-a-holic. I'm proud to say that I am in recovery and have been living the last several months cake free. I don't want to toot my own horn or pat my own back too much but for me that is a massive accomplishment. But unfortunately, over the last few weeks I've begun to fall into a lot of my old self-destructive patterns and one of those is watching first birthday cake tutorial videos. Now I know it is a very slippery slope from watching a first birthday cake videos, to actually building a first birthday cake and then stuffing that cake directly into my pie hole. So today, I'm coming clean and admitting that I have been watching birthday cake videos under the guise of helping you all create better first birthday sets for your smash cake pictures.

But while I was wadding in the deep end of the cake addiction pool I did come across some amazing new cake videos that I would like to share and one of those really stood out. That video was created by YouTuber Cookies Cupcakes and Cardio and it's all about how to make a geometric three-dimensional looking birthday cake. This was exactly what I was looking for because a lot of my style-forward customers are looking for more geometric designed smash cake sets. I think by using this first birthday cake as a building block I'm going to be able to create some brilliant looking 3-dimensional sets and I can't wait to get started. But first I need to see if I can even make the darn birthday cake. So I'm to go ahead and watch this video and follow along and at the end hopefully I'm going to have a 3-dimensional birthday cake. I would like to encourage anyone who's interested in designing a 3-dimensional birthday cake to follow along with this video and then take a picture of your end result and I will post it on our blog for the rest of our readers to see. I will happily credit you and link back to your website and you will be internet famous in a blink of an eye. That last part might be a bit of an over-exaggeration. Even if you're not going to be Internet famous please send me the picture anyway because I would love to see it and hopefully it will give our readers the inspiration they need to build a cake themselves.

I'd like to ask one more favor before I go and that is to go ahead and thumbs up the video if you like it and subscribe to the Cookies Cupcakes and Cardio channel if you think you'd like to watch more of their videos. I'm in no way sponsored by Cookies Cupcakes and Cardio I just think that if you liked the content you should spread the love. Also, every single like, comment and subscribe helps that YouTube algorithm push your favorite YouTubers’ videos forward, which in turn helps them stay in business. While you're spreading some internet love to Cookies Cupcakes and Cardio definitely mention in the comment section that you saw their video here on TheSmashCake.com, this helps us make new friends, which in turn helps us bring you new content every week. So tell them we sent ya!!!

Thank you guys so much for reading and I will catch you in next week's blog. Until then enjoy the video,

Daniel

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thesmashcake · 5 years ago

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Get Your Smash Cake Photos Seen By The World

Your pictures seen by photographers everywhere!!!

Hello and welcome back to another blog here on www.TheSmashCake.com. I want to thank you guys first of all for reading these blogs. It really means a lot to us that you guys are reading and interacting with us. It helps us determine what you want to learn and it’s also just really nice to know that we're not creating in a vacuum. Also I want to say thank you for all of the positive feedback and love that you've been giving us. It has really made us feel like we are making a difference in the smash cake community. Speaking of making a difference we've begun a new program. We are now featuring smash cake photos on our Instagram feed that are submitted by you guys, our readers and this program is blowing up! We have amassed an amazing collection of first birthday pictures that have either gone up on our Instagram page or are waiting to go live. We are receiving tons of pictures daily and we couldn't be more thrilled. So if you'd like to join the party over on our Instagram feed all you have to do is follow the guidelines we're about to lay out and then you too can get your slice of the Instagram love.

Step 1

Obviously the first thing you need to do is find your favorite smash cake image. Now it has to be a single image post. No carousels, or posts with multiple images and no video posts. This just makes it much easier for us to manage and post the massive amount of cake smash photos we get on a daily basis. AND it has to be a new post or a current repost - otherwise it will get lost in earlier pictures - never to be seen again.

Step 2

Just add #TheSmashCakeEducation to your favorite smash cake picture. Or pictures!

Step 3

This is probably the most important step. It's not that important to me but it is really important to you. If you want to get credit for your image that is. You need to tag yourself by adding @yourstudioname to the post you want us to feature. If you forget this step our viewers won’t know who took the photo. Our overall policy here is that if we can't give credit to the artist we don't use the picture. So it is super, super important that you tag yourself.

That’s all there is to it.

With those three simple steps you can get your pictures featured on our feed and get tons of exposure and possible online fame. (that one miiiiiight be a bit of a stretch) But you will get your pictures out there, you'll get lots of Instagram loves / likes and who knows, maybe you'll make a couple of new contacts or friends that will help your career down the road. Just by following these three simple steps to get featured on our smash cake Instagram feed.

The Do Not forget this.

Really Super Important,

OMG Not To Be Skipped,

Bonus Step!

Follow our page on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.smash.cake.education So that you can see when your pictures go live and personally thank all the users giving your pictures some Instagram love.

Thanks again you guys for reading and I will see you in the next one,

Daniel Troutman

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thesmashcake · 5 years ago

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5 Tips to Stay Creative in Photography

This morning I'm sitting on the couch, I'm on coffee #2 and inspiration hit me like a ton of bricks. That's just the nature of inspiration: it comes out of nowhere, blindsides you and forces you to get your butt into gear. When inspiration hits you it feels like you can do no wrong (creatively speaking). You have a direct connection to your mind's eye and you get to be the conduit that delivers beautiful art into the world.

I love it when this happens. I live for these moments. Those moments are few and far between but man, when they hit you... you feel like you’ve been touched by some higher creative power. It's moments like that that all artists live for.

Do you want more days like that? Of course, we all do. What if I was to tell you that there are a few things that you could do to have more of those days. That's right, you can tap into your creative powers faster and more often if you take the time to learn how to jump-start creativity. Creativity doesn't have to be this ethereal thing that presents itself to you when it wants to. You can learn to control it and bring it forward whenever you decide.

Today's blog is all about how I jump-start my creativity. These are the tips and tricks that I have learned over the course of almost 20 years. I still have those days where no matter what I try I just can't get the creative juices flowing. But by following this playbook I can help you ensure that you suffer a lot fewer of those uninspired days. So let's jump into it.

Step #1 Take care of yourself

Our inability to create or find the motivation to create can usually be traced back to not taking care of yourself. Maybe you're exhausted because you didn't sleep the night before. Maybe you haven't been eating right for days. Or maybe you're just so stressed out you can't see straight. With those kinds of roadblocks in the way it's no wonder that the creative energies simply refuse to flow.

For me the roadblock is always stress. So I found ways to manage my stress through exercise and implementing a few hours of ‘me time’ everyday. But we're all different and so are our issues. So I challenge you guys: sit down at the dining room table tonight and write out a list of what you think is wrong with you. Ask yourself, do I have any pressing health issues that I need to address? Am I living a stressful existence and need to make some changes? Or am I eating like crap and not treating my body right? Take an hour of you time to create this list and use it as a blueprint to build a better you. Once those roadblocks are gone you'd be surprised at how quickly and easily you can access your creative energies.

Step #2 Learn a musical instrument

This one seems a little weird but just go with it. There have been so many studies done on this that it's surprising that more people don't know about it. Your brain loves music. Doctors have scanned the brains of musicians while they're playing their instruments and their brains really come alive while they're playing. Making music helps reduce stress while opening up neuro pathways in the brain making it easier to tap into your creative side. When my creative block needs to be jackhammered into oblivion my tool of choice is always my ukulele. I simply shred some ACDC on my ridiculously small “guitar” and within the hour I’m creatively Back In Black. (see what I did there) :)

Plus it makes my wife happy.

Step #3 Find other local artists and learn from them

Everywhere you look in even the smallest of towns there are artists creating amazing works of art. Right now chefs in your hometown are out there designing new food trends and turning mundane ingredients into art. Graffiti artists are putting out works of art on abandoned buildings and train cars. Tattoo artists are creating living breathing works of art just down the street from you.

No matter what type of art speaks to you, go find the artist and pick their brains over a cup of coffee. Ask if you could shadow them while they work. Or even skype them if you’re feeling anti-social. The goal is to discover a new form of art from somebody who is just as passionate about their craft as you are about yours. You’ll find that their passion is infectious and oftentimes leads you to new ideas in your own work. Ideas that you would not have come up with otherwise. Who knows - you may even make a new friend.

Step #4 Watch television (An extension on step #3)

There is a show on Netflix called Abstract. It showcases artists from all sorts of different genres. One show was about a Broadway set designer. One was about a world-famous font designer. But by far my favorite was about the designer of the Nike Air Jordan basketball shoe. I started every episode unsure if I really wanted to learn about so far removed from photography; but by the end I was completely enthralled. Just like in Tip 3, learning about a new art form from someone who is passionate about their craft will help unlock the creativity in you. So grab a cup of coffee and make this one part of your morning ritual. You’ll be glad you did.

And make sure you leave us a comment about other shows we should all be watching below.

Step #5 Let it go

When you’re a professional photographer your livelihood depends on how good you are at your craft. So it’s very easy to live, breathe and eat nothing but photography for the sake of keeping groceries on the table. I can tell you from personal experience that this is a completely dangerous place to be and the quickest way to creative burnout. Fortunately the answer to pulling out of this creative nosedive is dead simple.

You simply need to let go.

Unplug from the photography world. Unfortunately, easier said than done when your financial future depends on staying at the top of your photography game. There’s always new editing techniques to learn. Or a marketing plan to execute and don’t even get me started on blogs and social media. But hard as it is, you need to find time to walk away from your business everyday. Even if all of your efforts bring you hundreds of clients, they do you no good if you’re too stressed out to be creative. So it is imperative that you take time to do nothing and simply let go. Bake a pie, read a book or take a bath. Just make sure that whatever you do has absolutely nothing to do with photography. Or business. Or photography business.

And with that, I am off to STEP #5 my way into a glass of Merlot and a bubble bath. I want to thank you guys for reading about my tips to stay creative. If you guys have any tips of your own I would love to hear them. Use the comment section below to share your favorite tip and hopefully help out a bunch of fellow smash cake photographers.

Catch you next time guys,

Daniel Troutman

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thesmashcake · 5 years ago

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Photography Lighting Ideas

Every now and again somebody gets the bright idea to put me in a room of aspiring young photographers. I’m pretty sure it’s all a party of a Scared-Straight program designed to frighten young adults into “real jobs” like IT support and business management. These classes always take place at some ungodly hour like 9am and I’m pretty sure I look every inch of a ten mile hard road. Since Uncle Sam and I parted ways I simply see no need to do more before 9am than most folks do all day. For that reason, you will never find a photo of a sunrise in any of my portfolios. Yup, looking at me in the early morning is no doubt a dose of Dickens-style, Christmas-yet-to-come kind of terror for a classroom full of wanna-be photogs. I’m not sure if I’m offended by being offered up as a deterrent or if I agree with it. But nonetheless, I try to give it to ‘em straight and answer the questions to the best of my sleep-deprived abilities.

Thankfully, instead of a deep dive into business practices and marketing strategies, the conversations always lead back to photography gear, which is a topic I can pontificate on while reeling from the effects of sleep deprivation. Need proof? Watch the video attached to this blog and tell me I wasn’t half asleep when we recorded it. Just kidding! As I was saying; in my classes the topics always swing back to what flashes to buy and why. So I decided to put together this video and play it for my early morning students and catch 15 minutes worth of zzz’s.

In all seriousness, it is my sincerest hope that you find this video about which photography lighting to choose for smash cake photos helpful. Each of the flashes we go over in this video is a flash that I use in my own studio to create smash cake photos for my clients. I picked each light based on its usefulness and my extreme hatred of needlessly wasting money. Your business’s lifeblood is its cash flow. Dumping money on name brand gear when there are other quality options for less money is a great way to send your studio to an early grave. So give this video a look and decide for yourself which of there flashes will work best for you. But do us both a favor, don’t watch this video before 9am - we artists need our beauty sleep

Lights featured in this video:

Godox 50 watt Speedlight

Godox AD200 200 watt speedlight

Godox Witstro AD600B

It is important to note that Godox rebranded their lights for Adorama.com to sell under the Flashpoint Evolv and Flashpoint Explor brand names. In this video we showcased a mix of Godox and Flashpoint lights. All lights in this video were manufactured by Godox and are exactly the same except for their name. Here are the link to of each of the above lights that were rebranded under the flashpoint name.

Flashpoint Zoom 50 watt Speedlight

Flashpoint Evolv 200 watt speedlight

Flashpoint Explor 600 Watt Mono Light

Thanks for staying awake long enough to read this,

Daniel

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thesmashcake · 5 years ago

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Learn To Use Flash In Just 2 Minutes

Today you’re going to learn off camera flash but here's the catch. You're going to do it in 2 minutes. I know that's a bold claim but that's how confident I am in your ability to learn off camera flash. It's simply not as hard as people make it out to be and today we're going to prove that in 120 seconds. But before we get started we need to look at the gear we will be using for today's lesson.

The right light at the right price

The lighting we're going to be using for today's lesson is the Godox / Flashpoint lighting system, specifically their speed lights. To be completely honest the reason behind this choice is money motivated. The Godox/ Flashpoint speedlights are the absolute cheapest way to get into off camera flash. Along with being incredibly affordable these flashes come with the bonus of high-speed sync and the ability to remotely control the light power from the back of your camera. You will find that both of those features will come in very handy in the next 2 minutes. Oh and did I mention... the speedlights start at only $225 with remote. If it’s in your budget I recommend steping up to a higher power Flash Point AD200 speed light for only $299.

No matter which speedlight you go with just remember to buy a remote for the lights that matches your camera brand. Remember all Godox and Flashpoint equipment with work together seamlessly (remotes included) but the remote you buy must be made for your specific camera brand. If you have a sony camera the remote name will feature a -s behind it or a -c for canon and so on. example

Start the stopwatch

The first thing you want to do is find a location where you want to photograph your client. Grab your camera and select the “A” setting or aperture priority mode on the control dial of your camera. Not sure how to do this refer to your camera's manual. Now you must decide what aperture you want to take your pictures at. Remember the aperture controls how blurry the background is. For today's lesson let's just use 4.0 as our aperture. With your aperture now dialed in simply snap a picture.

Chimp and tweek

Take a look (chimp) at the image you just took and make a note of the settings that the camera decided to use. Now put your camera in manual (The M setting on your cameras control dial) and input those camera settings. If the image you took was too light or too dark simply adjust the shutter speed up or down to make the image look the way you want it to. Note we’re not adjusting the aperture. It is still at F 4.0.

The thing to remember when using off camera flash

When you're using flash the key thing to remember is that the shutter speed on your camera will affect the ambient light or natural light in a scene. The aperture (in this case f 4.0) affects the exposure of your flash. Just think of it as two dimmer switches on a wall. The shutter speed switch allows you to make changes to the sun and the aperture switch allows you to make changes to the flash.

Now break out the flash

Now break out the Godox / Flashpoint speedlight and mount it's radio trigger to the top of your camera. Turn everything on and put your speedlight into group A then turn on high speed sync. Refer to your Godox / Flashpoint manual for instructions on how to do this. On the radio trigger that currently resides on the back of your camera set group A to 1/16 power. Now with your client in place simply snap their picture. If the flash is too bright, lower it’s power and if it is too dark increase it. Every time you make a change to the flash power on the remote trigger, take an image and see if it is to your liking. When you finally get the image to your liking you can get to work capturing amazing images. Boom!!! Stop the timer!

The beauty of manual Mode

The beauty of shooting in manual is that you can set your flash exposure and know that It will never change. As long as your subject stays the same distance from your flash you will never need to adjust the flash output. Once you set it for an accurate exposure it’s locked in! Now you just need to keep an eye on the ever-changing sunlight. But don't stress it. Because we're shooting in manual mode making those adjustments is simply a matter of spinning the shutter speed dial one way or the other to compensate for the sun’s changes. Remember the dimmer switches.

That's all there is to it

You’ve controlled the ambient light you’ve controlled your flash and now what you have is a well-balanced photo. I use this quick down and dirty technique every time I arrive at a new location. It saves me from having to break out a light meter and waste my clients time while I play with my toys. With a little practice this will become second nature and you will get really quick at it. This flash hack allows you to get more looks per session and saves your client from going out of their mind with boredom.

Conclusion

Learning off camera flash really isn't as hard or as daunting as people make it out to be. It may seem scary on the surface, but once you start using flash it opens up a whole new creative world and that fear fades away. I have no doubt that with today’s lesson and an afternoon of practice you will be well on your way to mastering flash.

Thanks for reading you guys.If this blog helped you understand the scary scary world of off camera flash then please consider sharing it with other photographers that might benefit from the information. As always if you have any questions please utilize the comments section below and I will be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Thanks again for reading, Daniel Troutman

To learn more...

Obviously there's a whole lot more to learning flash then this simple little hack. Today's lesson was designed to get you up and running quickly and to get you interested in off camera flash. To really get into the nuts and bolts of how flash works I recommend you pick up a copy of a book called Light Science and Magic. This book is on the bookshelf of every photographer I know and is known simply as the photography Bible.

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thesmashcake · 5 years ago

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Staying Sane While Editing Photos

The first thing I need to say before we get into this blog is that I believe photo editing is a fantastic way to enhance the creative vision you had in you head when you took the photo. For that reason I love editing my photos in Adobe Lightroom/ Photoshop and I think editing can be the cherry on top of any well crafted image. But, if we’re being completely honest I do have those days where I’d rather gouge my eyes out with a spork than sit behind my monitor for 6 hours straight.

I have been editing photos in Photoshop professionally since 1999 and in that time I have had many a day where I caught myself staring blankly at a box of sporks thinking “In the valley of the fed-up photo editors, the no-eyed man is king”. In order to save you from becoming a pale shell of your former self that hoards sporks and calls them “my precious” I’m going to throw you a lifeline. Here are my 5 tips to keep from going crazy while editing photography. I have developed these “sanity hacks” over many years and I use them daily. I’m using a few of these tips right now as I write this blog.

Editing can be extremely bad for your body

Before we begin, I really want to beat the dead horse so you guys understand just how bad extended photo editing sessions can be to your long term physical, mental and hormonal heath. According to the Mayo Clinic sitting for long periods of time has been linked to the following health issues:

Increased blood pressure High blood sugar Excess body fat around the waist Abnormal cholesterol levels

They went on to say that too much sitting overall and prolonged periods of sitting also seem to increase the risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Read the full article by The Mayo Clinic

Now that I’ve scared the hell out of you, let’s get to my list of tips to help you be happier and healthier while editing your photos.

Tip 1- Get yourself a record player.

As I write this blog I’m listening to Weezer on an honest to goodness vinyl record. I started listening to records while editing my photography because I think records just sound better than digital. My decision to listen to records was purely fueled by nothing more than audio snobbery but I quickly discovered a hidden health benefit. Records can only fit about 20-30 mins of music per side before you have to get up and flip them over. That means that twice every hour I have to stand up and walk over to the record player, giving me a much needed break. Of course while I’m up I do things like visit the restroom, talk with my coworkers, grab some water and so on. All of this adds up to about 5-10 minutes away from my desk twice every hour. Can anyone guess how often the Mayo clinic recommends you take a break from sitting at your desk? Yup…every 30 mins.

I’m currently listening to a Bluetooth record player that connects directly to my noise canceling wireless headphones. This is the only way to edit because I get the intoxicating pop and crackle of vintage vinyl while my state of the art headphones filter out distractions like traffic, ringing phones and annoying coworkers. If you work at home the same set up filters out dogs, children and annoying spouses. When I really need a break at home I pretend to be editing my photography while listening to David Bowie and sipping a nice Merlot. Daddies need breaks too.

For those of you interested in picking up a Bluetooth record player here’s a nice entry level player. Don’t forget to include some records with your order so you’ll have something to listen to when it arrives.

youtube

Tip 2- Learn the lingo, gringo

There is nothing that’ll turn your brain into a giant quivering pile of tapioca like than a marathon Photoshop session. If you’re about to punch in for a six hour shift of editing and are at all concerned about pudding brain, then you need to stay mentally engaged. One of the best way I found to stay mentally engaged while photo editing is to learn a new language.

This is something I discovered this year and I’m kicking myself for not thinking of it sooner. Every time I sit down to edit photos I simply ask Alexa to open the Daily Dose app on my Echo Dot and I learn Spanish while editing. It’s a brilliant way to stay mentally tack sharp while utilizing the otherwise wasted time I’d be spending sitting at my desk. You’re stuck there anyway, you might as well learn a new skill. The best part, aside from being able to communicate with millions of more people on the planet, your brain won’t ooze out of your ears... Oh, and did I mention that the Daily Dose language app is FREE? (Free is our friend!)

For those of you that don’t have an Amazon Alexa you can pick one up for around $25.

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Keep Your Hormones in Check

So far we looked at tips for keeping your body and your brain healthy during epic editing sessions. But what about your hormonal health? This is often the most overlooked aspect of health when it comes to the negative effects of a prolonged photography editing. Many of you have probably suffered from the effects of a hormonal imbalance due to prolonged photo editing and just didn’t realize it.

When we edit photos our computer screens are adversely affecting our body’s Circadian Rhythm. The National Institute for General Medical Sciences describes circadian rhythm as “physical, mental, and behavioral changes that follow a daily cycle. They respond primarily to light and darkness in an organism's environment.”

Without going to deep down the rabbit hole: our body uses the light around us to decide when it’s time to be awake and when it’s time to sleep. It does this by taking in how much light is available and what color that light is. As photographers we all understand that the color of natural light changes throughout the day from blue light to golden yellow at sundown. By bombing our eyes with blue light from our computer screens at all times of the day or night we are confusing our brains and really screwing up our hormone levels.

Every feel restless, depressed or irritable after a long Photoshop session? Now you know why. To get the whole scoop on your Circadian Rhythm check out this blog by Mental Health America.

Fortunately there are a couple of things we can do to combat the side effects of screen gazing and the first one just happens to be FREE. (I love free)

Tip 3-take a short walk in the sunshine.

I do this once every day and it really helps me feel more grounded during marathon editing sessions. (Makes the puppy happy too.) Combine this with flipping over your records every 30 minutes and it will really help you keep your sanity.

Tip 4- wear blue light blocking glasses when editing at night.

When you edit at night your computer screen is telling your body that it’s daytime and I find it hard to sleep after a nighttime edit session. So I simply wear a pair of cheap blue light blocking glasses and when I’m done editing I can sleep like a baby. Just remember to take them off momentarily when doing color correction otherwise your skin tones will be a bit smurf-ish.

Don’t Forget to Keep your business healthy

While the four tips above are designed to keep you healthy, this one is all about keeping your business healthy. It will also keep you mentally engaged so consider it a twofer. The next time you sit down to edit why not spend that time learning new business strategies, or marketing or researching SEO strategies. You know, all of those things you should be learning but never have the time necessary. Well, you’re going to be stuck in that chair for a while so why not have Alexa read you a business book on how to find more clients.

Tip 5- Download audio books on business from audible

Using the Audible app Alexa can read you any book in the audible library. This is hands down one of the best ways to get the most out of your time spent editing. I’ve said it in my blogs many times and I’m saying it again. I believe that for every hour a photographer spends learning photography it is imperative that they spend an equal amount of time refining their business skills. This is a great way to squeeze in those hours while not giving up the little things like…sleep. The best part: when you sign up for audible your first book is free.

I recommend checking out this audio book. It completely changed the way I viewed and approached my work life. The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss

Conclusion

Editing for extended periods of time can be down right unhealthy. Add some fast food on the way to shoots and the next thing you know, you’ll be headed down the path to premature aging, obesity and possibly worse. So now is the time to protect your health by establishing good habits that protect both your mind and body. These are just a few of my healthy editing habits that I use daily and I really hope they help you. If you have any healthy editing hacks that might help other smash cake photographers, please share them in the comment section.

Until next time guys I wish you happy and healthy editing, Daniel

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thesmashcake · 5 years ago

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Donut Grow Up Cake Smash

All right you guys it's that time again! I got my coffee cup, I got my fuzzy slippers AND I got the house to myself! Y'all know what that means. It's time to get my cake video fix!

First things first. I owe you guys a huge thank you. Most everybody else on the planet if you'd caught them watching YouTube cake videos in the middle of the day while wearing fuzzy bunny slippers you could accuse them of full-blown laziness. But thanks to you guys I get to call this research and development.

So while I was toiling away”researching and developing” I came across this amazing video by my friends at How To Cake It. This video was all about one of my favorite trends in cake design, the doughnut cake. Now I'm not sure what evil genius in some hidden mountain lair, came up with the idea of taking an amazing dessert and turning it into another amazing dessert but that person deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. There's just a simple beauty and elegance in the idea of taking a cake and turning it into a donut that leaves me awestruck and reaffirms my belief in a higher power. Hi, my name is Daniel and I'm a cake-a-holic.

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Here's a little-known fact. Before I was cake-a-holic I was an athlete. Before every big game our coach would sit us down with some game footage to help us get psyched for the big day. It's a habit I still include to this day. So before each game,e very competition and damn sure before every Black Friday you can find me watching footage to get psyched and put me in the zone. We have a client coming in a couple of weeks who requested a donut themed shoot and I immediately went looking for a video to help me get my game face on. That’s where I found today's video by How To Cake It.

This video is a step by step , white knuckle, helmet slamming, primal screaming foray into the competitive world of doughnut cakes. So go put some black buttercream frosting under each eye. Grab a glass of rose for each fist and get fired up because it’s doughnut go time baby!

Later, - Daniel

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thesmashcake · 5 years ago

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How to Choose Photography Lighting Gear

A decade ago I did what any good business person would do: I found a solution in the form of off-camera flash.

This article started as a simple question for my friend who is a photographer that only uses natural light. I asked her how she shoots her cake smash sessions after 6pm in the winter? Her answer…she doesn’t.

In the winter she has to deal with reduced daylight hours and overcast weather that keep her from serving her clients. The amount of money her studio can make per year is directly impacted by things outside of her control, like the Earth’s rotation and weather patterns. As a business person that makes me very, very nervous. Photography is a Latin word that literally translates to ”painting with light” and without light, you can’t paint. No painting = no $$$, and that makes everybody sad, especially us entrepreneurs.

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A decade ago I did what any good business person would do: I found a solution in the form of off-camera flash.

In this article we’re going to list the types of flashes available and go over the pros and cons of each. Each flash will be linked to its Amazon listing. Yes they are affiliate links but more importantly the listing contains all of the stats for each flash should you have any questions. I encourage you to copy the stats from each listing and paste them into a separate spreadsheet. It makes it so much easier to compare the flashes side by side.

Important Note:

When choosing an off-camera flash I had one really big requirement. I insist that any flash in my studio must have high speed sync. Here’s an over simplified explanation of high speed sync and why I think it’s such a must have. When you use any kind of flash it has to synchronize with your camera. When you set a high shutter speed in your camera it becomes harder for the flash to synchronize with your camera and it will ruin your photos at shutter speeds above 1/250th of a second. This becomes a huge problem when you want to photograph a moving subject (like a cake smashing baby) or when you want to use longer lenses. Because of this I don’t recommend purchasing a flash (like Alien Bees) that don’t have high speed sync. Buying lights without high speed sync only limits what you can create. In the future I doubt flashes will even be sold without it. For this reason, the following list only includes flashes that are high speed sync capable.

So without further ado, here’s my list of go to flashes.

Speedlights

50 watts of power

Speedlights are the cheapest way to enter into the world of off-camera flash. They are perfect for anyone just getting started with flash because of the low cost. They’re also extremely portable. I always have one of these little guys tucked into my camera bag and use it regularly to add a little extra punch to my photos or to fill in shadows. In all fairness I should mention that speedlights are addicting. I will regularly hide 3 or 4 of these guys in a scene and have pulled off some pretty amazing photos because of it.

Godox Speedlight Features

50 watts of power

Super cheap: $85 ish per speedlight. Hard to argue with that.

High Speed Sync: I won’t buy a flash without it!

Built-in Radio Trigger: I can control the power of the light from a remote on my camera. No more running from light to light changing settings. This is great when I hide a light in a tree or outside a window. Having the trigger built-in means I don’t have to buy an adapter (like pocket wizards) to fire the flash when it’s off camera and that saves me some serious money. Plus, the built-in radio trigger will talk to all of the different types of Godox lights. Let’s say you own a Godox speed light and a Godox ad600. One trigger will control each light independently from the top of your camera.

The lithium batteries also last longer and are better for the environment.

Lithium Battery: Old speed lights were powered by AA batteries and it increased the time it took for the flash to recharge. With a lithium battery the flash recycles faster. The lithium batteries also last longer and are better for the environment.

Would I use a Godox Speedlight for a smash cake session? - Yes but not as a main light. Smash cake photography generally requires the use of large light modifiers like a 5-7 foot softbox or umbrella. A basic speed light is not powerful enough to be used with larger modifiers, nor does the flash recycle fast enough. If you use smaller modifiers like an umbrella you might be able to light a smash cake session but the recycle time will still be an issue. These lights are better used for a single, stationary subjects like a high school senior or head shot. I started my very successful senior portrait business by shooting outdoors with just one speedlight and a small to medium softbox. That small investment in equipment made me thousands of dollars my first year. Bang for your buck speedlights are a great investment especially for photographers just starting to learn how to use flash.

Sony Speedlights Canon Speedlights Nikon Speedlights

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Midrange Flash

Godox ad200

200 watts of power

The Godox ad200 is the perfect blend of big studio light and small speed light. This flash offers 4X’s the power of a speed light in only a slightly larger package. These are my go to lights when I take the show on the road. I can fit two of these flashes in my camera bag and they generally offer up enough power to serve as a main light for shoots with only one or two subjects. Add a second one of these lights as a hair light and you’ve got a mobile portrait studio that fits in a backpack.

Godox Speedlight Features

200 watts of power

Great punch of light for the price: 4x’s the power of a speed light for not much more money.

High Speed Sync: I won’t choose a flash without it

Built-in Radio Trigger: The built in radio trigger controls all of you Godox lights from the back of you camera.

Lithium Battery: With a lithium battery the flash recycles faster and the lithium batteries are better on the environment

Would I use it for a smash cake session?- Yes. I use these for outdoor smash cake shoots all the time. I like to blend the existing sunlight with the Godox ad200. Blending this light with the sun means the flash doesn’t have to be set at such a high power, giving me a better recycle time. Also I’m generally using smaller light modifiers while outside and the flash doesn’t have to spread across a 7 foot surface of a large softbox. This also allows me to set a lower power setting, again helping with a faster recycle time.

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For in-studio sessions these lights have enough power to serve as very reliable hair and or accent light. I use the Godox ad200s when I have to put an accent light above my subject because they’re very lightweight. You can use these lights as a main light if you’re not trying to use a super huge modifier. Or for the best results you can purchase two of these lights and put both of them in the same large modifier. This would be roughly the same power as an Alien Bee 400 monolight AND you would have high speed sync. Not to mention the option of splitting them up and using them as a hair light and main light for headshots or senior portraits. This is the light I recommend if your budget won’t allow for more than a few hundred dollars.

go-to Flash

Godox ad600

The Godox ad600 is my go-to light for smash cake as well as senior portraits, families, headshots and boudoir. This light is the most versatile light I own. I use it in studio and I take it on just about every location shoot. The ad600 gives me the power of a studio strobe combined with the portability of a speed light. The ad600 is battery operated, no more extension cords, no more generators and no more heavy dangling battery packs. The ad600s battery clips neatly to the back of the light and the overall size of the light is roughly the size of a Paul Buff Alien Bee. Speaking of Alien Bees I sold all of mine after using the Godox ad600. The Godox has a wireless trigger built in to the unit, it’s got high speed sync, it’s battery operated and it comes in a Bowens mount. (A Bowens mount for the soft box means you don’t have to buy the Paul Buff light modifiers which saves you a ton of money.) Over all, this light was roughly the same price as an Alien Bee but I didn’t have to buy expensive radio triggers and light modifiers to use it. And again, (getting a little repetitive) it has high speed sync. For beginners or pros this is the best studio and location flash for the money.

Great punch of light for the price: Roughly 10x the power of a speedlight and it’s battery powered!

600 Watts of power

High Speed Sync: As I mentioned I won’t choose a flash without it

If I could only buy one light, I would buy the Godox ad600

Studio quality light wherever you go: I use these lights to take portraits everywhere. On top of mountains, on boats or anywhere off grid. Having a studio strobe with a battery pack has even had me questioning weather I actually need my studio space. Not having to plug in is a total game changer.

Plus Built-in Radio Trigger & Lithium Battery

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Would I use a ad600 for a smash cake session? In a word, YES. This is THE light I recommend for smash cake photography. Other light brands like Paul Buff’s Alien Bees don’t have the incredibly crucial high speed sync nor do they offer a wide variety of flash types to choose from. When you work with Godox lights you’re working with an array of different types of flashes that can all work together. I have been known to shoot images using two Godox speedlights, two Godox ad200s and two Godox ad600s. All of the lights worked together flawlessly off one single radio trigger. With 600 watts of power this light fills up a 7 foot octabox without breaking a sweat. Each battery has enough power to create massive walls of soft beautiful light for two full portrait sessions. (Or more, if you don’t overshoot like I do.) If I could only buy one light this would be that light.

I hope all of that helps you decide on an off camera flash that works for you. Without getting to high up on my soap box I can say that using flash will give you a tremendous amount of creative control. Admittedly flash is not always the best answer but until I learn to control the sun, moon and stars, I’ll be keeping a flash in my bag, just in case.

As always I love, love, love talking about photography. Please feel free to ask anything you want (photography related) in the comment section and I’ll do my best to answer. Who knows, I may even decide to use your question as the subject of a YouTube Video.

Thanks for giving me your time and I’ll catch you in the next one! - Daniel

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thesmashcake · 5 years ago

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Book Report: You are a Badass at Making Money

You are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero

You are a Badass at Making Money really resonated with me. So much so, I immediately went back and read her first one, You are a Badass. I recommend you read both, perhaps even in the order I did, even though she wrote You are a Badass first.

The books are entertaining, thought provoking and powerful. Her sense of humor and grasp on the appropriate use of inappropriate language shocks and cuts through normal thought patterns (or at least it did for me). This encourages you to open up your mind and really think about what she’s saying.

We’ve all been told that your success in creating wealth is “all in your head”, but Jen really dives into the “what” that is all in your head, and how to conquer it. She talks about working your way through the social stigmas we have around money. Wanting money doesn’t make you greedy or a bad person, just like NOT having money doesn’t make you a good person. Money (and the people who have it) have been vilified in our society to the point that if you have money you are immediately suspect. Her philosophy is that if you consider money to be evil, it will treat you badly, and if you embrace that money helps you, you will be able to make strong, smart financial choices that will lead to more money. And thus stability and happiness.

Jen Sincero’s book is both entertaining and enjoyable, written in a way that makes you feel like you’re friends. She’s also a #1 New York bestselling author, coach and motivational speaker. Her writing trains you to stop thinking “there is no way I will ever” and start thinking “there must be a way.”

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Here are a couple of bullet points to get you going (on your way to the bookstore to buy this book)

Consider what your good at, things you are naturally drawn to. Things come naturally for a reason. Be true to yourself.

Remember, you can have an AND. You can have a career AND be a really good Mom. You can run a business AND travel the world. Don’t cut yourself off from opportunities.

Don’t be vague in your desires, be specific. Have benchmark goals to meet and beat.

Never lose faith. Trust in the process.

You can have excuses OR successes. You can’t have both.

This is a great “change your life” book. Most of us won’t take the bull by the horns and change everything - but I believe that if you pick up this book and just adopt even one piece of advice that your life will improve, even if it’s just a little bit.

If you want to learn photography and build a better business, make sure you read You are a Badass at Making Money - you’ll be better for it. - Clare

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thesmashcake · 5 years ago

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Second Hand Props for Photographers

Props you should purchase used

Smash cake photographers need a ton of props to keep their sets looking different, new and up-to-date. This turns into a lot of cash. Almost anything you can buy used helps keeps your price down, AND keeps your designs looking different from the photographer next door. If you buy everything at Hobby Lobby so can the competition. To keep your smash cake photos unique we hunt for new-to-you props, and so should you.

First thing in the Door

It’s a little silly - but I always hit the “large item” section of my local thrift store first. Arguably, because the staff at the local second hand store is always adding to the options, the value of the items in that section is no better then than it will be 10 minutes from now. When I work my way back around to that side of the store, in fact, they might be better. But, for some reason I have to start in the large items section, and then go back to the beginning. Maybe I just can’t stand the thought of following someone else through the store while they’re clinging to "“my” goodie. Whatever it is, my hubby seems to get me. (Thanks, baby.)

Large Ticket Props

So, in the large/awkwardly shaped section I am always on the lookout for old toys; i.e. rocking horses, fire trucks etc for my smash cake designs. I’ve also purchased old school footstools before and recovered them with fabric from Joann’s and a staple gun. Simple, cheap and effective. Occasionally you’ll find a cool hat box, a musical instrument, an awesome plant, so keep your eyes peeled and your imagination open. These prop pieces may foot the bill for an upcoming theme, make your entire set, or spark a new idea. Keep an eye out for an amazing trunk (great for pirate or mermaid sets) and seasonal items like hay bales.

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Frames and Canvases

The phase of repainting old frames is a bit last-year, but I have seen some super cool ones lately where the frames were hot glued with wrapped fabric - very 1800’s in a floral or simple vintage fabric. Matte painted large canvases with single simple items (a plant? a carousel horse?) are great background pieces for your first birthday portrait.

Flowers and baskets

Lord, I hate paying full price for artificial flowers. Really??? $15 for a fake flower??? Are they crazy?

I have baskets and baskets full of artificial flowers in any cool color I can find, and sometimes I still don’t have enough. Buy all the quality flowers you can find at the local second hand stores. You will need them at some point. We see moms that want English Tea Garden sets, or Alice in Wonderland themes, Woodland Creatures, you name it. We also use them for Harvest and Strawberry photography sets - trust us, you need them. Vines are great to cover the background seam between floors and walls too. And please, don’t make me tell you how many baskets I have, it’s embarrassing.

"Cake stands are the ultimate second hand score. "

Birdcages, Fairy Lights &…………

Wedding decor can be an awesome smash cake score at the local Goodwill. Birdcages in multiple colors and sizes are a great find. Fairy lights, pinecones, wooden tree rounds, battery powered votives, so many options. Keep an eye out for apple crates, chinese lanterns, candle stands - the right ones will really round out your photography smash cake set designs.

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Teddy Bears & wooden toys

Vintage teddy bears are a great thing to find at the second hand store - they photograph so much better than current styles. Matte fur photographs better than shiny and warm, neutral brown and beige colors will match almost anything. If you find other unique animals that fit the bill, (no pun intended) snag them as well. Older, antique stuffed animals won’t date the portrait as much as whatever is cool right now. “Now’ becomes “then” very quickly - not what we’re looking for in wall art.

Buy wooden toys for the same reasons, they won’t shine and distract the viewer’s eye. They won’t date the image. They’re classic, they match everything. And classic toys and teddy bears are great items to “trade” with a ugly/trendy/hated item Mom can’t dissuade a child to give up.

Cake Stands

Cake stands are the ultimate second hand score. The cake stand has the foremost position in your portrait. It will factor into 80% of your images. It can’t be the same cake stand client after client, and it has to match your set. Cake stands are also one of the pieces we let our clients choose - we bring up several options and let the client make the decision (read more about involving your photography clients). Which obviously means I have to have several options for Mom and Dad to choose from. It seems like every time I go to a second hand store I come up with a new idea and out with a new goodie. Be sure to leave us a note about a prop I haven’t considered yet!

- Clare

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thesmashcake · 5 years ago

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Simple Tricks for Photography Studio Success in 2020

As we move into the slow season photographers everywhere scramble to find new clients. Most of them are looking for marketing ideas that they haven't tried. But it’s the simplest things are the most important. And often overlooked. Before you work on something more elaborate make sure you’ve covered the basics.

Answer the Phone

This one matters. We secure clients simply because we pick up the phone. I’ve had people tell me on more than one occasion that they booked with our photography studio, even though we were out of their price range, simply because we picked up the phone. “Oh thank goodness someone answered” “We knew you were a real business.”

The other side of this is that we don’t answer the phone when we are with a client. I’ve called people back two hours later and they’ve already booked their photographer. This year I’m hiring an answering service so our phone is answered by a real person, even when we’re shooting.

Put Your Contact Info on Every webPage

The easiest way to do this is to add your studio’s contact info to your website footer. Website savvy clients will automatically scroll to the bottom of your site if they can’t find it anywhere else. I would also counsel you to place it “above the fold” on your landing page i.e., before your viewer has to scroll for it. Don’t hide your phone number, they’ll jump back to Google to find it, and they may get distracted by the next photographer’s ad. They aren’t invested in you as a person yet, so they have no studio loyalty. Don’t give them ANY reason to leave your page.

include Your Address on your site

Again, don’t give them any reason to leave. If they bounce back to Google to pull up your address there’s the chance they’ll wander off. Keep them on your site. You need your studio’s address posted for SEO purposes anyway. If you work out of your home and are uncomfortable posting your address, keep it private, but still give them SOMETHING. Ex: Milwaukee District, Portland Oregon. At least they know you’re not halfway across town, and Google can recognize it as well.

Fix your broken links

Even if you are drowning in customers, add these to your to-do list.

If you’re looking to chase off new customers, offer up some broken links. You’re showing your potential new photography clients that you lack attention to detail. Details matter as a photographer. You’re also hurting your SEO ranking. Check for broken links a minimum of every 90 days, preferably once a month. And build yourself a personalized 404 page for your studio. Leave a quick cute/funny message and give them a couple of links; one back to the main page, a link to your search page and a link to your studio’s contact us page. Make it as simple and helpful as possible, you’ve already stumbled in their eyes.

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At the beep, leave a message

A full voicemail account, or worse yet, no voicemail at all, while common, is unacceptable. I feel like I’m channeling my mother with this comment. But it’s true. If your voicemail is full will they (your prospective client) call back? I can almost guarantee that if you lack a voicemail and grandma is footing the bill - you’ve lost the sale before it began. So craft a short, concise message, stating your business name, that you will return their call, sound friendly and professional.

Don’t worry if you only have one cell phone number for your personal and professional contacts. Your inner circle knows who you are, and most likely never leaves a message anyway.

Write your repetitive email responses

How many of us have opened our email account and skipped responding to a prospective client because we didn’t have time to write a good email, and didn’t want to send back a one-liner? {embarrassed cough} So, your prospective client becomes someone else’s paycheck because you didn’t respond quickly enough, or, worse yet, forgot to respond entirely.

Be proactive. You only shoot so many types of sessions. Save yourself some time and write a response to each basic email request i.e. “How much for a “smash cake shoot” a “newborn photography session” etc, and one that says “Thanks for thinking of us, but we don’t shoot________”. Write in depth, information heavy, well thought out emails that are peppered with questions so they are encouraged to respond back to you. Save yourself time year round by writing them once and having them done. Easy peasy.

When you are looking for new customers always start with the basics. Even if you are drowning in customers, add these to your to-do list.

Happy New Year!

- Clare

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