For the past few weeks, we’ve been busy with home projects and work. I finally had a break this week, took the day off, and gave this cake recipe a second try after a first attempt crumbled before my eyes.

It also gave me an opportunity to practice some of the food photography techniques I learned from the Master the Art of Food Photography Summit a week ago, where several photographers generously shared their experiences and process. After recently moving, I’ve been re-figuring out a new photography lighting setup based on natural light around our home. Based on one of the summit sessions from Karl Taylor, I decided to try and shoot the same scene with both dark/moody and bright/airy lighting to evoke different emotions purely through light. Here are the results:

bright / airy lighting

dark / moody lighting

with a little extra powdered sugar raining from the top

behind the scenes

Here’s what my setup actually looked like. I was trying to create a side beam of light through our French door window for the dark / moody shot. My husband creatively suggested using our black cushions to frame the beam. We used the large black cover from my diffuser for the background. Photos were shot with a Sony a7 on a tripod.

After about 78 photos and an hour of experimentation, we took the puppy out for a walk (who patiently waited under our dining table while we were shooting) before rewarding ourselves with slices of cake and tea. Can’t say no to an elderflower cake!

Here are a few sources. Photos were edited on Lightroom Mobile.

• Recipe from Blooms and Baking: Add Aromatic, Floral Flavors to Cakes, Cookies and More

• Elderflower syrup

• 6” cake pans (3X)