Reader, after working with close to 1000 bakers, I know how many bakers bake so well but the moment you open their Instagram or WhatsApp catalogue, their bakes look so..."okayish". It doesn't show me the texture, the uniqueness and the premium quality and I worry "who will choose this home baker over other professional home bakers that look premium?"

One BIGGGG thing that stops them from shooting such amazing content is they don't have a clear system. Today I want to share my foolproof system to click amazingggg photos and videos in 15 mins and you don't need to buy anything for that! Good news? You need just a good phone with a decent camera (I use an iPhone 12 mini but I also use a Samsung many many times)

WHAT'S GOING WRONG

I say this with SO much love:

😬 You think your kitchen isn't good enough I shoot in my own studio regularly and there is often an oil pouch in the background and dirty dishes on the counter. NOBODY'S kitchen is fancy looking. The trick is learning how to frame your shot so your camera simply doesn't see the messy parts. More on that in a minute.

😬 You're shooting from too far away Bakers do this ALLLL the time. You want to show the whole bowl, the whisk, the neatly arranged props around it. But your customer is not here for the aesthetic flatlay. She is here for the PRODUCT. Get close. Fill the frame with only what you are selling. Just the cheesecake slice being cut into, not the whole cheesecake plus the plant plus the whisk plus the marble board in the background.

😬 You wait until the order is ready to shoot And by then you have 30 minutes before delivery, the product is not looking its freshest, you're stressed, and the photos show it. Shooting needs to happen DURING the baking process, not just after.

😬 You try to shoot everything So you end up with a 1 hour video of an entire baking process that takes 3 hours to edit and never gets posted. That is not what we are doing here.

😬 Your lens is dirty I know this sounds too simple to be the problem. But I see accounts EVERY SINGLE DAY posting content through a smudged, greasy lens and wondering why their photos look soft and dull. Wipe your lens before you film anything. Every time. No exceptions.

😬 Your phone settings are messed up You might have some filters/ settings on that mess up the colour and texture of your bakes, make sure allll filters are off and settings back to default!

Okay. Now the good stuff.

✅ THE 0 BUDGET, 15 MINUTE SETUP

Let me be very clear about the goal here.

The aim is not to turn you into a food photographer or a professional videographer. I am not one either and I have been doing this for 11 years.

The aim is to make your bakes look EXACTLY as good as they actually are. That's it. Nothing more.

Here is everything you actually need.

THE SETUP

🌞 Natural light is your best friend

If your kitchen or balcony gets natural light at any point during the day, USE IT. Position your product near that window, shoot facing the light and you will not need a single thing from this list below.

My own studio gets zero natural light so I have to use artificial. But if you have a window, a balcony, even a door that opens to outside, that is your entire photography setup sorted for free.
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🌞 Do not buy props right away

They are expensive so start with just 1 cake stand, 1 black wire rack, plain white ceramic plates, some aesthetic dessert spoons, a good sharp knife. Later buy some bowls + platters and invert the bowl and place the plate on top to make your own mini cupcake/ dessert stands. I have shared the links to all below in a highlighted line.
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Instead of other props, use the ingredients used inside your dessert in your frame if you absolutely HAVE to (not necessary at all).

🫶 A vinyl sticker for your countertop

This is the single best investment you can make for your content and it costs a few hundred rupees.

Get a white matte finish marble vinyl. Matte is important because it is NON-REFLECTIVE. Stick it on your counter and suddenly you have a clean, neutral, professional looking surface in every single shot.

I use this one for my counter: { https://amzn.to/4mIXvB4 }.I use this even to knead my bread dough on and it wipes beautifully, I thought I will use it for just 3-4 months but I've been using it since past 3 years!

And this one works on the wall as a backdrop too: {https://amzn.to/4cFY2PQ} Keep both different yet neutral to have a contrast. I see too many people use the same backdrop and it just looks unnatural!
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🤗 A tripod

A small one that sits on your counter while you bake. A bigger one for shots from further away (like younplacing something. You can get decent ones for under ₹500 on Amazon.

The tripod means your hands are free, your angles are consistent and you are not propping your phone against a packet of sugar hoping it doesn't fall. BUT if you don't have anything, you can always prop your phone on other things and record!
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🎯 A ring light {optional but helpful}

If you have one, put a white sheer dupatta over it. This softens the light and stops it from looking harsh and clinical in your photos. Set it to a daylight colour temperature, not warm yellow and not blue-white. Just neutral daylight. But natural sunlight should always be preferred over this!

📱Your phone settings

Record at 1080p at 60fps. Turn OFF HDR. Turn off every single filter your phone camera has on by default, they distort colours, change the sharpness and make your bakes look nothing like they actually do.

If your video is flickering, change the frame rate from the settings at the top of your camera. It usually says 25, 60, 120 : flickering happens when something is reflecting the artificial light at the wrong frequency.

And inside Instagram settings, turn on HIGH QUALITY UPLOADS. This one setting alone will change how your content looks on someone else's phone.

Links to all my tried and tested products here: https://amzn.to/4i1K0tu​

Chocolate oozing out of a brownie. Marshmallows stretching as someone pulls a cookie apart. A crispy crumble getting sliced to show those layers. An ultraaaa spongy cake being cut in slow motion.

THAT is the content that makes people stop scrolling and immediately go to your bio to order. Your photos will reflect it but if the sponge looks dry/ dense, the cookies look dry and not so unique, it's very hard to sell them- your bakes must be genuinely, undeniably THAT good.

If you want your photos to do the heavy lifting, your brownies need to be the kind that ooze and fudge and melt in a way that a camera cannot hide. My 🍫Bestselling Brownies Bundle, 🍰Art and Science of Cafe Style Cakes, 🍪Art & science of Cookies Masterclass and🍓Cheesecake Ebook are built specifically to get your bakes to that level: the kind of bakes that photograph themselves. {See them all here}​
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HOW TO ACTUALLY SHOOT

WHAT TO SHOOT:

This is the part nobody explains properly.

You do not need a whole "shoot day." You do not need to set up a scene and style it. You need to shoot small clips of the real process as it is happening.

Here is how I think about it:

When you start baking, the phone goes on the tripod and you film SPECIFIC moments, not the whole process.

🎬 You don't need to show yourself measuring and sieving flour. But the mixing of the wet ingredients & the dry? Film that.

🎬 You don't need to show the cream being whipped start to finish. But the moment you fold the compote into the cream? Film that.

🎬 You don't need to show the whole baking time. But the moment the tray goes into the oven and the moment it comes out? Film both.

Each clip is 30 to 40 seconds maximum. You will end up with small, beautiful, useable clips of each meaningful moment without recording 3 hours of footage you'll never edit.

And CHANGE YOUR ANGLES between clips.

For eg, batter being poured into the bowl, phone on the LEFT.
Batter going into the tin, phone at the FRONT so your hands and apron are in frame.
Cakes going into the oven, phone on the RIGHT of the oven door. Finished cake being frosted, phone from the TOP looking down.

This keeps people engaged and the video doesn't seem monotonous!

HOW TO SETUP THE BACKGROUND (CAUSE YOU KITCHEN ISN'T THE CLEANEST)

If you're worried about your kitchen looking "not aesthetic enough" here are three options in order of effort:

🌿 Your balcony is a free studio A few plants, natural light, your product in your hands or on a simple white plate. The bright green background with natural lighting brings out the colours of your bakes in a way no studio setup can. This is genuinely one of my favourite setups and it costs nothing and is QUICK! So when the customer is on the way, and you have to click a few photos and videos, THIS is what you do in 5 mins!

🪟 Frame cleverly Get close enough to your subject that the background barely exists. A close up shot of a brownie being cut shows the brownie. Not the kitchen, not the backdrop, not anything else. The messy countertop is out of frame. The oil pouch in the background is out of frame. Nobody can see what your camera cannot see. But when you bring the camera closer, people can see the textures soooo clearly! THAT'S what sells!

🎨 Stick a neutral vinyl on the wall ₹300 to ₹500. {links shared above} A clean marble vinyl on the wall behind your counter and suddenly you'll feel more comfortable shooting in other angles where yo can also show your desserts from the front. One time, permanent, and you never think about your backdrop again.

EDITING

I edit inside the Reels editor on Instagram itself or using the Edits app. That is it. Nothing else. Not InShot or any third party app that compresses your video quality before it even gets to Instagram.

The Instagram editor keeps your quality intact. The Edits app is clean and fast. Both are free.

WHAT NEXT

So now you have 30 ideas across 4 pillars. And here is how to actually use them without overwhelming yourself:

Pick one idea from each pillar every week. That is four posts a week with a content calendar you built in 10 minutes. Mix the pillars intentionally. A shareable Pillar 1 reel followed by a Pillar 2 customer story followed by a Pillar 3 product reel followed by a Pillar 4 behind the scenes.

That rotation is what makes a page feel alive instead of like a product catalogue.
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And 10000% honesty, you MUST work on your entire business strategy (yes, branding as well), something I offer my Baker's Business Academy students is all the tools and strategies thye need plus my personal guidance every week on their bsiness as well as Instagram! Let me know if you'd like to get in the next batch as I take limited seats by replying to this email.

AND at the end of the day your products must be soooo good that people see why you are the option! If that's something you need help with, go for any of my baking course, each category covers the A to Z of baking perfectly and you will never need a new course after that!

📌 YOUR DAY 3 TASK

Before your next baking session, do these three things:

☐ Wipe your lens and make sure your phone settings are correct.
☐ Make sure you're either shooting in natural light or ring light + dupatta setup
☐ Shoot 30-40 secs clips, and after every few shots change the angle.
☐ Make sure to click some photos in the same setup, if nothing ATLEAST make some videos of the end product in your balcony with plants in the background!

P.S. Tell me the most eye opening and practical tip you got from this so I can share more of those! Hit reply. Any Qs? I'll reply to everything. 💛

Always rooting for you,
​Shubhangi​
​Redolence Baking School
Your eggless baking journey is just a click away!