5 Tips for Taking Better Food Photos with Your Phone Camera

Do you want to improve your food photography skills to take great photos? Do you need expensive equipment to attract customers to your delicious food? Should you opt for Smartphone food photos?

Well, smartphone cameras are best for taking professional food pictures. You don't need any training to impress others with your food photography. All you need to learn is to use your camera professionally. Here are some food photography tips that will help you take Instagram-worthy pictures.

How to Take Better Food Photos with Your Phone

Think about Natural Light

Before photographing food, you need to plan; lighting is one of the biggest factors. Food typically looks good under natural lighting. So, if you want the best food photos, you need to shoot next to a window that doesn't get direct sunlight.

Any professional photographer usually uses sidelight or backlight food shots, as they offer a nice look and contrast to the food. You can use natural window light to offer you low light but enough to offer real-life photos. In this case, you need to place your food back of the plate to the window for the backlight and side to the window for the side light.

Note that you must avoid the phone's flashlight for this purpose. Flash only destroys the image, makes food look greasy and flat, and adds a yellow color cast that is challenging to edit.

Professional food photography also offers results with artificial light. But for that, experts use flashguns or studio flash that helps to light food. However, food photographers diffuse and control these lights that offer good lighting and better pictures.

Use the Phone's Camera Wide Angle Lens

One of the biggest mistake people make while doing Smartphone food photography is choosing the wrong angle.

Mobile cameras have wide-angle lenses, so when you use them, the wrong angle makes your food look distorted. This means you can't choose any angle based on your convenience. To get the best natural results, you need to look for different angles that can prevent blurry photos.

If you want to choose the simplest right angle, get down low over the dining table and take a photo at 90 degrees angle. As a result, you will get a beautiful image with minimal visible distortion and lots of depth. You can also shoot directly over the food while your camera faces down, known as overhead shots. This angle will reduce the depth and gives a graphic effect to the image.

Add Some Props

Props add character and life to any food pictures. It can be anything like cutlery, glassware, condiments, spices, napkins, car keys, raw veggies or fruits, flowers, or anything you believe will compliment the food. Experiment with props and use creativity to shoot eye-catching images.

For instance, if you are taking pictures of food specially made for children, you should serve food in crockery for children and use kids' spoons, forks, and glasses as a prop. In fact, you can place a sippy cup so that anyone who sees these images immediately understands that it's a kid's food.

While props are important to lift the beauty of the image, make sure not to overly decorate the scene with many bits and pieces. Ensure that your food photo doesn't lose its spark and has pleasing composition. Whether you shoot indoors or outdoors, keep the shoot simple and eye-catching.

Download a Camera App for Smartphone Food Photography

Your built-in camera has some limitations, so it will be a great idea to use editing apps to get true-to-life pictures.

The best app you can use is Adobe Lightroom mobile, which has free and paid versions. You can benefit from a free version to improve the colors of your image.

To ensure your food images stand, experiment with different apps. You can easily find one that suits your skill level and needs. Some apps also help you control camera settings, such as helping in adjusting ISO, shutter speed, and white balance.

Consider Little Things that Bring Life to Main Subject

While taking photos, try to include an empty area, known as negative space, where the eye can rest briefly as they move through the image. If every corner of the image is stuffed with props and subjects, it will confuse the viewer and create claustrophobia.

Additionally, use grid lines to position all the elements in the picture. It can help you keep the main element in the focal point and place other objects near it. So, benefit from vertical lines and horizontal lines to take good pictures.

It's best to use RAW format instead of JPEG format. Food photographers prefer the RAW format as it contains all the information of the entire frame and is uncompressed. RAW format files maintain soft shadows, brightness, and soft light whether you take a close-up shot, overhead shot, or others.

Bottom Line

With the above-mentioned tips, you can take good food photos. Just your Smartphone is enough to help you attract customers to your delicious food.