5 EASY tricks to take your Smartphone Food Photos to the next level!
Let’s face it, there are occasions where we simply NEED to take a photo with our phone. Even I don’t carry my enormous camera with me all the time, so I resort to using my phone a lot of the time for a quick snap.
Luckily, these days we have a bit more control over our phone cameras. Some phone cameras are even pretty good. So, let’s learn at least 5 tips and tricks to take our photos to the next level!
Tip #1: Lighting
This is true for ANY photography, not just food photos. You need to have a good source of light. A nice big window would be ideal. You don’t need to be right next to it, but close enough that the light falls beautifully on your food. I usually like to place the light to the side of the food so that there’s a bit of contrast and shadowing. Sometimes you might need to bump a little bit of light into the shadows and anything white works for this… a piece of paper, a napkin, even another plate (hold tight!)
If you happen to be in a dark environment with no natural light, watch the little video below for a super cute trick using your phone’s torch as a light source. It’s not ideal but better than dark, grainy images.
Tip# 2: Angle
Think about whether you would like to shoot from a bird’s eye view, usually called flat lay, or a 45-degree angle or even front on. It can really change the look of your image so have a think about what works best for whatever it is you’re photographing.
Tip # 3: Background
This is so essential, especially if you are taking your images from front on or a 45-degree angle. You don’t want to be seeing things in the background that don’t work… the BBQ outside your window, the rubbish bin behind the counter. Put some thought into what else you can see in your image before pressing that shutter button.
Tip 4: Choose a focus point
These days, our phones can mimic DSLR camera’s pretty well. And you can actually choose and lock in a focus point on your image that will give you (hopefully) some depth of field and blur things in the background. Choose which part of the image you’d like your camera to focus on, touch that area on the screen and hold to lock it in. Voila! That focus point won’t move until you take the image (or unless you move too of course! A great idea, if you’re struggling to keep your phone steady, is to get a little tripod for your phone.
Tip 5: Edit!
Even phone images need a bit of tweaking. A bit of contrast here, a bit of lightening there. I really love to use Lightroom for Mobile. Because I am an Adobe subscriber, I get the pro version included on my phone, but there is a free version that is still amazing and can really make your images pop!
Would you like me to do a little Lightroom editing tutorial? CLICK HERE if you would
And there you have it. Five quick and easy tips to change the way you photograph food with your phone!