Top tips to take pornalicious food photos on your Phone
Want to take food photos that will make your followers drool? Only have a smart phone? Look no further!
Getting your food and beverages or products to stand out in the scroll can be difficult with the insane amount of content out there. Fortunately, you have us to guide you and show you how to make people STOP, LOOK, CLICK! First stop is a good social media marketing plan, then some schmick looking content, because in the world of social media, good looks definitely count 😉
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Advancement in technology and social media means that you can get features on your smart phones that were previously only available on high end cameras, costing thousands of dollars. A great example is the new iPhone with its multi-faceted camera, with a wide-angle lens, deep fusion mode to enhance textures and a night mode feature which adjusts lighting if you hate using flash.
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For that reason, we have some tips and apps below that you can get to edit your photos directly on your smart phones, you’ll have professional looking pics that POP in no time.
Look no further!​ We are giving you our top five tips professionals wouldn't want you to know.
- Stay steady and get yourself a tripod
- A sexy backdrop
- Use the features on your phone to reduce future editing
- Using your phone camera for real time social media stories and updates
- Our favourite editing apps
#1. Stay steady and get yourself a tripod
If you’re not confident taking steady pictures by just holding your phone in your hand, buy a portable tripod which can be stowed away in a handbag and brought out for impromptu photoshoots. Try our recommendation for this tripod from Amazon which comes with a bluetooth remote –for $29.99
#2. A sexy backdrop
A backdrop can turn your social media photography from cluttered and drab into fab. Choose a backdrop in a colour that will best compliment the product you want to focus on.
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We’ve all seen smooth marble backdrops, dark wooden surfaces with tea towels strewn about, or concrete slabs with bright props around them. A good background can set the mood for your photography and can be used to create a dark and rustic shot, or something clean and bright.
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Photographers tend to use boards with laminates of surfaces on them which are light to carry around and do not bend easily. Especially when you’re using your phone and do not have the best zoom options handy. For this reason, a nice background will give you the option of taking a close up holding your phone higher to take a top down or flat-lay image.
Papaya Photography on marble background forThe Oaks Alala’s
Matt Moran with fellow farmers for National Barramundi Day
#3. Use the features on your phone to reduce future editing
We’ve talked about how technologically advanced the little electrical box in our pocket is. Your smartphone’s camera comes with a number of built-in features you can use while taking pictures. You can adjust exposure by adjusting the little dial that pop’s up on the screen.
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Remember you can always edit the brightness or reduce the exposure and contrast by using the editing apps mentioned below. Use the portrait mode (we like the natural lighting effect) to create depth in the background and focus on a singular object or person.
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Do not forget, lighting and being close to the object is important get a great shot using the portrait feature.
#4. Using your phone camera to share real time stories and updates on social media
Using the Instagram or Facebook stories feature, businesses can communicate with their regular or potential consumers. It allows you to share special dishes, new products, behind the scenes videos, occasions or promotions. Consequently you can get a true indication of how engaged your viewers are and create fun and interactive stories. Some fun ways to engage are: doing short surveys, answering questions, doing countdowns for an event launch or even creating quizzes with multiple options.
You can also tag other accounts and feature stories from others who have tagged you, which is a great way to interact with similar accounts and build a good community of followers. Read more about some exciting new updates coming to Facebook’s stories feature here.
Matt Moran on ABFA Instagram for National Barramundi Day
ABFA’s Instagram Story for National Barramundi Day
#5. Our favourite editing apps
1. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom app is your best friend when you don’t have natural lighting
The easy to use app can be used to adjust lighting and brightness directly on your phone. With the option of selecting from your photo gallery, you can use the ‘auto’ mode for a ready-made edited picture. You can also buy the app on both Apple and Android phones for more features and editing pre-sets before you post to Facebook or Instagram.
Photographers have a range of artificial lighting options they use in case natural lighting isn’t available. Lightroom is a great app for giving your photos a professional touch. The ‘healing’ tool is great for editing objects that aren’t meant to be there. You can adjust perspective with a guided grid and bath adjustment editing to apply the same adjustments to multiple photos.
2. VSCO
The ‘discover’ section on the app gives users the chance to browse through pictures created in a grid, and blogs from various contributors with tips and tricks to guide you through the editing process. The app can also be used to edit videos which make it a great tool for providing a more consistent appearance to your social media feed.
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The filters are free, however for $19.90 a year, you can get you access to every VSCO photo editing tool and filter, along with video editing tools. The pre-sets can also be adjusted if you don’t want a super filtered picture.
At the end of the day, nothing captures food quite like a professional shot and these are best interspersed with more organic content. Get in touch with us if you need a full photoshoot for fabulous flat lays, moody wine pours or oozy melted cheese in slow mo.