If you're new to my blog, you might not know that I'm also a food blogger over at Tastefully Vikkie. But being a DIYer, I'm going to show you my many essentials if you want to take food photography or videos on a budget.
This post is sponsored by Blu Tack. It also contains Amazon affiliate links at no extra cost to you.
Although I may now be a "multi award winning" DIY blogger, none of this would be possible if it wasn't for my full time job. You see, in the background, I'm shooting food photography sessions of what we eat.
And it's so much fun! But because I've been doing major renovations in our first house, I've had to justify bigger expenditures. And where I can make it, I will.
But better still, a DIY tripod for example is also a great solution for others, so I share them here too.
#Bluhacks Competition (Closed)
You'll find one of the crafty food photography tips below I do is with using Blu Tack. And running up to 20th November 2019, you can be in with the chance to win £100 to spend at Amazon. Also, two lucky runners-up will also receive a £50 Amazon voucher each, too.
You can find out how to enter by reading this blogpost. But to give you a heads up, you'll need to:
- Share your #BluHacks Blu Tac hack on social media
- Ensure you tag and include the hashtag (read the link above to find out how)
- Also comment on the post (via the link above)
GOOD LUCK!
1. THE DIY FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY OVERHEAD CAMERA RIG
One of my proudest food photography builds is this quick, easy and very basic overhead camera rig. It cost me absolutely nothing as I used wood off cuts, a hand saw, a drill bit and the vital M6 bolt.
It's this bolt that screws in to the bottom of my DSLR camera, but could be adapted with many similar mounts. Even for a camera phone. My set up sits directly on top of a kitchen worktop and I don't have to worry about balancing with sandbags.
I create Tasty style videos and occasionally, DIY projects such as my hands-on dog backpack sewing tutorial. If I were to make it again, I'd make sure to use glue as well as screws.
2. DIY STUDIO KITCHEN MARBLE WORKTOP
Earlier this year, I installed my own utility kitchen that would also be my food blog food photography studio. Although it may sound expensive and extreme, I was able to buy the black and white faux marble worktop as a business expense.
It's something I'd always wanted. I even bought marble contact paper but never got round to covering a piece of wood. But a 3 metre worktop cost £70. And once I'd finished fitting my utility, I also had some spare leftover that I added hair pin legs underneath. This made another cool photography backdrop I could move around the house.
There are many backdrops you can buy, such as roll up vinyls from Backdrops by Lucy. They're about £30 each which I may buy eventually. But I find a black and white marble effects always makes my food look fresh and colourful.
3. PAINTED FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY PLYWOOD BACKDROPS
Before I fitted my own utility kitchen, I painted a scrap plywood sheet for food photography and videos. This offered a very versatile board that was super light to move around.
It's also a very cheap way to make whatever colour or pattern you want with tester paint pots you might have.
But you may want to make a few to spice up your food photography in case you get bored. Although I loved mine, I noticed a huge difference after opting for the brighter marble look.
4. MY FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY CAMERA KIT
When I first started my food photography, I only used a camera phone. I was able to take many great photos, usually in the birds eye. But after earning a bit of money, one of the best purchases was my Canon 750D. *However, note my the Diet Coke Chicken recipe at the top was taken for the first time with my new gifted Panasonic GH5 and 14-140mm lens.
It has a flip view finder so I can see what I'm filming while the lens faces towards the floor in my camera rig. And my two (and only) lenses that I love is the 18mm-55mm which I can zoom in and out. And for great depth of field during food photography is my 50mm lens that cost about £100.
Eventually you'll want to move away from your camera phone to really see the difference. It's the one thing I don't think you can live without as food photography is competitive and we eat with our eyes.
5. BASIC PROPS FOR INTEREST
I have almost a full shed of filming props and to be honest, I don't use most of them. Charity shops and jumble sales have been great for finding pieces, such as vintage cutlery and pots. But the ones I recommend for interesting texture or worktop protection that I use more frequently are:
- Wooden chopping boards
- Bulk load of tea towels (as it's easy to get stains on them) from Amazon
- Buy cheap tea towels from shops when you I on holiday (ie, the ones I buy in Spain with Spanish writing as seen here)
- Hessian sandbag
- Coffee sack I found from a carboot
6. BLU TACK IS YOUR FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY FRIEND
When I film food photography videos, I'm increasingly using extra food as props. Images can feel very flat and boring when you've just got a hotplate and a pan. But the trickiest bit is getting everything to stay still for continuity while you cook.
So, for example, I filmed a healthy cheesecake last week and wanted a display of eggs. But they're a devil for moving about. So I cut some strips of blu tack, rolled them up and turned them in to rings.
I place the rings under the eggs discretely so they sat there behaving themselves. I've done the with other foods that aren't flat too, such as carrots. Or you could cut a flat surface in to them.
7. THE HOT PLATE AND INDUCTION PANS
When I started shooting birdseyes food photography and videos, I used a cheap £5 camping hob. The problem with this is it takes AGES to heat up and too long to cool down. Particularly if you want to try and prevent splatters on your camera and steam fogging up the lens.
So I thoroughly recommend buying a hotplate induction hob. They're cool to the touch when you're done for easy storage and let's be honest, they look stylish.
Note, I was gifted mine from Stellar and I love it. But when doing research early on, the cheapest one I could find was from IKEA. You will have to buy suitable pans for the induction hob, but you can use them on gas hobs too.
9. HERB GARDEN
When filming and shooting my food photography, I almost always use fresh herbs. The green always makes the food pop more adding extra colour and compliment the food well.
But it can get expensive buying fresh packs per food photography shoot. So to keep costs down, I buy the fresh herbs in plant pots from the supermarket. You can plant them in to a herb plant box at home and they'll keep giving back.
Just note that you will probably need to replace them as the seasons change and some just struggle to survive, like coriander and basil. However, these are easy to maintain, even if you don't really have green fingers:
- Chives
- Thyme
- Rosemary
- Sage
- Parsley
10. YOU NEED A FAN
When filming my cooking videos, I struggle when I don't use my fan. Sometimes I can't be bothered to set it up, but then I end up wafting the steam away with my hands or having to let food cool to continue.
Steam is just irritating and often makes food photography less crisp. Especially when you want to get snapshots for food photography while in your video editing software.
However, sometimes it can add a cool effect to show something in action. But more often than not, it's unwanted.
11. NATURAL DAYLIGHT
For the last 3 years, I haven't even touched my studio lights. And I NEVER use flash photography. EVER. Just so we're clear. As long as I have a window and it's bright enough where the image isn't grainy, I'm good to go. I avoid fake lights as it's way too harsh on food.
We get cloudy days are almost everyday here in the UK and it diffuses the sunlight perfectly. But my favourite place to film or do my food photography is my utility kitchen in the conservatory.
It's right in front of a window and I often film between 9am-4pm. Unless it's Winter, then 3pm is probably the absolute latest. Or better still sometimes up to 9pm in the Summer. But the reason I'm able to shoot food photography up to these times is I reply on my DSLR's ISO, f stop and white balance. And if the white balance is off, it can be adjusted in Lightroom after.
12. USE A REFLECTOR
When filming near a widow, or using just one light, a reflector is great for brightening shadowed food. Although sometimes it can add some mood to your food photography.
My first reflectors where tin foil covered sheets of cardboard they still work great today. But they're a bit too bulky to store. I've since moved to a Newer round collapsible 4 in one grey/white balance, black and reflector.
It was about £20 from memory and so easy to pack away. Again, I use it with most food photography and video shoots.
13. USE FREE OR A ONE TIME FEE VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARE
I'm less keen on how some companies now only offer editing software for a monthly fee. Originally I started with free Windows Movie Maker that I didn't even know came with my laptop. But after you develop your skills, you'll likely outgrow them. As much as I'd love to have all the fancy features I don't know about yet on Adobe Premier, I don't like the price.
I really don't agree with not physically owning something after paying many pretty pennies. So of course, you could opt for free software online or IMovies on an Apple table or phone. But my favourite is Sony Platinum Movie Studio. My first one was £35 when it was Amazon Prime Day. However, I was forced to upgrade it when I bought a 4k screen laptop.
But I absolutely love the copy function which I then paste in to Paint; save; then edit in Lightroom. But I only use this function to screengrab images for hands-on preparation shots. These are particularly great if you want to give your readers a better user experience. Or, you could use a remote if you don't have editing software. Note: the wireless ones are FAR too slow.
14. HDMI CABLE FOR EXTERNAL MONITOR
A little disclaimer here. I don't hook up my camera to an external monitor as often as I should. And quite often when I finish shooting, I think my videos can look darker than the flip screen on my camera.
It's best to hook them together with an HDI cable so you can get your settings right before the cutting room. Although, yes, I will then brighten and contrast in my Sony editing software. But it's definitely not as good.
Note though, some you may need a smaller HDMI as I do with my Canon 750D but not with my Panasonic GH5. Although I've only had the latter for two weeks which does give better food photography, but it's more complicated so far.
15. THE BEST FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY E-BOOK
My friends and family will tell you, it takes a lot for me to reach in to my pockets. Which is probably why I do lots of DIY for myself over here. But for the first two years, my food photography looked terrible at times.
But there's one food photography eBook I bought as other food bloggers recommended it. It's called Tasty Food Photography. This is not an affiliate link (although I should sign up for one), but it changed my food photography overnight. So much so, I've been reshooting as many recipes when I get the time.
It's $29. It was quite pricey for me at the time, but it's extremely easy to understand and quick to read. It's also PACKED full of information. From memory, I learnt:
- Food, prop and lighting composition
- What recommended settings they use (the author is possibly the most well known food blogger, Pinch of Yum)
- Why it's best to shoot vertically most of the time as opposed to horizontally
- How to take great photos, even with a smartphone
16. MUST HAVE FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY PREP ACCESSORIES
When it comes to process food photography or filming, I don't like to take focus away from the actual food. And often I'll use a tablespoon of this and a teaspoon of that. So to also cut down mess, I put them in to recycled glass pots that GU puddings come in, or ramekin dishes.
For larger quantities, I'll use white bowls for chopped onions and other food or meat.
The other thing I think is vital are food trays. When I do my prep in my main kitchen, I fill my trays so I can take straight to my food photography studio.
CC Hogan
Just thinking about video editing software, get Davinci Resolve. It has the most powerful color grading of any of the pro tools, plus the editing side is very good indeed. There is a learning curve because this is full, pro software as used by the big studios. But there are heaps of tutorials out there, often made by pros who have moved away from Premier.
BUT... There is a catch:
It's free!
There are two versions. A free version which has some limitations (won't go higher than 4k, for instance, and has fewer plugins), and the Studio Version which is less than £300. And that is a lifetime price. No subs.
But the free version is so powerful. Pretty much ALL the colorgrading is fully operational, so are all the editing tools. And this is not a demo or a trial, this is a proper version which many pros use who don't need the extra bits.