Why you should turn your iPhone upside down for food videos

Handsome boy who can look at a beautifully prepared dish in a restaurant today without immediately reaching for his phone. At first we mainly took food photos, but now food videos are gaining ground on social media. But how do you make really cool food videos with your iPhone? Culy’s colleagues received an exclusive masterclass from Apple and discovered one brilliant tip after another.

And we want to share it with you with love.

The Netherlands is going well on this 3 series 😍

9 tips for making food videos with your iPhone

Whether you’re filming for TikTok or Instagram (or for your mom), if you’re making a food video, you want it to look as slick as possible. One is more handy than the other, but luckily there are smart tips and tricks that everyone can benefit from.

Culy took part in an exclusive Apple masterclass given by two ladies who create inspiring videos every day with their iPhone: Gertie Algera (mobile journalist) and Esther Ofori-Mantey (student food commerce and social media talent). We collected nine of their best tips.

1. Lock your shots for beautiful sharpness/depth in your photos and videos

Do you immediately start filming as soon as you open the app and point your camera at your subject? Whoa, stop, stop. First press on your screen, there on the spot where your subject is. This is how you turn on the so-called AE/AF lock.

What this does: Let your camera focus on the spot that’s most important to get in focus. Suppose you film a person eating an ice cream on the street. By locking your shots before you start filming, that person remains in focus. For example, if a car passes by in the background, the camera will focus on the person instead of following the car.

> This is how you do it: open your camera app. Visualize what you want to film. Hold down your finger where you want to focus and wait for AE/AF lock to appear in a small yellow bar.

2. Pay attention to your video settings

Do you want beautiful, smooth images in your video? Shoot your food videos in 4K at 60fps; you can adjust this in the settings of your camera. According to Esther, the camera quickly picks up details and the movements in your video become nice and smooth.

> This is how you do it: on your iPhone go to settings -> camera. Make sure ‘Record video’ is set to 4K at 60 fps.

3. Hold your phone upside down to film

Esther has now made it her trademark to always keep her iPhone upside down when she films. YES REALLY. Why? You can then get much closer to objects – it’s like walking between the dishes on the table – and you also have a better grip on your phone, so you can move the phone more smoothly. And therefore shoots smoother images.

> This is how you do it: turn your phone upside down and keep your middle and ring fingers on top of your phone; your index finger and little fingers on the sides. This way you have your thumb free to press the on button.

4. Get close to your subject

Are you a little further away from your subject, for example, are you trying to film the chefs in the kitchen from your table? According to Geertje, everything within 5 meters is suitable for filming with your iPhone, from further away the image quality is too bad. So get as close to your subject as possible. Are you really too far away and can’t get closer? Then you can try to film in 4K (see tip #2).

> This is how you do it: on your iPhone go to settings -> camera. Make sure ‘Record video’ is set to 4K at 60 fps.

5. Filming with your iPhone? Make your camera move (and how to do it skillfully)

A video gets better from moving images. Otherwise you might as well take a picture, says Geertje. So you want to make sure there is movement in every shot you make for your TikTok video or InstaReel. But how do you do that in a cool way? Two golden tips from Esther:

• Make a c-shaped movement instead of a straight line when filming an object. So don’t go straight from top to bottom or from left to right, but in a c-shaped curve. Also move with your body, then it will be easier.
• Do not film from left to right until the object disappears from view, but keep following the object with your camera. You also do this in a c-shaped movement.

6. If you are going to vlog, use the main camera

For vlogs, it’s best to use the main camera on the front of your phone. Why? Because it simply gives better quality. Also, always make sure that your eyes are a third of the way into the frame (yes, even if your forehead falls off).

> This is how you do it: you know this. And if not: what do you do with an iPhone? As for the line your eyes should rest on, you can turn on the grid in your settings for that. Then go to settings -> camera -> under ‘composition’ turn on the slider for ‘grid’.

7. Try a different way to hold your iPhone while filming

We already talked about holding your iPhone upside down and moving images. Here are some cool ways Esther holds her phone to film food videos (all with the iPhone upside down):

• Two-hand swoop: This is where you place a flat hand on top of your iPhone – upside down, didn’t we? – and one under your iPhone. Make a smooth, s-shaped movement (yes, this will take some practice…)
• The snake: hold your iPhone upside down with the right grip (see #3) and move your iPhone between dishes on the table, as if your phone is sailing through an attraction in a boat.
• Around the world: Move around a tall object, such as a mountain of nachos or a sundae.
• Table circles: the c-shaped moves we talked about in #5. Especially a great way to capture a somewhat boring object that is on the table in a fascinating way. It may help if you fold a napkin in half and place it under your iPhone, with the edge just below the phone.

8. Do you see a flicker in the image during filming? You can turn this off

Mega annoying: are you filming, do you see vibrations or flickers in the image. This happens, for example, due to the type of lamps you are under. Fortunately, you can do something about that.

> This is how you do it: go to settings -> camera -> record video -> Show PAL formats (turn off the slider).

9. NEVER forget to wipe your camera

Such an obvious tip, but we often forget it: first clean the lens(es) of your iPhone before you start filming. Such a shame if there are spots in the image. And by that we mean both the front and the back of your phone.

Do you make a cool food video with these tips? Always nice if you want to tag Culy in it: @culynl. If you want to know more about this subject, we recommend Geertje Algera’s book: Making professional videos with your smartphone.