There was a time when the only reason to take pictures of your food was if your glowering nutritionist demanded you show them every single thing you were eating. Now taking photos of food is totally acceptable. It is a part of our culture. You don’t have to be a blogger, photographer, chef or nutritionist’s abductee to take food pictures. You shouldn’t feel awkward or weird or embarrassed because people are staring at you for taking pictures of your food at a restaurant. What you should be embarrassed about is taking pictures that look like crap.
To aid me in my obsession for perfecting my picture taking game, Asus sent me their new ZenFone 3. The phone packs a powerful lunch. I mean punch 😉 The one feature which I’m really excited about is the 16MP rear camera. And for the rare occasions when I take a selfie, it has an 8MP front camera. The phone is lightning fast, thanks to its 14nm Snapdragon processor with 64-Bit Octa-Core CPU @2.0Ghz. The design is sleek and stunning; with spun-cut etchings and precision sculpted glass on both sides. It comes in four signature colours and I chose the gold naturally.
If you know me on Instagram, then you know I’m all about travel, food, animals, and the occasional sunset. The first few pictures I took on Instagram were hardly special. But since then I’ve learned some tricks to enhance my feed. People started noticing and I made many connections and increased my engagement. Here are some of the tips and tricks I learned along the way.
1. Sun’s out phone’s out

Shot with the Asus ZenFone 3 on Auto Mode
Grab the table by the window. The sunlight can make your food photo look like the Lord himself is about to descend down to double tap it. The flash from the camera is harsh, and indoor light can be harsh sometimes too. Which bring me to my next point.
2. Let there be light
Pizza at dusk with some soft bulb lighting:
If there is no natural light, get a friend to use their phone’s torch light to illuminate the food. Use a white napkin as a reflector to bounce light and fill in any dark areas. You can also use the napkin to soften the torch light.
3. Compose the shot

Shot on the Asus ZenFone 3 in the auto mode with manual focus
Don’t just photograph anything. Set the scene first. The plate doesn’t necessarily have to be in the centre of the picture. Move it around, arrange drinks or cutlery or condiments or napkins around it. It doesn’t have to be perfectly styled either; a donut or a cookie with a bite taken out it looks better. A sliced cake looks better than the whole thing. It doesn’t always have to be on the table, it can be on the window sill, on the bed, or in this case, my balcony wall.
4. In the shadows

Shot on the Asus Zenfone 3 on the manual mode with ISO 1200
Don’t shy away from taking photos in the dark. Using shadows and darkness and using the right tools to edit your photos, you can create beautifully contrasted images. Don’t use the flash. Use high ISO. You can adjust the amount of light in the photo by tapping anywhere on the screen. Want to add more light to your image? Tap the darkest shadows on your screen. Want to get more shadow? Tap the brightest part of the screen.
5. Move

Shot using the Asus ZenFone 3 on the auto mode
Don’t be afraid of standing up, crouching down, moving a few things around on the table, or even standing on a chair. I will admit I’ve stood on chairs a few times, but I only do it in places where I won’t bother the other diners. They’re all on their phone anyway so I think you’re good. 😉
So much organizing the table, putting each dish in it’s place(!), till the table looked great in the photo.
6. Blur the background

Shot on the Asus Zenfone 3 on the auto mode, with the cupcake in manual focus
Tap on the part of the photo you want to focus on, preferably the brightest and most eye catching color on the dish, like this little red heart on the cupcake. A really good food photo has a short depth of field, which makes it look more appealing on Instagram. In this shot, the Zenfone 3 helped me blur the background out of focus, drawing you attention straight to the cupcake, which looks really sharp and in focus.
7. Shoot fresh food
Bangkok has numerous opportunities to practise quickly shooting fresh food.
Fresh herbs will start wilting, the cheese will start looking greasy, tacos will get soggy, but worst of all you won’t enjoy eating it. So take a great picture quickly so can get to the best part: EATING!
8. Process it
Before you take the food to Instagram, you can use a couple of other apps to edit, adjust brightness, contrast or temperature. Fix what natural light couldn’t. I really like VSCO, Lightroom and Snapseed.
It is truly built for photography.
With the ZenFone 3, you can adjust settings easily and make the most of the phone’s built-in HDR function (particularly useful when shooting still objects). The auto mode is okay for some quick captures. But you can up your game with manual focus, exposure and adjusting the shutter speed.The camera is fast, both the autofocus and actual image capture. You can shoot pictures in rapid succession and then pick out the best ones.
It also has optical and electronic image stabilization for blur-free shots and video, colour correction sensor for true colour photography, and true 4K UHD video recording. It also has an image stabilizer to keep your photos from blurring.
[This post was written in collaboration with & sponsored by Asus; I used their ZenFone 3 and if you love taking pictures with your phone, I highly recommend it. The prices start at INR 21,999 and you can become an owner of one here.]
Very insightful, thank you for sharing these tips Ruchika.
Thank you Geetika! Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
As a Bakasura 🙂 i second all your tips! Thanks for summing it up! Lot of wannabe bloggers need to read this and book mark 🙂
Thanks for the support. As a fellow bakasura, I’m happy you enjoyed the post! 😀
Awesome!! now let me go get some awesome food for my tummy and cool pictures for my instagram!!!
Yay! Run away from office and take lots of pics! 🙂 😉
Great tip of blurring the background! So much awesome food. How much is the price of the zenfone?
Thanks! The ZenFone 3 starts at INR 21,999. You can buy them here:http://bit.ly/2ctTwGO
Really enjoyed the article!!! especially no 4 would never have thought of it but great idea. Can i add my own Numbers, food often looks better if there’s lots of the same eg eight muffins instead of one
Hi Grace, try taking a few photos in the dark and play around with the shadows! I agree with you some foods look better in groups! 😀 That’s what I tried to achieve with the cupcakes here. I prefer muffins though..
As a chef I agree with the above mentioned facts and sometimes really imagine if we capture the food at the right moment ,while cooking and plating and garnish it can work wonders. Ruchika , you have opened my eyes in a different paradigms.THANK YOU
It is such an honour to hear this from a chef! So happy you enjoyed the post, Hari! Capturing food at the right time is so important, so that we can start eating!!! 😀
Loved the post.. Apart from the cool specifications the photos are drool worthy.. one more tip – make your friends wait to take pic of their food before they start digging in ?
Thank you so much, Chittra. <3 Glad you enjoy the food photos! Your tip made me laugh out loud, so many times I have asked people to please wait for me to take a snap for my Instagram. I'm really quick though. Eating is top priority! 😉 😀
Beautifully written! Your writing makes the places seem better and your photography makes the food look even more delectable 😉 thanks for sharing your insights
Lovely tips there, keep it up
Hi Idoko, thank you! 🙂
you have an awesome sense of humour, this post made me laugh out loud multiple times. really liked the tips you’ve shared here, great post! x
Haha! Thanks for stopping by Aditi.. Glad my obsession for instagram and food made you laugh multiple times! 😀 <3
So it’s not my problem alone to share the food on my table on the Instagram or snap chat. There is full fledged post explaining the tips for that.
Nice. It was a good read. Learned some new tips.
thanks
Great tips! I like your point about standing on a table and pointing down. A good angle to try!