Food Photography with an iPhone in Africa

Food Photography with an iPhone? I have been in love with my iPhone ever since I bought it, and on my recent trip to Africa (Rwanda and Ethiopia), I didn't carry my DSLR, so was forced to use my iPhone 6 for all the pictures. This was good as well as bad - bad because I couldn't do as much portrait photography as I usually do, and good because it forced me to try out other genre of photography which I had been avoiding so far.

iphone 6 food photography food coffee africa travel
My favourite Cafe in Musanze - the first day with Mr D

Often I associated Food Photography with women and so never tried out my hand at it. I agree its quite a sexist thing to say, but unfortunately that's how I looked at this art till sometime back :)

Anyway, that's not how I think, though I feel that women are inherently better at it than men. I have met far too many of these amazing women to have any doubts, whatsoever :)

I also have a travel channel now, and you are welcome to S U B S C R I B E to it.

I think this trip was also a lot about food, especially coffee. So following are a set of food images (not in any particular order) which not just depict the food I ate, but hopefully also my mood as I relished all of it :)

iphone 6 food photography food coffee africa travel
Traditional Ethiopian Coffee in Addis Ababa 
iphone 6 food photography food coffee africa travel
I found this cafe in Kigali after quite a bit of walking alone in the city, also my first food shot :)
iphone 6 food photography food coffee africa travel
Another one from a cafe in Musanze...I loved the food, but missed having someone with me to share my moments with...
iphone 6 food photography food coffee africa travel
My first breakfast in Musanze - lots of bananas, eggs and African tea
iphone 6 food photography food coffee africa travel
Delicious!
iphone 6 food photography food coffee africa travel
My favourite coffee pot! I should have stolen it!
iphone 6 food photography food coffee africa travel
Waiting for coffee and omelette to arrive while I waited to catch my jeep to go for the Gorilla hike...
iphone 6 food photography food africa travel
And finally a typical rural Rwandan meal - Sorghum and Rocco Cabbage sauce

Tips on Mobile Food Photography:

I am no expert at it, so sharing some of my own learnings from a little bit of experimentation...
  1. Always use natural light - keep food close to the window, or even out in the sun
  2. DO NOT use flash - it spoils everything!
  3. A good background is important - a neutral colour works best like wood, grey or even stone
  4. Try different angles (though I didn't do that), though top works great with a mobile phone 
  5. Editing is important as well - use apps like Snapseed & VSCOcam
  6. Always collect stories with food - they make the shot even more interesting :)

Comments

  1. nice photots
    http://mahaatma.guru/index.php
    http://ujual.blogspot.in/

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  2. Replies
    1. Thanks so much Joshi! Means a lot coming from you :)

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  3. You definitely seem like an expert! These photos are gorgeous and the tips are great too!

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    1. Thanks so much Zully! I am just a learner though...always getting inspired by the great work others are doing :)

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  4. Loved the photos and the write up. A photographer does not need a DSLR everytime!

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  5. All of these shots are absolutely wonderful! If you have time, check out my blog - www.wanderlustric.com and let me know what you think, it would mean a lot coming from you! :)
    Mahika

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  6. Good pics, considering it was a phone camera! Increasingly, I am getting tired of lugging around my DSLR - looking for a good compact camera but I think I will never have the guts to depend only on my phone...

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Charukesi! I do carry a heavy DSLR even now, but I use mobile phones quite a lot actually still...

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  7. These photos are so good, that I am now very hungry!

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