Food videography has taken center stage. Is it time for you to add videos to your portfolio but you don’t know where to start?
With all gears shifting toward videos these days, it is surprising how little written information is being offered to new videographers. Videos are flooding the market and food bloggers and food photographers are being pushed to get aboard the videography train.
We are all wondering if this trend is going to last but for now, your content just isn’t getting seen without having videos in your arsenal.
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You do have options to the type of method to shoot your food videos:
- Overhead and side angle shots- Basic ingredient shots done from an overhead and/or side angle shots. These only include hand shots.
- Presentation style-Includes yourself in the video and walks people step by step through the recipe.
Necessary Equipment for Food Videography
Presentation style requires the addition of a microphone but all of the other equipment used for both methods is the same.
At the very least, you need a good phone camera. That’s truly it and you are ready to begin.
Keep reading to find out all of the camera equipment we use for food videography.
Topics we will cover:
Software
Adobe Premiere Pro- is the deluxe software with all of the bells and whistles to edit videos but if you aren’t wanting to overload yourself or pay that monthly subscription fee, there are other options available out there.
Adobe Rush- again, it is a monthly cost but if you are a beginner, it is a good place to start. They have minimal tools so you won’t get overwhelmed.
YouTube-If you have or plan on starting a YouTube channel, they provide you with the editing software you will need along with music.
Windows Movie Maker- Easy to learn and comes preinstalled on older Windows versions. Newer Windows versions can be downloaded and has a one-time fee.
iMovie-comes preinstalled on macOS, iOS, and iPadOS.
Davinci- Offers a FREE version (Resolve 17), and a PRO version that is a one-time payment.
Music
You need to carefully consider what type of music you want in your videos. What platform/s are you creating your videos for? If you are just interested in making Reels and you want the trending new music then that is great. But, if you’re going to want to monetize your videos, say on YouTube, that is a whole different ballgame.
You can’t monetize your videos with just any music you want. YouTube does provide you with music from their Audio Library. But if you aren’t using YouTube or are looking for other avenues…
Epidemic Sound-Great sounds with a monthly premium. Save a few dollars a month by paying for a year in full.
Soundstripe- A monthly premium. Save by paying for a full year at once.
Melody Loops- No monthly premium. They charge by the number of downloads you use. The more you buy at a time, the cheaper they are.
Equipment We Use for Food Videography
The first two years of shooting photos, I purchased an older version of Lightroom for a one-time fee. Until I was satisfied with my progress as a photographer, I wouldn’t allow myself to upgrade to the monthly paid version. The point is, you don’t always have to buy the GREATEST thing out there right off the bat. Sometimes, as a creative, you really don’t know what direction you’re going to head in next.
DSLRs
When first starting out, I bought a new Panasonic G7. This mirrorless micro four thirds DSLR camera is what was used for shooting all videos. I love this camera because it is super light weight and has a flip screen, so you can see the camera view from whatever angle you are standing at.
I still use the Panasonic in most all of my videos with a Panasonic Lumix G Vario 7-14MM, F4.0 lens for wide angle shots and a Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm, F1.8 G lens with a N/F-M43 Metabones mount adapter for close up shots.
This Panasonic G7 is best if you want to shoot at a standard 24 FPS (frames per second) because the lowest it goes to is 30 FPS, not allowing you to get super slow-motion shots.
The Canon 5DS R and an Rokinon 85mm f1.2 lens were later added to the collection. It is used for side angle shots and capture beautiful slow-motion clips at 60 FPS. The superior quality of the Canon videos is noticeable but so is working with the hefty weight of the Canon and the lenses they possess.
Next on the wish list, Canon 100mm f2.8 for those super up-close images.
Note:
The 50mm used with the metabones adapter disables the use of many of the lens features including using M/A, meaning the lens has to be manually focused. The 80mm Rokinon does not have a Manual/Automatic focus switch, so both can be extremely frustrating to shoot with at times. Having said that, if you are doing an action or moving while shooting with auto focus with most any camera, the focus will most often fall on you. So, if you are in frame moving or performing an action, you will likely need to switch your lens to manual focus to capture the best shot.
Monitors
It is possible to shoot without a field monitor but life is sure easier using one. Canon cameras don’t have the nifty flip screen, so you can’t see what you are filming if you don’t have a view finder/field monitor attached.
Tripods
I never shoot anything without a tripod. There are enough obstacles to getting the “perfect” photo or video without adding camera shake to the equation. It is also a one woman show around here with no one around to help out with poses or pours.
My first tripod was second hand and I purchased an extension arm for it. We made due for a while but after knocking over my cheapy tripod with my new camera and lens on it within the first year, it didn’t take me long to realize how important a good tripod is.
Buying the Manfrotto 190XPRO4 with an Innorel Ball Head was admittedly painful at the time but I couldn’t be happier with the products and the IMMENSE difference they made in the studio.
If you are newer to the photography world and got your tripod in a kit or second hand like me and haven’t ventured into looking at the enormous range of tripods out there, it is mind-blowing and overwhelming at first.
The mind-blowing part is how much they can cost, yep, as much as our cameras!
Key factors to a good tripod:
- Stability
- 68” Height (at least)
- 90° lateral arm
- Using a 3-Way Head or Ball Head to position the camera in any direction is essential!
We also use a C-stand to be able to shoot with both of the cameras at the same time. If you have the room, C-stands are essential for holding lighting, softboxes, and reflectors.
Lighting
Natural light is the best light to shoot with, preferably on overcast days. Make sure to use light diffusers on bright and sunny days. We use a variety of sizes around here, some that block the entire widow or when shooting outdoors, and some for small areas.
With the long Winter days, my frustrations finally got the best of me and I purchased the Falcon Eyes So-28TD Kit LED Dimmable. I haven’t quite mastered shooting with artificial light but it has pretty great reviews by professional photographers.
Stabilizers
To add motion to some of the videos, we use the Neewer 39.4″ motorized camera slider. I love the feel the horizontal movement gives to the videos but setting up the equipment can be a pain in the rear-end.
Gimbals are great handheld image stabilizers to add motion to videos. We don’t have one around here…yet but they would be ideal for shooting outdoors. They are available for phones, dslr cameras, and a combination of both.
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More Tips for Food Videography
Write a list of all of the shots that you plan on taking in advance. Is there a prop you want to highlight, a color, a food item, a particular action? It helps to envision the scene or action beforehand.
When I first started, I shot the straight overhead shots like “Tasty” and shot big long clips with no list and that worked for me. The process is simple and editing is much less DAUNTING.
If you are doing more creative or production style videos, it’s important to write what action shots you want to capture or what you are going to say because these types of videos take WAY more time and it is easy to forget clips you intend to take.
Prepare Ahead for Food Videography
Make sure you have your batteries charged before you plan to do a shoot. It sounds like a no-brainer but believe me, if you don’t keep track, these things will sneak up on you. I have got to the hero clip of pouring all of the caramel sauce on to my subject and the battery died at that exact moment. I can tell you that I DID NOT remake a batch of caramel sauce, thankfully my overhead camera was going and I had a way less impactful shot to place in the video.
Make sure you have enough space on your memory cards, we use SD256. Nothing is worse than being in the middle of filming your video and running out of space of your card. This creates so many issues; stopping in the middle of your filming to erase older content so you can finish, adding a new card which can create issues in editing software, and losing the content you were just shooting. Be aware!
Take a breather if you get flustered or overwhelmed. Guess what, no one will know you did! Sometimes I take five minutes to an hour and other times I don’t come back until the next day.
Transferring Videos from Phone to Computer or vice versa
Dropbox is one way of transferring your video files to and from your phone to your computer. The quality of the videos can be diminished through this method.
AirDrop is the quickest and easiest way to transfer your video files between your phone and computer.
Bluetooth can transfer files between your devices as well.
And that’s a wrap!
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