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I never want you to have to say this ever again.

I am going to show you how a few simple changes you can make right now will transform your food pics into drool-worthy every single time.

No fancy camera. Just your iPhone 📱

And what you are seeing is what I am doing with an iPhone 13.

Not the 15.

So it could be even better if you have the latest and greatest iPhone.

Let’s get into it...

Step 1: Make something worth taking a picture of

Lol I know this seems obvious but it’s true.

How you present your food matters to how aesthetic the picture is.

Think of sections OR layers.

For example, with the Popcorn Chicken & Fries meal.

Notice how the fries are organized on one side and the popcorn chicken on the other.

With a specific placement of the sauce.

It's all purrrrty for its photoshoot.

Step 2: Camera settings on your phone

I am just going to put up two screenshots of my current camera settings.

Just copy these:

And like I mentioned earlier, if you have the iPhone 15 (I have the 13), you will have a bit more powerful of a camera and your settings might look a little different.

Step 3: Find a window

Lighting is literally everything.

You could have the best camera in the world.

But if your lighting is shit, it doesn't matter how great your camera is.

You'll notice a theme with many of my iPhone pictures.

It's in the same spot with the window to my right or over my shoulder.

Ideally earlier in the day without direct sunlight shining through the window.

That makes it a bit too harsh.

BUT it's not a make or break.

Here's a direct sunlight picture I took the other day with this Spring Roll Salad.

Actually turned out great. But just have to be careful because it doesn't always work out this way.

Step 4: Play with angles

Think of the angle that will show the story of the food best!

Just like you know when taking pics of yourself, a bad angle can make you look much different lol.

Take a few over the top.

From the side.

Lower angle, like these loaded fries for example so I can show off the steam!

Step 5: Editing

This is where the magic happens.

In order to preserve as much data as possible, the iPhone will take a picture of an image and dull it a bit.

Hence why people take a pic and say, “I swear it looked better when I was looking at it in person!”

But this is to our advantage (aka editing).

Download the app Lightroom. It’s free.

So here are the only things you need to do with editing your picture.

1.) Press "Auto." This just automatically edits your picture for you. It’ll get you close enough.

2.) Go to “Effects” and up your “Structure” to add more detail. Be careful not to add too much and make it too harsh. Sometimes you can add a lot and sometimes you shouldn’t.

3.) Go to “Color” and up your “Vibrance” to add more color aka make it pop more.

And that’s really it!

I am not sure if the selective tool is for the paid version but if it’s free, that’s an amazing one too.

I’ll add that as a bonus step here.

4.) Go to the little circle tool (aka 4th one on the bottom) and then press the "+" button.

This will allow you to brush certain parts of the image that you only want to edit instead of the whole picture.

It's super helpful!

I could go into a TON more detail but this five-step blueprint will take your iPhone pics from “eh” to B-E-A-Utiful!

Let me know if you have any follow-up questions!

Send me any pics you take with these tips pretty please!

Also, what they looked like prior to using these tips 😅

Give me some nice before and afters 😁

Your friend and iPhone food photographer,
​Zach

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“Hey bro can you snap a few pics while I get this cheese pull?”

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