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How to Make Cooking Videos With Your Phone

Learn how to make cooking videos with your phone from Yum Creative's expert food videographers. These are the best food videography tips for beginners

If you're just starting out as a food blogger you probably know that without videos to show your recipes and skills you just can't make it in this super competitive niche.

And you probably don't want to invest thousands or even tens of thousands in equipment that comes with a huge learning curve, and in a business you just don't know it will work. After all, you're not a professional food videography agency, are you?

So what are you going to do? Give up to the competition and not show your delicious recipes to the world? or would you rather get creative, start small and work your way to the top gradually, with whatever equipment you have on hand?

If it's the first, there's no need to continue reading. This post is not for quitters!
But if it's the second, read on to see how to start small with simple inexpensive equipment. Yes, I'll explain you how to make cooking videos with your phone and some basic equipment that you can find on Amazon.

And no, this is not the same equipment that professional food videographers use and doesn't come with a complex and time-consuming learning curve. But it is the kind of gear they used when they were like you, just starting out in the business.

With the right, inexpensive phone filming equipment and knowledge of how to make cooking videos with your phone, you will master the art in no time.

So let's see our best food videography tips for beginners.

Equipment Needed to Make Cooking Videos with a Smartphone

To create a compelling cooking video, you will need to gather the necessary materials to help you film. As the director of your smartphone film, you will take on the roles of visual artist, camera operator, editor, and cast. With only two hands, these many responsibilities can be overwhelming.

Using the right smartphone film gear will help you glide through the production process with ease. You'll be able to create impactful media on your own. Here is what you will need and where you can find them at a fair price:

Use a Tripod for Your Cooking Videos

How to make cooking videos with your phone

A tripod will make your cooking video look professional and legitimate. It will stabilize your shots so your video will be smooth without that amateur shakiness. This will position you as a cooking video expert who knows what they're doing. Your viewers will then trust you as the foodie gift that keeps on giving.

You have some options for what tripod will be best for the angles or shots you want. Do you want long-legged tripods to stand in front of a counter for that classic cooking special shot? Or, do you want tripods that can sit on surfaces for the side-angle shots and close-ups on your recipe prep?

These are some of the best tripods to use for your smartphone film productions:

Manfrotto PIXI Mini Tripod Kit: This is a well-built, foldable mini tripod that you can use on your countertop or other surfaces for shooting. It includes a clamp for holding your smartphone, which you can adjust for different angles.

Joby GorillaPod Mobile Rig: This is a portable and very flexible tripod that you can use for many angles and that can also hold different equipment such as lights or external microphone.

Manfrotto Compact Light Smart: For some shots, you will need a normal tripod. This is an affordable option with compactable legs for a variety of high and low angles.

Gimbals for Filming Cooking Videos With Your Phone

With a gimbal, you can move your smartphone camera without any shakiness while filming. You need smooth motion in your shots to look professional. A gimbal can help, especially for moving close-ups of the dish and featured ingredients. And it's a must if you're planning on doing Live shoots for social media.

Here are some low-cost, easy-to-use gimbals for your food video production:

DJI Osmo Mobile 3: This gimbal will move your smartphone angle for the shots you want. It can fit various phone sizes for any iPhone or Galaxy, or any cameraphone you are using.

DJI Osmo Mobile 3: This gimbal will move your smartphone angle for the shots you want. It can fit various phone sizes for any iPhone or Galaxy, or any cameraphone you are using.

Brighten Your Cooking Video With Lights

Video lighting makes everything look professional. While natural lighting is great for food photography, controlled lighting is the only way if you want to shoot recipe videos. And there are plenty of inexpensive lights out there that will boost the look of your production.

Consider one of these artificial lighting fixtures for your amateur cooking videos:

Rotolight NEO On-Camera LED Light: This is a pricier option, but its quality is exceptional. It's powerful and perfect for food photography and food videography. Its flash is consistent so that you won't have any flicker effects in your video.

LUMIMUSE 8 LED Light: Go bright with this high-quality light gear. It attaches to your phone easily. Using this light, you can show off your vegetables' colors and other ingredients in your recipe. The brightness and colors will catch your viewers' attention and make your video more interesting.

What Lenses to Use

Lens attachments will make your shots clearer as if you had used a professional camera. These will boost the quality of your cooking video. An attachable lens can improve sharpness and offer noise reduction.

Try these lenses for your professional-looking smartphone masterpiece:

Moment Lens: This is compatible with several smartphones and it has several features to make your film dynamic.
Ztylus M6 Revolver: This attachment only works for iPhones. It's inexpensive and magnetically attaches to your phone for simple use. Some of its features include telephoto, wide-angle, macro, super macro, and fisheye.

Microphones to Boost Audio Quality

You will want high-quality audio in your amateur recipe video so your audience can hear your instructions clearly. Your audio is how you can express your personality with your voice and tone. External microphones can catch all sounds from various directions. These will help pick up sounds from every chop, sizzle, pour, and clink.

Here are some smartphone mic options for your audio:

Rode VideoMic Me This mounts onto your smartphone and receives and amplifies sounds so everything is audible. Note that your phone will need to have a microphone or headphone jack, or an adapter.
iMM-6: This is a sleek, easy-to-use model that offers precise audio to help distinguish every sound in your film.

How to Make Cooking Videos With the Help of Smartphone Apps

Smartphone apps will help with the planning and finishing touches of your food video production. These will be effective resources when you develop the structure and flow of your recipe video.

Video-editing smartphone apps are available for free or at a low price. They will be the production assistant that you can reference for establishing the quality of your video.

You can use smartphone app platforms for these purposes:

Scene editing, including cutting and combining shots.
Editing brightness, contrast, saturation, and other components for clearer and more impactful visibility.
Storyboard development for planning your video shot-by-shot. You can match your recipe instructions with what you want viewers to see along every step.
Script-writing to ensure you offer clear, eloquent directions that match your scenes.

Your Cooking Video Storyboard Plan

Making your cooking video with a storyboard for reference will guide your process along. As mentioned, you could use a smartphone app to develop a physical storyboard that will plan out your scenes.

Be thoughtful of what you will say. You can choose to speak while filming or with voice-over audio. Just make sure that your audio lines up with your instructions and shots.

Plan Camera Shots to Get Your Viewers’ Taste Buds Buzzing

You will want to include variety in your video shots. This will make it more interesting to watch. Choose between close-ups, wide-angle shots, wide pan shots, overhead shots like Tasty's cooking videos, and more.

Make sure to include the “money shot” that will have your viewers’ taste buds stimulated without tasting the food. This involves catching a satisfying moment that will cause a reaction in your foodie audience. Highlight an event like pouring a sauce, items sizzling and sauteing in a frying pan, or a clean slice into a cake. The options are endless. Remember, this could be the pinnacle moment that will prove to your blog visitors that you're an expert in your niche.

Remember that looks matter when it comes to making your home cooking video. Embrace your inner food stylist and plate your dish to look delicious. Zoom on the beautifully-plated dish so your viewers will be dying to try it.

With your high-quality filming methods, you’ll be able to show your viewers how to cook. They will look up to you as an expert who has mastered the craft with valuable insights. Zoom in on your chopping and other cooking actions, or have a full-body shot of pulling a decadent dish out of the oven.

Rely on Third-Party Food Videography Services as You Grow

As your brand grows, you may want to consider working with pros for your expert-level cooking videos. As you advance in your food blogging journey and turn it into a business, you can save yourself plenty of hassle and effort by counting on our expert food videographers at YUM Creative. While you may know how to make cooking videos on your own, we will help you take the next step in sharing your culinary expertise.

With our advanced equipment and professional creators, we will feature your delicious dishes and kitchen techniques to help you continue growing your audience and your business. To learn more about our past projects, you can view our portfolio of high-quality food videography and photography content. Or, to get started on your next step in enhancing your platform, contact us today.

Food Videography - 01/28/2021

Upgrading Your Food Blog From a Hobby to a Business Using Food Videography

In a world where restaurants are closing and family dinners are limited, food content has never been more popular. Despite the influence of COVID-19, food blogs have been trending upward for over a decade now. As a result, amateurs, hobbyists, and professionals have all learned how to showcase their passion for food to an international community. While many use food photography to their benefit, even more have not learned food videography.

While fun, food blogs can be very competitive, especially on social media platforms. If you are looking to turn your hobby into a business, then your first step may be to upgrade your food videography.

Not familiar with filming or editing food content? Then consider adopting third-party food videography services. If you don't believe us, here are some ways food videography can elevate your online food business.

Food Videography Can Build a Strong Social Media Presence

Social media is the new TV. With millions and millions of active participants, social media has become extremely valuable. Social media channels are now must-haves for advertisers and small businesses.

Since the pandemic, the visibility of influencers and small business accounts has only grown. Internet users are now spending 43% more time on social media than before. As a result, many food bloggers have been moving their online presence to social media.

Rather than just using food videography for their websites, food bloggers are developing more social media-friendly content. These are often how-to videos that are friendly to both their website as well as their social media accounts. This means creating food video content that is short, visually engaging, and informative. After all, there is no better place to share new recipes or ideas than through community-based platforms.

Recently, short food videos have seen a massive increase in popularity on social media. Channels like Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook are home for thousands of food bloggers. You can now add TikTok to that list as well.

The duration of these social media videos is only 30 to 120 seconds, which fits in line with the reduced attention span of social media users. On Facebook alone, desktop and mobile users spend an average of 2.5 and 1.7 seconds, respectively, per post.

Facebook Vice President Nicola Mendelsohn has stated that in the next year or so, Facebook could be an entirely video-populated platform. This means food videography is going to be that much more important. Increasing consumer engagement through video will become the new normal. Customer acquisition like this is imperative for blogs that want to become a business.

In 2011, the University of Sheffield conducted a series of interviews amongst food bloggers, which indicated that none of them had invested any time into formal photography training. Most hadn't even shown interest in receiving any form of training. Though, this isn't an unreasonable decision. Food videography is very difficult, and becoming a food videographer is harder.

Creating video content that is engaging and competitive requires a lot of experience and a lot of equipment. These videos need lights, editing, high-end cameras, and an appropriate kitchen. Trying to juggle all of this may be a bad business decision.

Fortunately, food bloggers can use third-party services. These companies offer food photography and videography services for every type of foodie. And yes, they will even cook your recipes so you won't have to do a thing.

Leveraging experienced food videographers can save you both time and money. This will allow you to focus more on the recipes and the business as opposed to the video and production.

Food videography can require a significant amount of filming and editing. Production tasks can eat up time that could be spent elsewhere, such as blog content, recipe creation, advertising and customer acquisition. If you are looking to upgrade your food blog into a business, you need to treat it like one.

A successful entrepreneur has to learn that they cannot do everything alone. Don’t get suckered into thinking you can learn food videography and editing when you are in the middle of launching your own brand. And if you already have a full-time job, you can forget about it.

Utilizing third-party services is ideal in any case. You can gain access to high-end video equipment, industry professionals, and even new recipes. By hiring professional food videographers, you will improve your website’s video quality and your online customer experience.

Improved Consumer Interaction

In a 2012 survey conducted by Foodista and Zephyr Adventures, more than 50% of food bloggers admitted to having no relevant experience. Less than 25% had professional marketing experience, and only 20% even had a professional culinary background.

This survey illustrates two important points when it comes to food blogs. The first point is you don’t need a professional background to be successful in this business. Many food bloggers are mothers with other primary jobs. But they are still able to engage a specific demographic due to their style, effort, and recipes.

The second point is that you do not have to have ‘relevant’ professional experience. By seeking the assistance of other professionals, you can circumvent any experiential gaps. This especially applies if your desire is to convert the food blog into a business. The key to any successful business is repeat customers, after all.

Using effective food videography is the best way to engage new customers. It is even better for retaining them and satisfying them simultaneously.

Food Videography Agency - Best Food Videographers - 1

Video creation has also become one of the most sought after industry skills. Many food blogging conferences will even offer panels dedicated to video creation.

Why? Because food videos are red hot right now.

As Leslie Brenner, a writer of The Dallas Morning News, points out, video has become a huge selling point for consumers in the online space.

Punchy 30-second social media videos are now the way to advertise your site and your food. It is content over information. People want to see the process and share it with their friends, rather than just read the recipes. Videos like these are the ideal way to sell your business.

YouTube has also become a dominant space for food bloggers to grow their consumer base. These videos, however, are longer and are more detail-oriented when it comes to replicating a specific recipe.

Food videography can also be the most valuable tool for communicating your food blog’s number one service, recipes. With user attention rates dropping, videos are the only way to teach recipes to consumers.

Reading a long series of lists and instructions can be tiresome and confusing. If a user of your website is unable to create a recipe effectively based on poor instructions, they will likely never return.

To ensure a recipe results in a positive experience, you need to have superior directions. The best path for that is through food videography.

Acquire Sponsorships, Develop the Business

With food blogs, appearances are as important as taste. If a recipe photo or video looks bad, it is highly likely that it won’t get made. Food videos can be an essential part of growing your business through sponsorships.

Many of the top food bloggers receive a significant amount of their revenues from sponsorships. These deals can range from specific food items to cooking utensils to even aprons.

Acquiring sponsorships is vital to kickstarting your business. And the best way to advertise your website to potential partners is by demonstrating what you offer: through video.

Aesthetics make the difference with other companies and getting sponsorships. If your food videography is elite, potential partners may want to sponsor you for their product to be attractively showcased.

Tagging other sponsors can also be an effective way to quickly boost your community. Sponsorships and partnerships, for this reason, are perfect ways to legitimize your website and create a competitive advantage.

If earnings, however, are your main priority, investing your time in videography might be a great way to earn more money. YouTube is a video space where food content thrives. Despite the competition, high-quality food videography can still succeed. After all, not everyone has access to professional cameras and editing software. High-quality food videography could be what puts your content above the rest.

While YouTube is a great place to present video content and gain exposure, it is also an excellent platform to earn a little extra income. If your website and video content are successful, the majority of your revenue may eventually come through YouTube. Investing in professional food videography means investing in your website and your business.

Benefits of Using Third-Party Food Videography Services

As detailed before, there are a lot of steps to building out a successful online food business. By utilizing professional food videographers, you can increase your social media visibility, enhance your online presence, acquire sponsorships, and better gain and retain customers.

Why spend the time and effort you need to run your website on learning food videography when you don't have to?

If you are in need of professional food videography, the first place you should visit is YUM Creative. From recipe creation to cooking and video production, YUM Creative is the easiest way to elevate your recipe website from a hobby to a business. Why spend tens of thousands of dollars, and hundreds of hours, acquiring skills and equipment you don’t need?

YUM Creative has over $10,000 invested in lighting alone. This gives every video that professional, cinematic feel. Every YUM Creative video goes through a food videographer, editor, professional chef, and food stylist. Stop working yourself to death and get the best content available.

Food videography is what your recipe website hinges on. It improves the customer experience, grows your community, and will lead to financial opportunities. And if you are going to incorporate food videography, do it right, and choose YUM Creative. Showcasing your content effectively could be the difference between success and failure.

And now what better way to end this post than with a sample of our work. If you'd like to see more, check out our portfolio or just Contact Us.

Food Videography - 11/18/2020

Food Videography Agency - Best Food Videographers - 8

The Benefits of Hiring A Food Videography Agency

It’s no secret that we all love taking videos with our cell phones. They give us a way to capture a moment in time, whether it be a breathtaking view or a great meal. However, no matter how much we love our mini videos, we would never dream of documenting an entire wedding or awards show on one. When it comes to food videography, the same standards apply.

After all the hard work you’ve put into creating your recipes and cooking a meal to perfection, it deserves to be seen in the highest quality possible. To sell your skills, you need the expertise of a professional food videographer who knows the ropes.

Professional food videographers manipulating a camera

Why Does Food Videography Matter?

Food videography is now one of the most effective ways to showcase your food and talents. It provides you with a way to showcase your business through various social media platforms.

Food videos allow culinary businesses to reach customers where they’re spending the majority of their time — online. A recent study showed that 76% of adults surveyed said that they would purchase an item after viewing a marketing video.

How Food and Drink Brands Benefit From Food Videography

Increase Exposure

The key to keeping any online or physical business afloat is to have a steady flow of customers. While highs and lows are to be expected, business owners want to constantly attract new customers.

Videos on social media have a much higher reach than photos or plain text. Studies have shown that 66% of millennials will engage with a brand after seeing its video on social media. Simply put, videos help you reach more people. More viewers equal more possible customers.

The Professionals Know Exactly What To Do

Although you may have a homemade video that you’re quite proud of, directing a professional food video is an entirely different task. A professional food videographer knows just the right lighting, spacing, and angles to use.

Depending on the height, size, and shape of your food, your shooting methods will need to change. For example, a taller item like a burger shines when shot from the front. On the other hand, a pizza is seen more favorably when shot from the top, as this highlights all of the toppings.

Even if you get that down, you need to think about the editing process. A simple fade-in effect won’t cut it here. Professional food videographers will use various special effects, graphics, and calls to action to give your video the wow factor.

Additionally, the pros work with high-end equipment that results in sharper footage. They’ve studied lighting in detail and understand how to tweak it to get that cinematic footage.

Videographers and chefs work along with food stylists to make sure the food is picture-perfect every time. Your iPhone or other entry-level equipment simply can’t reach the same level of quality.

Instead of worrying about all these intricate details during a video shoot, relax! Choose a food video production agency and let the pros do what they do best.

Your Content Will Resonate With Viewers

Think about all the videos you’ve seen in the last week. How many of them do you remember? While you may not recall the video word for word, you’ll likely remember the gist of them and any calls to action that were thrown your way. If so, you’re one of the millions of people affected by video marketing.

A study done by Hubspot revealed that 80% of viewers recalled a video ad they viewed in the last thirty days. Imagine if they saw a few of your food videos within that time. Chances are they would remember who you were, what you made, and they may come back to find the recipe.

Give Your Brand A Fresh Look

No matter how old your brand is, food videography can help give it a facelift. If you’ve been in the food blogging industry for years and you notice your engagement starts to dwindle, a food video may be just what you need. While the occasional reader may have been enough to keep you afloat in the past, the foodies of today are looking for something a bit more.

High-quality food videos have the potential to impress your audience before they even follow you.

Why not film a video to show a detailed recipe that people have been asking about?

A simple recipe video that feels intimate and special will have followers feeling like they got the inside scoop.

Personalizing this experience will have followers and readers looking at your brand with fresh eyes.

Videos Can Cover All Your Marketing Bases

Food video production for video marketing

If you want to make one initial investment in marketing, a food video won’t let you down. The videos you receive will be useful in a plethora of ways. They can be shown on social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube.

You can immediately add them to your website to increase your SEO rankings. Or use them in ads to get more traffic to your website. The possibilities are endless.

Improve Your Online Rankings

If you struggle with your online presence and rankings, professional food videography can help propel you to that coveted top spot. To break it down, search engine optimization (SEO) works to improve your online ranking on search engines.

For example, if someone is looking for “vegan Thai curry” on Google, your recipe website can show on the first page of search results. If you have professional food videos breaking down your process, it propels you higher in the rankings as you have an advantage against your competition. And the better the video, the better the advantage.

Online users are more likely to click on an article that features a video. More website clicks mean more traffic, and search engines will take notice of this and reward you accordingly.

Unfortunately, posting a video may not be enough. You need to find out which keywords have the most power. This is where an agency comes in. A professional food videography agency will handle tagging your videos with the appropriate keywords to make it easy for you to be discovered in search engines.

Show Your Recipes In A New Light With Food Videography

Professional food videography makes food look appetizing and appealing to your audience. If you’re a content creator in the food industry, your goal is to drive people towards your channel to see beautiful, well-plated food.

The last thing you want is to lose potential followers because they can’t see what you have to offer. While your still images may keep them around for a while, people love to see the how-tos and what goes into a recipe behind the scenes. Give them what they want, and they will be sure to stick around for the long haul.

Get A Fresh Outlook

Even the most creative of artists can get stuck in a rut. While you love your business, you can spend so much time caught up in daily tasks that you lose your creativity.

If you’ve found yourself in a creative slump, a food videography agency has the power to provide you with a fresh outlook. They can help you take a step back and see areas that could be harnessed to improve your presence on social media. It may be just what you need to help you take your business to the next level.

Helps Build A Recognizable and Unique Brand

As a recipe website, videos are your chance to determine how the world sees your brand. Professional food videography can help you stand out and create a clear and easily identifiable brand. Without them, all your hard work could get thrown under an umbrella of indiscernible culinary websites.

Highlight Key Recipes

Many restaurants take advantage of “loss leader” marketing to bring in new customers. Although these menu items don’t end up being loss leaders, you can price them in a way that entices customers to order them.

Whether these items are monthly specials or food that can be had year-long, you want to draw the eyes of the customer to these items.

For your website and social media platforms, a professional food video can draw attention to key menu items, pushing your customers to see more profitable items. As a result, they will order accordingly. This is especially handy during certain times of the year when restaurants run seasonal specials.

Trust Yum Creative To Handle Your Food Videography Needs

Video marketing is becoming increasingly important as the years go by. Low-quality food videography can send the wrong message about your brand and could cost you time and money. Hiring a professional food videographer shows your audience that you care about them and your food.

For almost a decade, YumCreative has created viral, mouth-watering, and commercially successful food videography. We first discuss the goals of your business to help create a video that centers around your brand. Then, through careful planning and artful filming, we will deliver a video that is ready to captivate any audience.

Hiring a food videography agency can be just the extra push you need to make you stand out from the competition. Reach out to us at Yum Creative by giving us a call or fill out our online contact form. We look forward to helping you show your unique story and brand through video.

And now here's an example of our work. If you'd like to see more check out our Food Videography Portfolio

Food Videography - 11/14/2020

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