How to apply ISO for Food Photography
Setting your ISO iso for food photography, to the lowest possible number will help you get crisp, richly colored pictures. Higher ISO settings will make the photo look lighter, but it can also give the photos a more grainy quality, called noise.
In her eBook Tasty Food Photography Lindsay Ostrom of the food blog Pinch of Yum, recommends starting with your ISO at the lowest possible setting (probably 100-200) because it will give you the most preserved, natural looking colors. She says that you may need to change the settings once you get going, but that she always starts with the lowest setting on her camera and then adjusts it from there.
I´ve also found that it´s best to take various shots with different ISO settings because if like me, you´re taking your photos in Jpeg format, you already know that the image looses quality when you transfer the photos from your camera to your PC. Many times the ISO looks perfect on my small camera screen, but after uploading it, I find it too light and grainy.
I usually shoot my photos in ISO 200 but when I don´t have much natural light (click here to see my post on why I believe natural light is best in food photography) I try to go up as high as ISO 800 with my DSLR Camera. Obviously taking care not to loose the quality of my photo.
If you were shooting outside on a sunny day then you would shoot with your camera on a low ISO setting for example 100. The outscome will be a brightly colored, crisp photo. The opposite is true if you are working indoors in lower light. You would have to adjust your ISO to allow more light to the sensor.
Remember that every camera is different and the best is to practice with your camera to see where you get the best results with regards to ISO.
Halle from Whole Lifestyle Nutrition says that ISO depends on Aperture and Shutter Speed and that these 3 elements work together hand in hand. Her example is if you are creating a more shallow depth of field then you are allowing more light to come into your picture. You will then have to either adjust the shutter speed or ISO to compensate for the change in light.
In my next posts, I´ll be sharing what the technical terms Aperture and Shutter Speed means and how you could apply them to your food photography.
Until then, cheers guys!
Johlene
xoxo
Very helpful tips, even without doing much food photography, your hints are helpful no matter what you are trying to shoot close up. I’m so happy I finally learned about my camera settings and actually know what you’re talking about when you say ISO. 🙂 Thanks for sharing with us at Dream. Create. Inspire. Link.
You´re so welcome Jenny! Once the settings start to make sense, is when you really can start to explore with your food photography 🙂
Well, I guess you’re talking about a real camera. All I have is my phone. sigh
Oh well, gotta work with what I have for now!
Here from Sunday Features.
Hi Melinda, I hope you get a DSLR camera soon!!