Did you know that a lot of common iPhone food photography challenges are caused from holding your iPhone? This can be pretty surprising considering we hold our iPhone for everything, including taking pictures. When it comes to food photography, however, being able to stabilize your iPhone camera is pretty game-changing for the quality of your food images. This post shares the best iPhone tripod for food photography.

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Holding Your Camera vs. Using A Tripod

It’s very convenient to hold your iPhone camera and take a quick picture. But, in food photography, this isn’t always a good practice because it can cause a lot of issues including:

• Camera shake and blurry images
• Moving the camera to frame the food, instead of framing the food to the camera
• Your hands aren’t free to make adjustments to your image composition, lighting or camera settings
• It’s difficult to find the “right” angle and hold your camera level, causing awkward angle choices

Using a tripod for your iPhone photography has several benefits for the quality of your food images including:

• Helps to keep your images in focus
• Allows you to adjust the food within the camera frame
• Secures your camera to the correct angle
• Helps to keep your camera level
• Frees your hands for camera setting adjustments
• More flexibility to capture a good image in low light

READ MORE ABOUT: IPHONE PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS

Selfie-Sticks & GorillaPods

There are a lot of selfie sticks and Joby GorillaPods to help you stabilize your iPhone. I’ve tested quite a few and have not been impressed with any of them. Let’s talk about the pros and cons of the iPhone-specific tripods on the market.

PROS

• Small, easy to carry with you
• Easy to use
• Affordable
• Relatively flexible

CONS

• Not very secure
• Cheap feeling in functionality
• Height limitations
• Unable to shoot the popular “overhead” or flat lay angle

The Best iPhone Tripod for Food Photography

After testing a few different ways to stabilize my iPhone camera, I found what I consider to be the best tripod when using your smartphone camera for food photography.

The equipment includes:

1. TRIPOD WITH CENTER COLUMN
2. BALL HEAD
3. METAL iPHONE TRIPOD MOUNT
4. REMOTE SHUTTER (OPTIONAL)

PROS

• Solid, secure setup
• More height flexibility for shooting above a table
• Ability to shoot at any angle, including overheads and flat lay shots
• Frees your hands to adjust your food composition
• Helps ensure sharper, focused images
• Easy to set up
• Easy to take down
• Easy to carry with you

CONS

• A little more expensive
• A little more equipment

Equipment for the iPhone Tripod

Let’s walk through exactly what you’ll need when it comes to the equipment for this iPhone tripod for food photography.

1. Tripod with A Center Column

First, you’re going to need a good tripod with a center column.

A tripod will make it very easy to position your smartphone at any angle, including the three popular food photography angles (straight on, 45 degree and overhead). The center column, however, is essential for securing your smartphone for the overhead angle, which is probably the most popular food photography angle out of the three. The iPhone-specific tripods (like gorillapods and selfie sticks) aren’t designed to accommodate overhead shots.

There are a lot of different tripods with center columns to explore ranging in price, but the one I use specifically is the Manfrotto 055 with Center Column and Ball Head.

2. Ball Head

A ball head sits on top of the tripod. The ball head allows you to adjust the angle of your camera or iPhone with ease by simply rotating the ball into the correct position. It easily rotates to accommodate any angle you want and helps to ensure that your iPhone camera is level.

The tripod I linked above already comes with a ball head, so you won’t need to purchase one separately. A lot of tripods with center columns, however, don’t include a ball head, so just be sure to get one that will securely attach to your tripod.

3. Metal Phone Tripod Mount

A metal phone tripod mount is necessary to attach your iPhone camera to the ball head. You screw the mount into the tripod plate (a tripod plate comes with your tripod) and then simply attach the tripod plate to your ball head. Then, you can secure your iPhone camera between the brackets of the mount and you’ll be all set!

The mount is made of metal (not plastic), so it’s incredibly secure to hold your smartphone camera at any angle. It also adjusts from vertical to horizontal shots easily and accommodates different smartphone widths. And, because the brackets attach to the sides of your smartphone, it won’t interfere with your lenses or your screen view.

5. Remote Shutter (Optional)

A remote shutter is optional, but it can come in handy with this iPhone tripod setup. A remote shutter helps you take a picture without actually touching your smartphone. It’s very small and is very easy to carry with you when you need it.

This little device can be helpful if your smartphone is set up on the tripod and you’re not right next to it to take the picture. It also helps if you want to be in the picture. And, if you’re using slower shutter speeds, it can help avoid camera shake from touching your smartphone to take a picture. You’d be surprised how the iPhone can pick up camera shake just by tapping it to take a picture, especially in low light situations.

READ MORE ABOUT: LIGHTROOM MOBILE FOR SMARTPHONE FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY

Your camera, no matter what kind of camera you use, is a valuable piece of equipment. It’s important to invest in gear that will keep it safe and secure, not to mention, make your photo shoots more successful and efficient. This tripod setup is the best for iPhone food photography. It’s secure, it’s reliable and it helps solve a variety of issues that cause low quality food images.

I hope you found this recommendation for an iPhone tripod for food photography helpful! Reach out with questions anytime and be sure to follow me on Instagram!

Happy Creating!

This post may contain affiliate links which means if you click or make a purchase through my site, I might make a small commission (at no extra cost to you). I only promote products and equipment that I actually use for my photography business. Your support helps me continue to produce educational content about photography. Thank you!  

All images ©Regan Baroni 2022.