A Beginners Guide To Flat-lay Photography

Remember that image with perfectly placed objects on a flat surface that made your eyes stuck while you were endlessly scrolling your social media feed? That style is called Flat-lay and is one of the most popular genres of photography thriving on social media.

Flat-lay is a type of still-life photography where the objects are placed on a flat surface and shot directly from above. Great for product and food photography. It might sound easy but is the trickiest form, as the objects are placed flat on a surface. Therefore, it becomes tough to create a character of your subjects.

Here are a few tips and tricks to help you kickstart your flat-lay journey.

Styling

Styling is a three-step process where you think about your composition, gather the objects that you want to click and finally place them to create a visual story.

Step 1: Composing the ideal output in mind

The composition is an essential aspect of any photography style, and by this, I mean to arrange your objects to deliver the right kind of story. The exercise helps in understanding the material needed for your composition and the story that you want to build between them. Example, you want to show a morning scene where the bed is your surface and coffee mug, blanket, book, and a plant are your objects to convey your morning ritual to your audience.

Step 2: Gathering your material

Now that you’ve imagined the whole scene in your head start looking for your material. For beginners, look for the simplest things available at home like books, markers, plants, a cup of coffee or tea, newspaper. For background, you can use a wooden table, floor (wood or marble) or anything from your wardrobe like me. Prefer using a plain background so that the focus remains on the objects. I love making DIY backdrops using bedsheets, T-shirts and a bathrobe.

Step 3: Placing your objects

The final step is to place the objects. Understand the materials that you want as primary and keep the rest as secondary. While doing this, add some amount of negative space around each object, so that you don’t overwhelm the viewer.

Lighting

Natural Light

Artificial Light

Natural light works wonders for flat-lay photography. Therefore, try to shoot during the daytime and place your setup close to a door or a window. However, you can also use artificial light to click your flat-lays. All you need to do is place objects in such a manner that their shadows don’t fall on each other. Also, face the light source while clicking your photos to avoid any blockage of light.

Camera and angles

You can use your phone or camera to click your flat-lay shot. If you are using a phone, then turn on the grid to help line up your shot. Get higher from the surface and place your camera directly above the setup. Focus on the subject to get a sharper image and keep the rest of the props in the background.

Tip: Helping your audience relate to the composition is essential. Therefore, add a human touch by using your hands or legs or both to spice up your creation.

Post-processing

Perform some essential fixes, like editing the contrast, highlights, and shadows on your image to obtain the exact output. Crop the photo in a way that the subject remains in focus, and the rest stays partially within the frame, giving the audience some room for imagination.

So start gathering your materials and get ready to click that insta-worthy photo.

Comment below or shoot me a message, if you have any questions related to flat-lay photography and for more inspiration, check out my latest posts on Instagram. 🙂