Flat lays are created by photographing items from overhead. The photo above is a typical example. They’re easy to do with mobile phone cameras and are really popular, particularly on Instagram. You can use them for all sorts of fairly small subjects including small products, recipe ingredients, the contents of your bag or toolkit or, if you’re a fashion blogger for example, the outfit you’re planning to wear today. Here are my top tips for creating great ones.

 9 tips for creating great flat lay photos

  1. Avoid using a shiny surface for your flat lay. Otherwise, you might see the reflection of you or your camera in your photo.Flat lay showing contrast between rough background and smooth vegetables | Photography tips for business
  2. Try surfaces with textures that contrast with the items you’re photographing. E.g. Rough wood contrasts with soft fabric items or smooth metal jewellery.  Think about how the colours work together too. The hard concrete slab contrasts with the bright, relatively soft vegetables.
  3. Watch out for overhead lights casting a shadow from you or your camera. Move your layout to somewhere that isn’t directly under a light.
  4. Natural light from a north facing window is the easiest to work with.  It is a soft, diffused light source so it doesn’t produce strong shadows, which can be distracting.
  5. If you’re getting lots of shadows, use a piece of white card or paper out of shot opposite your light source. This will reflect more light back into the picture, making the shadows less noticeable, which is what I did in the example below when I was experimenting with different layouts for Hipsley Green’s aromatherapy products . The shadows are much less noticeable on the right-hand photo because I’d added a piece of white card.Using white paper as a reflector | Photography tips for business
  6. Position your camera so the lens is pointing downwards immediately above your layout rather than shooting at an angle. If you’re shooting on a table you may need to stand on a stool or a stepladder to allow you to get directly overhead. You might find it easier to lay everything out on the floor. If you’re going to do a lot of flat lays it may be worth investing in a tripod with a horizontal arm that allows you to position the camera correctly.
  7. Less is more – too many items or props can make your image look cluttered. Experiment with different layouts. If you’re photographing multiple items, using an odd number of items rather than an even number often looks better.
  8. If your items won’t stay in position, use a small piece of blu tack or plasticine underneath them to hold them in place, making sure it’s not visible on camera. That’s what I did with the orange and the bottles in the previous example.
  9. Flat lays look better if everything is in focus. That’s easy with a phone camera as the way they’re designed means they do that normally. If you’re using a DSLR, you may need to mess around with your aperture setting if auto doesn’t produce the results you need. Check your camera manual for how to set the aperture. Depending on how far away from your layout your camera is and the type of lens you’re using, you’ll typically need a number of 6.3 or higher.
 If that’s inspired you to pick up your camera, let me know how you get on in the comments below. And if you’d like to get more tips on creating great photos for your business, sign up to my newsletter.
Join my VIP list

Join my VIP list

 

to get advanced notice of 

 

- new art and exhibitions

- training courses

- exclusive offers

 

delivered straight to your Inbox.

Nearly done - you'll find a confirmation email in your Inbox. Click on the link in the email to confirm it's really you. Thank you :-)