FLATLAY TIPS

7 STEPS TO THE PERFECT FLATLAY

Top 7 Flatlay Tips For Instagram

A 'flatlay' is a birdseye view photograph of a group of products that are perfectly positioned on a flat service to tell a story, this can be a recipe, a bag spill, beauty haul or anything you wish to create. The flatlay has risen in popularity on Instagram as many brands, bloggers and influencers use them to create visually appealing content that highlights and showcases a product or group of products. When it comes to flatlays, the more creative the better and you can really push the boundaries to capture a fun and eye-catching flatlay that stops people scrolling and interacting with your post.

A flatlay doesn't have to be complicated to be effective, sometimes simple flatlays can be just as visually appealing. The main thing to remember is to have fun and don't detract from you 'hero' product.

BACKGROUND

Opt for a flatlay background that compliments the featured products and doesn't distract the viewer from the main subject. I suggest white as it goes with most products and you can then layer with a different texture, for example, if you want to create a flatlay to highlight a new series on Netflix, maybe add a cosy night inn feel by adding a blanket, candel, laptop, cosy socks and popcorn to set the scene. I love to use white card or you can get really creative and make your own backgrounds.

tell a story with your Flatlay…

LIGHTING

Try and shoot your flatlay in natural light, by an open window or light source that is not artificial. I also use white board to at an angle around my flatlay to bounce more white light onto the image so that I have less editing afterwards. My style of product photography is white, bright and airy so I love working with natural light, however it’s not always easy to access natural light. If this is the case you can try a flash or light boxes or studio lighting. Good lighting is essential for capturing a clean and crisp image. I also recommend using a tripod if your lighting is not ideal, this way you can leave your shutter speed open for longer and let more light into your image. You can also brighten your image in post processing by adjusting the exposure, shadows and whites of your image.

IMPORTANCE OF A STRONG COMPOSITION

Strong composition is key to creating an eye catching flatlay that will engage your audience. My top tip is to leave a small amount of space between each object, this creates an illusion of space and allows your hero product to shine. You can also layer your products to create a story. I like to place objects to the edges of the image as it draws the eye off the page. Ultimately how you compose your photograph will make or break your flat lay, it doesn’t matter if you spend large amounts on expensive materials and props and even equipment, but if you don’t know how to actually style the subject matter, nothing will be able to help your flatlay.

PROPS

Props are vital to building a strong flatlay as they ‘tell the story’ and set the ‘tone and mood’ of your flatlay which ultimately makes your hero product shine and this is our overall aim.

I suggest picking a theme for your flatlay for example a bag spill, healthy recipe, beauty routine and gather props that build a story around your hero product.

Colour palette

COLOUR PALETTE

Focus on one colour palette, in the image above the Michael Kors Botlle Sexy Ruby is red and I used red wrapping paper, ribbon and candy canes to enhance the colour story of the brand and build the story of gifting for Christmas. My secondary colours are gold and white, the gold works with the top of the perfume bottle and tree decorations. I love to use white because even though this is a very ‘cluttered’ flatlat to my usual style a white backgroud still creates a sense of space that I mentioned in composition. So as you can see creating a perfect flatlay is not about one element but a combination of them all.

INSPIARTION

Get Inspired, save ideas from Instagram and Pinterest then use this them as inspiration to help you create your own flatlay. I love to gather ideas as I go along and save them to folders so that I have ideas sitting and waiting for me when I need them. I love Instagrams save feature that enables me to create different boards, similar to Pinterest, which means less scrolling and more time creating. Alternatively try searching hashtags such as '#flatlay #onmydesk and see what ideas you can gather.

PHOTOGRAPHY

photograph from a birds eye view

This is where I spend alot of time making sure I capture everthing in my image correctly, and its often when I realise I need to repostion some elements of the flatlay as they sometimes don’t look right from above. I love to shoot from a birds eye view or at an angle above the objects. It’s easy to use your phone to capture great quality images however I always use a tripod so that I can easily move my objects without having to reposition my camera each time.

EDITING

Editing is key to creating a cohesive instagram feed, I love Lightroom to edit my images and then I can save my own presets which means all my images have a similar feel to them. There is a tone of different editing apps, I personally love Lightroom for mobile and desktop as I use the Adobe Creative Cloud but Iphone has built in editing that is great for non professional images.

I hope you enjoyed my tips on how to create a perfect flatlay and if you give them a try, please tag me on Instagram @demelza_creative and if you have any questions please feel free to get in-touch demelzacreative@gmail.com

Demelza