If you follow my Instagram (Instagram.com/mihnimalist), you probably know that I love flatlays. You also know that I've tried many different types of not only flatlays, but also other styles of photos. In this post I'll be walking through how I take most of them, and what works best for me. (Note: I take all my instagram photos with my iPhone 7+, so in no way do you have to be a photography expert to try these out!)
First up are flatlays with black backgrounds. To take this picture, I have a board that I spray painted black on one side. I lay it down on my bedroom floor next to my window so I have natural light. Here is an example of this setup:
Working with a black background is tricky, especially with the board I have. The board has a lot of texture to it, so it's easy to see all the little bumps it has in natural light. This is what it looks like when you can see the bumps and the light reflecting off of it:
However, the only way to not see the texture is if I don't use a lot of light (by not putting the board right next to the window), but this ends up making my photos look too dark and underexposed. This is the main reason why I don't really post black flatlay photos, even though I do love a good black background;)
Next are my favorite types of photos, a flatlay with a light background. This is a flatlay with a white or marble background, both of which are on a board that I lay on my floor.
These are much easier for me to edit because they are already pretty light, so I don't usually have to worry about glares or seeing the texture of the board. To edit these, I first go into FaceTune to brighten up the photo a little and remove any smudges on the board, then I use VSCO Cam to add filters and all that. Here's a video of how I edit a photo like this:
Another type of flatlay is a filled flatlay (I don't think they actually have a name, that's just what I like to call them). These are the type of flatlays where you lay down EVERYTHING. Whatever my subject piece is, I like to put it in the center of my board, and lay down anything and everything that matches that subject color-wise. These kind of flatlays are pretty time consuming which is why I don't really do them. Here's an example photo:
Next, we'll take a break from talking about flatlays;) This next type of photo is one where I just take a picture of my hand holding my artwork, like this:
I like this type of photo because it's super easy and quick to take. One problem with this type of photo is that I always use my bedroom wall as a background, so when I edit them, it's hard to make the backgrounds all look the same shade of teal that my wall is. Sometimes you'll see on my Instagram two posts that look like they have different shades of teal as the background. This problem can be fixed if you are more careful about taking your photos in the same light circumstances and edit all your photos the same way.
The last type of photo I like to use is the overhead flatlay, usually of me "working" on something at my desk. The set up for this is kinda funny, and is great if you have a tripod... or a loft bed like me. Here's an example photo:
What I do to take this kind of picture is set my phone up between the mattress of my loft bed and the rungs that hold the mattress up. This is kind of a strange set up, but it works best for me since I don't have a tripod big enough to give me a shot of my whole desk.
I like this kind of shot because it shows my workspace, and it's ok for it to be messy. It's also pretty simple to edit in natural light.
I hope you enjoyed reading about all the different ways I take and edit photos, and if you did, try some of them out on your own! Let me know which method is your favorite and send me some photos, I'd love to see! (Tags: #instagram #photography #flatlay)
-Mihnimalist