Flatlay all day: How to tell fantastic stories!

There are many ways to tell your story.  You can write, record audio, or you can use your mobile camera and create visual stories.  Create mini sets to show a feeling or document something you are doing at that moment.  Take photographs, add videos, add sound, and now your camera has become a fantastic way to express yourself.

Bird’s eye view images

A flatlay photograph is a photo that is taken from above the subject- a birds’ point of view.  The camera should be perpendicular and straight but, break the rules, tilt your cameras and have fun with angles.

 Let’s say that you want to share a book that you read and loved. Place the book (or your iPad) on a table, place a cup of tea next to it and maybe add one more little detail. Now you have a set that shows your experience. Get your camera, and photograph from above. Try different angles, and move closer or further away from the objects.

Flatlays are a fun way to add a lot of information in a small space.  You can also do a minimalist image and photograph one thing that will say it all.

It’s just how we Knoll

Flatlay Photography was first acknowledged as a style in the 1980’s.  Andrew Kromelow, who worked at the Frank Ghery furniture factory, liked to set up his tools in a linear and orderly fashion and photograph them.  He called this “Knolling” after Knoll Furniture. The sculptor,, Tom Sachs, who worked at the factory, was intrigued by Kromelow’s photographs and started to “knoll.” Sachs even created the manual “Always be Knolling.”  It became a “thing.”

Knolling became popular in magazines that wanted to show several products in one image.  Catalogs used this style of photography. When Instagram came along and became popular with influencers, they changed the name of “Knolling” to flatlay.

10 Tips so your flatlay doesn’t “fall flat”

Use a flatlay to describe what you did during the day or to show things that you like.  I suggest that you find a muse before you start.  Search on Instagram and Pinterest for ideas. Pick a few that you like best and create a flatly in your own style.

1. Decide your format: Square or rectangular

2. Choose a subject

3. Choose a color theme

4. Choose on the main object and 3 things that will help you describe that object or a feeling

5. Choose your background carefully: You can use a floor, a table or create something with fabrics and different materials.

6. If you are photographing indoors: Photograph near a window with natural light and don’t forget to turn off all the lights.

7. If you are photographing outdoors: Photograph under the shade or with a soft light.  Midday sun will create distracting shadows.

8. Place your subjects down on the table (or background).

9. Take a photograph and study how it looks, move things around, remove an object or bring in a new one.

10. Add your hand in the set to make it more personal

Do you need a tripod for flatlays?

There is no need for a tripod for flatlays, but I love to use them so I can see what the set looks like and move things around – and not have to worry about where the camera is.

Share what you create with me! Tag: @50andrising

Happy knolling!

Marguerite

Learn more about flatlays and how to create them:

My Inspirational Pinterest flatlay board
Flatlay tips for beginners

Flatlay tips for Instagram