THE ART OF PHOTOGRAPHING FLAT LAY ELEMENTS

 Let’s talk about photographing Flatlays. I know some of you truly enjoy putting your flatlays together. It is definitely an artform that I lack skill in. I can get good results when styling a flatlay, but it takes me about 2-3 times longer than those of you who are skilled at the art. Lucky for me, this course isn’t about styling flatlays, but instead how to capture them for the client and the vendors.

One of the biggest mistakes I see when it comes to capturing flatlays is that most photographers take the establishing full shot and maybe a few mid crops, but they miss the alternate angles, the closeups and the macro shots. They also tend to only take 1 or 2 mid shots, and miss capturing each and every element at that mid shot range. Same with closeups. There should be a mid shot and a closeup of just about every element on your flatlay.

The most important recipient of your flatlay images is not the client, it is the vendors who created or supplied the elements you are styling on the flatlay. If you don’t satisfy those vendor’s expectations with the final gallery of flatlay images, you might be missing out on them referring you in the future. This is especially devastating when the vendor whose expectations you failed to meet was the planner or stylist. Those two vendors hold a lot of weight on whether a photographer is hired or not.

So what are the vendors expecting? Good question! That is what we will be learning in this course:

• How to use highlights and shadows to add dimension and interest to your flatlays.
• Using leading lines to draw the eye to various elements.
• Telling a story with your flatlay images.
• Capturing textures
• Using your aperture to draw focus on specific elements.
• Using macro filters or macro lenses to your advantage, getting those details everyone else misses.

Flatlay images can truly set your brand apart from 90% of the other photographers in your market. All you need is one thing that you do, that almost no one else does, and your brand is now unique and exciting. Flatlays are an easy way to elevate your brand. Don’t spend so much time styling and then fail to really get all the shots the vendors are expecting. In reality, of all things you should be overshooting on a wedding day, it should be the details.