How to shot the perfect Instagram flatlay?
If you follow my instagram profile of the blog you will have noticed that often I publish Instagram flatlays of my home taken from a very high point of view, where I am often in the images. Many of you asked me how I shoot them: today I reveal you my tricks!
The premise is that I’m neither a photographer nor a stylist (and it’s clear if you look at my pics!). I use just the phone and do not edit my photos in Lightroom or similar, that would be too much of time for me now. But, posting photos to be aesthetically consistent with your brand and person, however, is something to learn today if you want to communicate in Instagram in the right way. Even if you are not a photographer or a stylist. Here they are!
First tricks are the same as a classic Instagram flatlay shot, that is:
- Shoot with natural light
This is my number 1 rule for Instagram shots. I’m not a professional photographer, but I know how difficult is to take pictures of interiors with artificial light. Good reason to avoid them. I’m also never shooting during hours with a strong daylight, while I prefer the morning or late afternoon hours, in order to get a softer light.
- Choose a consistent theme
I try as much as possible to link the shots with the blog’s topics, feaguring things out first in my head. But I’m not so good at planning contents so this does not happen so often actually. but if you can, that’s much better!
- Find the proper background
Even if you might think that a uniform and white background is better (I used too), actually it maximizes the imperfections in a flatlay. Much better to choose a textured background, even better by matching different ones. The final effect will be visually much more interesting. In many of my shots for example there are the pattern of the wooden floor and a rug (for example, the one with terrazzo pattern that you often see is by Lorena Canals).
- Enrich the image with objects
The fun thing of a flatlay is that you can then be creative with many different objects, better to say props. Choose objects according to a color scheme and also decide how to arrange them: they could be arranged, for example, with a symmetrical layout, or in a mess (apparently).
Other tricks for the perfect Instagram flatlay :
In my opinion, a flatlay looks much nicer if there is a person portrayed within the picture. I hate showing myself in IG, so this bird-eye perspective is perfect for me, to show what I do but not to show myself. So, if you want to shoot with a very high point of view and with you inside the picture, things get complicated but not too much. Just make sure you have:
- a selfie arm, which you will use to place the phone up and parallel to the ceiling
- an app that allows you to take more pictures at a distance within a set time. I use Photo Timer.
- a very patient person who will jump over a chair and will take photos. In my case, yes it is my boyfriend, who does not have even an instagram account. A true #instagramhusband, in short.
These are my last two additional tricks to make things faster:
- take more photos in the same day, changing the objects around, and then use them in different days and for several weeks
- edit photos with Snapseed straight from the phone
Try it this weekend, and tag me by adding @italianbark if you want to!
PS: these are the shots behind the cover pic 😉