How To: Take A Great Festive Flatlay

I love taking photos of lots of random pretty titbits sprawled out over my bed (or flatlaying as most other people call it).  My Instagram is absolutely full of them and if I could whip one up at parties, they'd absolutely be my party trick! 

I've had quite a few requests to share some of my tips and tricks, so for today's Blogmas post I thought I'd do just that...

How To Take A Great Festive Flatlay

Shoot in bright natural daylight 

It might sound really simple but this is by far the best tip I have. I always shoot my photos in bulk, at the weekend, when the lighting is particularly good. It's still fairly dark when I leave for work during the week and it's pitch black when I get home. Yes, you can shoot with artificial lighting but in my opinion, natural lighting just looks the best! So, now that your photo is bright and well lit, let's move on, shall we?

Use your camera to see how it looks as you set up

I find doing this is so handy as you can see exactly how everything looks as you place each thing in the frame. It's so much easier to visualize the photo when you can literally see it right in front of you! That way, if something doesn't look quite right you can move everything around until it does.

Stick to festive colours

I always think flatlays look the most cohesive when they have a colour scheme. Take my festive flatlays, they're all red, white and green. Throwing some random purple and blue items in with them would really look odd and less put together. Pick your colours and stick to them, pals. Gold or silver are also great colours to stick with. 

Leave some empty space 

My flatlays tend to be fairly minimalist and I always make sure to leave lots of the background showing. Now, as with any photography, this is all personal preference, but I like to do this as it means you can really pay attention to each of the items in the shot!

Move everything slightly and reshoot, and again, and again. 

That's the secret. Honestly, I lay everything out, shoot a couple of photos, then move everything around, shoot a few more, and so on and so forth. Each frame tends to be better than the last until you end up with something you're really proud of. I'd recommend only moving a few things in between shots that way you can really see what works and what doesn't! 

Are you a flatlay fan?