WHAT THE HECK IS FLAT LAY? – Topic 2

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You may have had to Google it, as it is a term you are not familiar with. However, the term is not new to me, and I have been using the technique for all of my photography career. You will find a couple of examples of my early work (circa 1993) later on in this post. There are three requirements for the traditional flat lay, but as in all aspects of photography, there are no real rules – just guidelines!

(The third task for the @sndbox Photography Quest is to take at least 5 out of 8 different types of images and to write about them and how they were captured. Read about it here.)

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Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved.
^{Click on the image to view full screen!}

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Camera	EOS 5D Mark II
Lens	EF50mm f/1.4 USM
Exposure	1/125 sec; f/10; ISO 200
Post-processing	Adobe Photoshop® CC 2018, Adobe Camera Raw

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DIRECTLY ABOVE

1. A search on Getty Images or any other stock agency using the term directly above will produce all kinds of images that fit the description of flat lay, because that is exactly what it is – an image shot from directly above, with no angles whatsoever. In flat lay photography, the camera lens is parallel to the background.

A few of my Getty examples can be found here, here and here.

The first image shows selective focus, (which is not the norm in a flat lay) of a jar of candies in focus, with the background candies clearly out of focus. The second example shows a particular type of flat lay called knolling, where the items are positioned in somewhat right angles to each other. It is the style I have chosen for my image in this Quest. I have included the last link above because it is an image which was photographed on transparency film using my 4x5 large format camera during my early professional career. I'm including a copy of it here, as I think it deserves a place right here in the post!

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Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved.

Camera

Sinar F1 4x5

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RELATED ITEMS

1. Normally in a flat lay the items in the photograph are related to each other in some way, and often have a very definite color theme, because the idea is to convey a story of sorts. That too is not a hard and fast rule, because by including totally unrelated articles, you could tell the story of chaos.

In my example, all the items are from one of my craft boxes. They are tiny notions to be sewn or glued onto a creation, and I chose all items of the same color, positioning them in a knolling fashion for the flat lay.

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LIGHTING

1. Probably the most important part is lighting, as is true with all photography. Without light there is no photography – only blackness! Even infrared photography relies on the image sensor or film being sensitive to infrared light! So how do you light a flat lay image? First, you need to determine that the light is going to be pretty even – no large, heavy shadows. Then you have to decide how to light your creation. If you search the web, you will find countless articles about the subject – most suggest using natural light or using a studio softbox.

I photographed this image of British stamps using the 4x5 camera and softbox lighting back in 1993 as a personal project and as kind of a souvenir and reminder of of my correspondence and gifts from home!

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Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved.

Camera

Sinar F1 4x5

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The stamp image and two of my Getty examples, the first and last, show images that were photographed using a single softbox, but these days I have developed my own technique which works well for me. I now set two strobes at the same power, pointing them to the ceiling in opposite corners of the room, and hence bounce the light off the white ceiling, which in effect creates a huge soft light source. The second image in the link above, as well as my entry for the Quest were photographed using this lighting technique.

Another tip that I would like to add, is to photograph the items on the floor so that you can photograph from a standing position, or from a small step stool! I photographed my two examples from the 1990s on a light table, so I had to climb on a stepladder in order to get the shots!

So, now that you know a little about flat lay photography, why don't you give it a try? You don't have to be part of this Quest to do it. I look forward to seeing your posts!

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For those interested in participating in the #wiwcontest, you can find the rules and the theme for this week here. Be sure to join us! All SBD from that post will be shared with the 3 winners!

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Thanks for taking the time to read this! I appreciate it. Please check out my photography-101 account here for tips and tutorials about photography.

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