I’ve had so many people compliment me on my flatlays which always humbles me because I am no photographer! That being said, I have definitely learned some things over the years of how to create a perfect flatlay even if you aren’t a photographer. If you are in the creative business world as an entrepreneur you NEED professional pictures for your website and social media accounts. You don’t have to be a professional photographer to do this. Taking some simply flatlays will go a long way in helping your business. Here are some practical tips I can offer for the non-photographer to create a perfect flatlay:

• Get a HUGE styling mat. Personally I use The Styling Mats. They are super big and give you tons of space to style and place props.

• Use natural light. Put your mat by a window with good light and open curtains
• Use a reflector. I got a cheap reflector here off Amazon. I honestly just lean it back on my legs to get a good light bounce back onto my mat. Once I started doing this I lost the shadows on the edges of the mat.
• Invest in a DSLR camera. You won’t regret this. I use this Canon camera for all my shoots and it was $419.
• Start collecting props. I have a huge bin just full of props I’ve collected over the years. I just looked at other flatlays on Pinterest and started searching on Amazon, Homegoods, in antique stores, Target, Etsy, and on various ribbon company sites like Honey & Silk.

Joy Michelle Photography

• Use real flowers. Real flowers go a long way my friends. I’m in the fine art business and I need to look legit. I have a relationship with a local florist that I use for all my flowers.

Joy Michelle Photography

• If you want some tech layouts buy some iPhone covers. No one will know they don’t have a real phone in them. Same for ipads! This is an empty iphone case I got on Amazon.

Joy Michelle Photography

• Set camera to manual mode and play around with shutter speed settings. It’s really not hard. I just turn the dial to “M” and adjust the number (1/100 , 1/80, etc.). Usually mine is around 1/60. To my knowledge the shutter speed will allow you to adjust how much light gets in shot.

I hope this was helpful! Peep my Free Styling Kit Guide here.

Did you know I create a set of custom styled images for every full branding client?! Get started on your brand journey here.