Instagram, apart from Facebook and Twitter is one of the popular social media applications that has gained popularity mainly for its function of showcasing a vast array of photos depicting the interesting lives of its users. Whether you are a person or organization, this application is a great avenue to showcase your selfies, #ootds, travel photos, advocacies, food treats, quotes you find extremely charming, and the like. It’s a whole universe in itself!
When Instagram was first introduced, it was just used as a mere photo album of daily blurbs, but now it has evolved into something much bigger. Businesses, big personalities, bloggers, and regular users have turned into Instagram in the hopes that they too would gain fame as a means to reach a larger audience. This is thereby manifested by the numbers of the “Following” and “Followers”. For the Instagram newbie, you would want more people to follow you. So turn that privacy setting off now. High number of quality followers will definitely boost your purpose on why you are even here in IG.
If photogrids and collages were the norm in ancient Insta-history, it is time for you to learn a new technique called – Flat-lay Mobile Photography. Recently, Insta-users have gone all crazy with this new strategy. Whether you are promoting a product or service, attracting businesses to hire you as an ambassador, showing your talent, or just probably bored, this trick can do wonders in your perfectly tiled Instagram accounts.
Below you can find the details on how to create perfect flat-lay photographs:
1. Gather your elements (props and tools).
a. Prepare a clean and plain background.
It may be of any color, as long as it would not steal the attention from the elements or tools that you are trying to take a photo of.
Pick something that complements the subject of your flat-lay instead of ones that draw the attention from it. Think of simple backgrounds such as white cloth, white folders, plain colored cardboards, and wooden/marble table tops.
b. Choose a flat surface to put your background on. You wouldn’t want your elements to come rolling all over the place.
c. Pick a hero piece. This is the main star of the picture. It should be the first thing that will be noticed. Other tools should also not compete for attention, rather they must be there to complement the picture. You can do these by picking small objects that have more toned down colors than the hero piece.
2. Let there be light.
It is always best to use the natural lighting, so make sure light can pass through the window. Or better yet, shoot photos from outdoors. It is also advisable to shoot in the morning, as daylight provides better contrast between the objects and the background. Plus, you wouldn’t risk stubborn hollows in the photos created by the bouncing of flashy lights.
3. Keep it square.
The first rule of Instagram flat-lay photography is to always shoot the photo in square. This may come in handy if you’re using an iPhone, but if you are taking the shot on your Android phone, it is suggested that you create an imaginary square that will encapsulate all the needed elements in what otherwise will be a cropped square image.
Remember, photogrids are so last season, you have to naturally capture your flat-lays in square. You have to increase the heights you put to your camera from the flat-lay to achieve this square technique.
You may also allot spaces in the edges to serve as boarders.
If you also prefer to take photos in landscape, make sure to keep it consistent and elements fit well.
4. Put your elements (props and tools) together.
Creativity is key. There really is no formula in creating the perfect flat-lay, all you just need is lots of creativity, a wild imagination to whip more dramatic flat-lays, and resourcefulness. You don’t need to spend at all in succeeding in this technique. Just find stuff in your home that would best complement your pieces.
5. Edit your photos through apps and hacks.
Most Instagram users are obsessing over Snapseed and VSCO, but personally, the latter has captured my heart in the most correct of spaces and over-all feel. You can choose filters and play around photo editing properties, such exposure, saturation, contrast, shadow, color tints, grain, temperature, vignette etc.
Just keep your feed organized, consistent and clean by choosing one color theme. Avoid overdone filters and start discovering the ideal feel you would want your Instagram feed to look like.
And these my friends are the simple steps on how to master the Flat-Lay Mobile Photography. Please include several relevant hashtags related to your post, and include these as well: #flatlay #flatlays #photography #flatlayphotography .
Brace yourself for more likes and follows! Enjoy!
**Credits are due to the owners of the photos used in this blog.
xx, Via
IG: @vanessagalang
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