Flat lay imagery – also known as overhead photography – is hugely popular now thanks to platforms like Instagram. Brands are turning to clever product photography to tell their stories and grab attention, and with so many competing advertising messages, it’s worth getting your flat lay photographs right.
Your business’s online presence is key to its success these days and a visual appeal is important. It’s shows off your product, your brand, its values, and getting it wrong could see your customer heading off to the competition.
Why Use Flat Lay Photographs?
For some types of advertising photography, the flat lay style is perfect. You can be creative and showcase the product, and the set-up allows flexibility for styling for a collection or a particular occasion or season. From a commercial photographer’s perspective, it is usually a straightforward set-up.
From the brand’s point of view, the imagery tends to be clean and compelling, so fans share the images online and increase the return on investment of marketing spend.
Setting Up Your Flat Lay
Sometimes known as “overhead photography,” your set-up for flat lays should have your camera mounted above the table looking down. Be aware that this can make some products appear distorted, so be ready to pin or clip the product or raise bits to show it at its best and hold everything where you want it. Styling the shot takes the biggest chunk of time on this sort of shoot but choosing a professional with lots of experience of flat lay photography makes sure it runs smoothly.
Added Style
Some brands choose to present just the product in images. Others prefer to group products or add props. Choose colours and angles carefully so as not to detract from the main subject. It’s very easy for creativity to become clutter!
Get in touch to see how this Bristol photographer’s experience of flat lay product photography can help improve sales for your brand.
