Instagram is one of the best and among the most popular social media platforms. If you’re hooked on Instagram like most people, you will know that the flat lay is a cool-girl way of taking photos of anything and everything including your travel essentials, beauty products, daily outfits, night-out essentials and outfits, shopping successes and much more. If you’re not flat laying on Instagram, it means you are not doing it right. Flat laying isn’t meant for specific people; you can also do it. Below are 9 tips on how to master it.

1. Shoot in square

If you want to take flat lay photography, there must be rules and guidelines. It is important to note that you must always shoot in square especially if you’re using your mobile phone to take photos. Taking photos in the square makes it easier for you to see and take what will fit in the Instagram frame. If you take the right photo with the right dimensions, you won’t have to worry about cropping when you’re uploading. The image dimension should be 640px X640Px. This ensures the whole image fits well in the frame.

2. Composition is the key

A composition is key if you’re looking for a great flat lay. Even if you’re looking for a simple and clean appearance with a lot of white space, you must consider composition. It is an essential factor to consider if you’re looking for a good flat lay. You can either place your main components on gridline of 3x3 or consider symmetry on both sides.

3. Always select a color scheme

Colors matter a lot on images. Nothing will ever ruin your image than colors. Choosing the best color is important. If you want a great flat lay, your color selection is critical. 

4. Good lighting is important

When you are shooting a flat lay, you need to consider the lighting of the place you’re taking pictures. There must be sufficient lighting if you want to have a good flat lay. You can walk around with an item and take different shots at different points so as to determine the point where there is sufficient lighting, 

5. Use the editing app

If you want to know how a good flat lay looks like, this is how it looks like. A great flat lay highlights the product in its natural form. This means you’re not required to do too much editing of photos. You can use one of the best editing apps to enhance color, adjust lighting, add contrast, and make the white areas appear crisper and much more. For example, for this article, we used our Product Photography Enhancement Lightroom presets and brushes, that we especially created for product and flat lay photography.

6. Select/choose a theme

If you want a good flat lay, you need to select the right theme. When you pick a theme it is important to stick to that theme. Whether the theme is sporty, foodie inspired, glam, or brand oriented, each and every element should make sense when they’re combined. 

7. The Hero Piece

A good flat lay makes use of two main items, a hero piece, and other value-adding accessories. The hero piece can be anything including an inspirational quote, a cute and brand new top, favorite magazine or a new recipe, just anything. A hero piece should be the ultimate focus of your theme or story. Ensure the hero piece looks great. 

8. Bird’s eye view

At this point, you need to take a good flat lay image by shooting from a bird’s eye view. You can decide to get high on a stool regardless of what people say. It seems crazy, but it is great if you want a good flat lay image. 

9. Tag away

As soon as you have published your perfect flat lay, never forget to tag all other brands and products that you’ve used in it. This will give your image great exposure and increase the chances of your image being ”regrammed” Tagging away gives your feed the necessary credibility. 

These are the guidelines of taking best flat lay photos. If you always wanted to take flat lay photos and had not enough info or guideline, this is the best place for you to gather enough info and swing into action. These guidelines allow you to take the best and beautiful flat lay photos. Taking good flat lay photos does not require a lot of experience. you just need to follow these simple guidelines.