10 tips that will immediately improve your food photography flatlays

Flatlays are incredibly popular on social media nowadays, especially for food and lifestyle images. Up your game with these 10 food photography flatlays tips!

What is a flatlay in photography?

A flatlay in photography is an image that has been taken from overhead, or directly above the subject looking down.

Flatlays are a very popular shooting angle for food, product and lifestyle photography and are particularly common on social media platforms like Instagram because they are pretty easy to create with your phone.

Let's take a look at some quick tips that will help you take stunning food photography flatlays!

10 tips for creating beautiful food photography flatlays

Use a tripod

A tripod is essential if you're shooting with a digital camera. Using a tripod will keep your camera perfectly stable and level, allowing you to focus on composing your frame.

Plus, it will save you a lot of back pain from stooping over your scene over and over again - trust me!

If you're using your phone, a tripod is not essential but can help if you're shooting in low light or want to capture a stop-motion. The latest iPhone camera even shows crosshairs on the camera to help you perfectly align the phone perpendicular to your surface.

Make sure your camera is level

Once your camera is mounted on the tripod make sure it's perfectly level with the surface. Use a spirit level, a hot shoe level or your camera's internal level to help you with this.

You might not notice the camera isn't straight by looking at it, but your images will definitely feel "off" if the camera was wonky during the shoot!

Choose a wide angle lens

Food photography flatlays are often quite large scenes, showing things like process shots in recipes or table scenes where one or more dishes are displayed together in a narrative.

In order to capture these large scenes, you'll need a wider angle lens. My personal favourite is the 35mm but make sure to try a few different ones to find yours.

You can still use a lens with a narrower angle, such as the 50mm! You'll need to get much higher off the ground to be far enough away from the surface in order to fit your entire scene in.

Use a smaller aperture

In a flatlay there may be several elements in the frame and you probably want them all to be in focus.

To make sure everything is focused and sharp, set your camera to a smaller aperture (a large F number) which will capture a wider depth of field.

I usually set mine anywhere between f/4 to f/9.

Learn how to confidently use your camera in manual mode

Put some thought into your backdrop

The backdrop is the surface on which you'll shoot your scene. This can be a surface in your home, a restaurant or even somewhere outside. Alternatively, you can buy photography backdrops online and have a collection that you use for food photography.

The backdrop you choose will depend on what you're shooting and of course your personal style, so I can't really say too much about what you should or shouldn't use!

However, I would suggest a backdrops that is either fairly neutral in colour or complements your subject and narrative; you want something that will make your hero shine rather than distract from it.

Also, surfaces that have some texture add interest and depth to your scene.

Keep the light even

Place your scene at the same level as your light source if you can. For example, if your light source is a window, put your surface on a table at the same height as the window rather than below it. This will help keep an even light across your image.

Also think about the direction of the light and how it interacts with the shadows and any patterns created with glass on the surface. Usually I shoot with sidelight and backlight for food photography flatlays, but feel free to experiment!

Learn more about light modifiers for food photography

Play with light and shadow

One mistake people often make with flatlays is that they eliminate the shadows in an attempt to keep the light even. This results in the images looking flat and rather lifeless!

Instead, use black card to fill in some of the shadows if you're finding that your scene is lacking some contrast.

Alternatively, you can try moving your scene closer to your light source, which will increase the intensity of the light and shadows (just be careful not to blow out the whites and highlights!).

Prepare your composition first

Composition is one of the keys to a beautiful food photography flatlay. It takes a lot of practice to get a feel for authentic and visually pleasing compositions, so don't put yourself down if you find this difficult!

I always find it helpful to use empty bowls, plates and glasses to prepare my composition before adding any food into the frame. This gives me time to find the perfect position for everything without risking any food wilting or looking sad when I'm ready to shoot!

Choose props that work with your main subject and tell a story to create a more engaging image.

Also, consider intentionally leaving some negative space to allow space for text or simply to create some "breathing room" for the eyes.

Here are some ways to get started when learning how to compose food image:

• find and save images you love in Instagram and Pinterest and try to mimic their composition (be sure to credit the original artist if you decide to share your final shot on your socials!)
• learn about photography compositions, such as the Golden Triangle, and apply them to your own images
• use overlays - these are templates of photography composition techniques that you can use when shooting tethered to help you position props in the scene

Place props at varying distances from each other

This tip is the one that made the biggest difference to my flatlay compositions.

It can be tempting to place everything at equal distances apart when composing a flatlay - I really don't know why but I see lots of people doing this, including me when I look back at my early work!

Try positioning some elements that make sense closer together, even with edges touching or overlapping. For example, a pinch bowl of salt could be close to the edge of the main dish, or a couple of plates could be clustered together ready to be served.

Then, place other props further away to create a more dynamic and authentic looking scene.

Create depth with layers

Even though a flatlay is a "flat" image, that doesn't mean everything has to be on the same plane.

Use layers to create more depth in your image. For example, I like to add tall plants and flowers which are then a little blurred out thanks to the bokeh effect.

Watch my YouTube video on how to create the bokeh effect

You can also stack some plates or lift the hero dish to make it stand out more. Using a slightly larger aperture will help to create a subtle bokeh effect and steer the viewer's eye around the frame.

Now it's your turn!

I hope you enjoyed these 10 food photography flatlays tips - let me know which one you're going to try first in the comments box below.