Props for Flatlay Product Shoots
I absolutely love shooting flatlays. I think it’s a great, unique way to showcase products. The cool thing about flatlays is that they will be styled and accessorized according to the personality of the person shooting them. One of my favorite photographers and curators is Brent Whaley, who creates beautiful rustic flatlays. I also create rustic flatlays, and you can see some of my favorite flats in my Flatlay Gallery.
In today’s blog, I’m going to show you three categories of the props I use when creating flatlays. No matter what clients I provide flatlays for, they all have a similar vibe because they are surrounded by things that are important to me and reflect my personality.
This was by far my most ambitious flatlay. We were packing up for a trip Wyoming in the winter of 2021, and made a big flatlay of all of the things that we were bringing or complimented the photo. This shot was taken with a drone, which was also incredibility difficult to pull off. I wanted to feature this image first because it will give you an idea of the kind of things I like to use in my flatlays.
Printed Items
One of the first things I want to jump to are things that are printed. I use a mixture of antique books, photographs, maps, notebooks, magazines, and photography books. Nearly everything I use is an antique, and I often find those antiques at antique shops, eBay, or flea markets.
Leather Goods
I shoot for a lot of companies that specialize in leather goods, so I have a huge assortment of leather items and accessories. I use raw leather as a backdrop as well. On one side I have the hard leather surface, and on the other side a suede surface. Combined with leather goods and I have an extensive collection of things that can compliment any item I’m shooting.
Gear
I love working in gear into my flatlays, whether that gear is photography, musical, tech, or EDC. It’s all classified as gear to me. I tend to use my older gear in flatlays, because they compliment my style best. You’ll often see film cameras, old watches, or antique instruments mixed into my shoots.
Bonus Category: Antiques
I have a ton of antiques. When I hit antique stores and flea markets, I’m on the lookout for books, photographs, bags, hats, gear, and fabrics. I know that’s a wide range. Mostly, I’m looking for old photos taken out west. I have a collection of antique photos from Yellowstone, and another collection of homesteaders. Most of my antique photos are somewhere between 1890 - 1950. I would say my antique book and magazine collection is similar.
My oldest book is a Bible from the mid-1800’s, and includes handwritten family info (not my family), locks of hair from children that died, and recorded Civil War deaths. It’s an antique that my grandmother bought at an antique store in the 1940’s, when she arrived in the USA from Italy. Maybe I should do an entire blog on this old Bible.
Antiques are my most important flatlay accessories because they are items that only I have. It is very unlikely other photographers have the same items, and no way they have my exact collection. As someone who makes rustic flatlays, these items are incredibly important.
Final Thoughts
If you want to get into shooting flatlays, think about how to style them in a way that reflects your personality. I love the west. I love leather. I love antiques. Therefore you’ll see that reflected in my flatlays. Always capture your vibe when you capture a product.
My first flatlay was ambitious. See below. I was traveling to the Middle East and stopping in Europe, first. I played a gig in Dublin, then spent two weeks photographing in Israel and Palestine. I made a flatlays of my gear before I left. It took all afternoon, but I got it done. It inspired me to make more, and years later, flatlays are part of my portfolio and service offerings.
Part two of this blog will be the technical side of how I shoot flatlays. Part three will be how I shoot large-scale flatlays. I hope you find these helpful and are inspired to create some for yourself!