Forage for a flat lay: with close

Forage

for a flat lay

Pete Lock Photography

By Tracy Calder, co-founder of the annual Close-up Photographer of the Year competition

Flat lay photography – shooting objects directly from above – is particularly popular with product and food photographers, but it’s also a fabulous way of shooting nature in all its winter glory. Next time you’re planning a walk, take a basket or bag with you and gather up any leaves, berries or dried grasses that catch your eye. Once home, examine your natural treasures and arrange them on a white board where each shape, colour and skeletal form can be celebrated.

There’s something so calming and meditative about the process, and once you start it’s really hard to stop! Aside from fostering a general sense of calm, flat lays are a great way to further your understanding of composition, positive and negative space and how to use colour theory to enhance your images.

1. Think more is more

When it comes to selecting objects for a flat lay, choose items that relate to one another, whether via shape, colour or theme. For this style of photography, more is most definitely more – anything in abundance can be turned into a picture with a bit of patience. I like to head out on a colour or shape treasure hunt, training my eye to look for just green leaves, triangular grass tips, etc. With its mixture of woodland and heathland, Parkhurst Forest is a great place to begin your search.

2. Gather what grows together

Chefs often say: ‘What grows together, goes together’ and this is good advice when foraging for a flat lay. If you’ve found some attractive leaves, look around to see what else might be growing nearby. Are there berries or twigs that might work in the composition? Can you tell the story of a particular place through your work? With a variety of habitats, sites such as Newtown National Nature Reserve could become the subject of multiple flat lays.

3. Complete your jigsaw

When positioning objects, imagine you’re completing a jigsaw. Choose one subject to be the ‘hero’ and place it in the centre. Next, choose items for each corner – I reserve my favourite leaves, twigs or flowers for this. Now, line the edges with attractive objects and fill in the larger gaps with items of secondary importance. Finally, add small items to the remaining spaces to balance the composition. With seaweed of various shapes and sizes, a jigsaw flat lay of the salty treasures at Bembridge Ledge would be fabulous.

5. Let nature dictate

When using natural objects, let them have a say in the arrangement. If you force a plant or a leaf into a certain position it often retaliates by tearing, bending, or just looking completely unnatural. Hold your object and consider its natural shape and the way it moves or grows – work with nature, not against it. Arreton Down Nature Reserve is a great place to sit and observe how plants naturally bend and move in the breeze.

4. Follow the lines

Eyes like to follow lines, so use twigs, stems or petals to direct the viewer’s gaze. Where possible, create pause points where the eyes can linger and take in the surroundings – a line of similar flowers interrupted by a rogue bloom, for example. When positioning objects, think about how they relate to one another – is there a connection between shapes and colours? Are there texture or size similarities? Learn how other artists direct the viewer’s gaze around the frame – Dimbola Museum & Galleries never fails to inspire.

6. Lighten up

Consistent light is crucial when shooting a flat lay. Bright but overcast days are best, but if the sun is too fierce then you can diffuse it by hanging a white sheet over a window. If areas of the composition fall into shadow, use a piece of white card to bounce light into them. You can also keep shooting into the night by arranging objects on a lightbox. Head to the coast and watch how the light alters in quality, direction, and temperature throughout the day – Compton Bay is a favourite haunt of mine.

7. Keep it clean

Stray pollen and torn leaves can lead to more time in front of the computer making corrections, so use a paintbrush or tweezers to remove any detritus. On the other hand, when flowers fade and wilt they twist into wonderful shapes, so don’t throw dying or damaged leaves away until you’ve explored their full photographic potential. Fallen petals and discoloured leaves from formal gardens such as Mottistone would make a wonderful arrangement.

Feeling inspired? Tag @style_ofwight on Instagram to share your festive foraged flat lays – we’d love to see them!