Tips for Flat-lay Photography & Styling

First of all, I have to start by saying I am NOT a photographer. I am just starting to dabble in photography again for the first time since my film photography class Junior year...of high school.

That being said, I can't get enough of the 'flat-lay' trend seen on every blog, pin and tv campaign for the last two years (at least). It's striking, minimalistic, and makes my OCD so happy to see everything all lined up on right angles within a square. It also amazes me how each person's interpretation of the flat-lay trend is unique and inventive. Finding the Instagram account @flatlays might have been one of the top moments of my year. 

I recently got the chance to shoot some flat-lays for a client and had so much fun figuring out what worked best. Like I said, I'm dabbling, but here are some tips I've gathered from my flat-lay experiments and from some of my favorite flat-lays by the real pros. 

Follow along as I practice more flatlays! I'm sharing them all on my Twenty20.

Have you tried the flatlay?