Posts Tagged ‘Knolling’

Flat Lay Photography is a style of photography where a group of items are photographed from above, giving a top down view. Items are laid flat on the surface, facing the camera.

Flat lay photographs often have a minimalist aesthetic to them. They work well for showing off a collection of smallish objects and are most commonly used for lifestyle, product & food photography. Sometimes all the items in the photo will be of equal importance. But often there is one main element (such as a food dish or handbag) with extra elements that add to the story (such as ingredients or accessories).

Although flat lay photographs may appear relatively simple, there's more to a good flat image than just laying out a few objects then shooting down on them. In this article we'll look at some tips for creating great flat lay photos.

Knolling photography involves capturing images of objects grouped together and arranged neatly, either parallel or at right angles to one another. The look of the resulting image can be quite clean and clinical - as opposed to a jumble of items, everything is neatly laid out.

The technique is very useful whenever you want to photograph a group of items, with each item clearly identifiable. Knolling is often used for sharing an image of the contents of a bag. But, of course, it can be used for other things too, such as the ingredients for a meal, clothes that form an outfit, a small book collection, or just a collection of related items you think would work well for a knolling photo.

In this article I'll share a bit of the history of knolling photography, and some tips for creating great knolling photographs yourself.