Detail, Flatlay, and Still Life PhotoGRAPHY TIPS
Ah, detail photos… you either love them or hate them. I, personally, adore them. I never liked drawing still lifes when I was younger but I am obsessed with photographing them! Wedding photographers tend to get a lot of love for their detail photos, but any photographer can practice their skills and create beautiful works of art using the art of still lifes in their images!
We’re rounding up some useful tips for photographing details, flatlays, and still lifes— perfect for rainy afternoon practicing now that busy season is calming down!
Detail is Key
It might seem obvious, but detail photos need to be… well… detailed. Lots of factors can play into bringing our detail in your images, such as what lens you’re using, your aperture, lighting, and how you edit the photo.
Images by Sherri Poirier
Edited with Quest 36 Botanica
Use a Macro Lens
A macro lens allows you to capture fine textures and intricate details, and high-quality macro lenses also allow you to focus much closer to the objects you’re photographing, so you don’t have to crop in during post-processing. The wedding detail photos above were taken with a 100mm macro lens.
Aperture
Get more of your setup in focus by using a higher f-stop (smaller or more closed aperture), allowing more of the depth of field to be in sharp focus. We photographers love that delicious smooth bokeh, but when photographing details, especially top-down flatlays, you want more in focus so the viewer can recognize all the objects or text in the image. Try photographing your details at f/3.5 or higher.
Image by Lauren Alexandra Photography
Edited with Quest 27 Serenus
Lighting
Use soft, even light to avoid harsh shadows or reflections— typically, window light is ideal. If your goal is to highlight lush and rich textures, use side light or even harsh light for creative shadows. There are no rules— get creative with light or keep it simple and let your objects and composition speak for themselves.
Image by Vivid Symphony
Edited with Quest 27 Serenus
Editing
Make sure your clarity and texture sliders in Lightroom are adjusted to where you want them to be— some presets lower these to give a more dreamy edit, but you’ll lose detail in the process. This is all personal taste so edit in a way that pleases your eye.
The Wedding Toolset includes a preset called Scene - Detail Shot to help bring out extra clarity and texture in your images!
Composition
Composing and framing your detail, flatlay, or still life images deliberately will set your photos apart from just documenting an object haphazardly sitting in a space. While there is a time and situation for those kinds of documentary images, learning to style your detail photos just so will turn them into works of art!
Image by Deniz Xenia Photography
Edited with Quest 36 Botanica
Negative Space
Consider the negative space around your image's focal object(s). Whether you’re photographing top-down or from an angle, pay attention to what is in your negative space when composing your image. Sometimes, leaving a lot of negative space can create balance in the image and draw attention to the details.
In the image above, the viewer focuses on the flowers and jewelry at the top of the photograph, then the eye trails down the petals and more delicate jewelry towards the bottom. The field of blue is not distracting nor is it plain, giving the eye something to look at even in the unused space.
Image by Sherri Poirier
Edited with Quest 36 Botanica
Styling and Symmetry
Pay attention to styling and arrange your objects thoughtfully, intentionally, and in a visually pleasing way— especially when you have a minimal setup. Utilize the rule of thirds or symmetry for a balanced and appealing layout.
The image above only has a couple of objects, but the composition is framed dynamically with the perfume bottle and shoes arranged diagonally and the curl of ribbon taking up negative space in the unused corner.
Perspective
Make the most of your set up by taking photos from multiple perspectives and vantage points. Each composition will be different, and you can get closer to certain objects to focus on them to lend more context to your photo series.
The below series features three totally different perspectives on the same still life scene— straight on, slightly above, and very close up.
Images by Lis Warren
Edited with Quest 42 Falena
Framing
Who said your still life or details needed to take up the whole frame? Try framing your subject in unique ways— windows, doorways, and other objects closer to your camera make great framing elements and interesting compositions!
The below still life is framed by a doorway and shows more context to the room— the empty chair and bare table offer interesting elements to the image, telling a bit of a story (more on that below).
Image by Lis Warren
Edited with Quest 42 Falena
Tell a Story
Storytelling is a big part of why detail photos at weddings are so important— they zoom in on the little things that go into a big day, and even non-wedding detail photos can do this.
By including elements that connect thematically, you can lead your viewer to connect the dots and tell a little story in their head about what the collection of objects you’ve assembled means.
Image by Lis Warren
Edited with Quest 42 Falena
Image by Magdalena Bury
Edited with Quest 42 Falena
Layers and Textures
Allow your viewer to settle into the image by arranging layers of overlapping objects, placing items at different heights to play with depth of field, or including interesting base layers like a book, tray, or cloth. Look for patterns, textures, or contrasts that will pop when captured up close.
In the image above, the objects are placed in an open briefcase and placed on top of each other to allow you to slow down and take each inclusion into consideration.
Image by Lauren Alexandra Photography
Edited with Quest 27 Serenus
Key Elements
Use selective focus or leading lines to draw the viewer's eye toward the focal point of your composition. Get close and experiment with angles to showcase small, often overlooked, details that might be important to the story you’re trying to tell. You can use Tilt Shift or blur to draw even more attention to the key elements of the image.
Image by Kate Cullen
Edited with Quest 42 Falena
The Human Element
Give your composition more life by including parts of a person handling the items in your set up. Hands are a great way to introduce a person without making them the subject instead of your still life.
You can also use the absence of people in a space where they might be expected to tell the human story in your image. Place objects in locations typically occupied by people, like in a chair, seen in the image below.
Image by Kate Cullen
Edited with Quest 42 Falena
Image by Vivid Symphony
Edited with Quest 27 Serenus
Do you love photographing details, still lifes, or flatlays? Why or why not? Tell us in the comments!