Let me start this post by saying I am in NO WAY a flatlay queen, unlike a few friend’s and bloggers I know and love to follow myself.

I have struggled with the so called “flatlay” for an INCREDIBLY long time, not because I don’t know what a great flatlay looks like but because I honestly had NO CLUE where to even start.

Apart from being so entirely lost I rarely photograph anything myself unless it’s food or I absolutely HAVE to.

Over the past few weeks I’ve learned some magnificent tips and tricks from Ana from March and May blog , she is a friend and a total FLATLAY queen and one day I hope to be as superb as her.

How-To:

1. Find a BIG window with great lighting, this way the lighting is natural and not overpowering. **tip–flatlays are best to be done on overcast days, it creates a “buffer” so the lighting is perfect.**
2. Use a thick piece of cardboard and wrap it with white/colored paper or whatever you choose — this creates that flawless white background everyone tries so hard to achieve.
3. Make sure you have some Instagram worthy props.**tip– the dollar store, micheals and party store are GREAT for this.**
4. Place things on the white board by the window and organize however you’d like!
5. Take a lot of pictures, make slight changes and use different angles so you have a lot of photos to choose from.

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Now comes the hard part– EDITING :

After trying a few different photo editing apps on my phone Snapseed and VSCO have been my winners, Snapseed for editing and VSCO for filters.

1. Upload your photo to snapseed– then tune image.
2. Adjust the exposure — I usually end up brightening the exposure.
3. Contrast– Add contrast this will make the colors more prominent.
4. Add Saturation.
5. Cool the temperature of the photo or warmth– I usually do -10.
6. Sharpen the details of the image.
7. Save and upload to VSCO !
8. Once you have picked an Instagram filter and saved your photo with vsco congrats ! You hopefully have an Instagram worthy flatlay !

Thanks to Daniel Wellington I finally have an Instagram worthy watch !

You can shop my watch here or use the code “MYCLOSETJOURNEY” for 15% off your order!