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Flatlays That Didn't Make The Cut

Sunday 2 April 2017


When I first started this blog there was once piece of advice I received many times - post the content you would like to read. I've wanted to write another photography post for a while as they're some of my favourites to read, but I was determined to find a different way of presenting it, as I already listed my tips and tricks in my previous photography blogpost. With that in mind, I've decided to share with you some of my rejected flatlays - photos that I took and edited but decided not to share on my blog or Instagram. Lets go on a wander through my trash can!


I originally rejected this flatlay because I didn't like the spacing of the flowers - I'm a big fan of symmetry and this shot is lacking in it.  The whole image would have looked nicer had I evenly positioned the flowers, but I'm glad I didn't persevere as it still would have been quite dull, and wouldn't have done the beautiful blush justice. When there's only one product in a flatlay I usually like to build up the props around it so it is part of a bigger story (I know, that sounds really pretentious but I can't think of another way to describe it!) So after playing around with the tones in photoshop I decided to reshoot, and this is how it turned out: 


I think this shot is much more interesting, my attention is still on the product, so the props aren't too distracting, but they help to add some feeling to the flatlay. The second image is also much warmer because of the pink paper background, which ties in better with the tones of the peach blush. 


I had been taking a lot of inspiration from Pinterest when I decided to take this photo. I loved the look of flatlays styled with hands (like these, for example 1, 2, 3), but when I came to take one myself I realised that they're not as easy as to shoot as they look. I don't have a tripod, or a friend who is willing to take photos for me, so I had to awkwardly hold my heavy camera in one hand above my head and press the shutter button with that same hand. Needless to say, this was not one of my favourite photo shooting sessions, as it resulted in me accidentally hitting myself on the head with the camera with such force that twinkling stars appeared around me. The final image isn't a bad shot, it's just not very neat - the T is upside-down on the bottle lid and the positioning of my hand is quite awkward. I'm definitely going to attempt one of these images again when I buy a tripod though, so wish me luck! 


This is one from the early days! I'd had the idea of putting the Lush star wand inside a bunch of flowers, which actually looks quite pretty, but then I hadn't thought about the rest of the flatlay at all, so I grabbed three random and unrelated pink products from my stash to fill the white space. I wish I had used some of my favourite pink lipsticks or nail polishes instead which would have made much more sense. In the past few months I've been working on only taking photos with products that relate to each other, which I can then write about in a blogpost or Instagram caption, rather than just laying out a bunch of random products which look nice together. 


I actually took this photo just last week! The main reason I decided not to post it to Instagram is because the tones are all a bit too similar, which makes it look quite flat, the positioning of the flowers at the top is also sloppy (I think they would have looked nicer in one of the top corners.) The two products are also weakly related to each other (I bought them both in Superdrug), so instead I decided to split them up, using the Zoella Bath Fizzer in my Sick Day Routine blog post, featuring the image below: 


I hope you enjoyed this post! None of the images I shared are bad images, they just don't fit the look and feel that I'm currently aiming for with my blog and Instagram content. I feel quite nervous about sharing my "reject reel" with the world, so please leave a comment below if you found it interesting, and if lots of people like it I might do another similar post in a couple of months! 
Fx 

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