My Most Used Styling Props for Flat Lays

When it comes to styling flat lays I’ve come to realize that I use many of the same items over and over again. This is NOT a bad thing - actually its really resourceful if you ask me! But what is key in doing this is making sure your content is still fresh - using different colors or items in each flat lay will help keep things looking unique while still being able to use the same props over and over.

So today I’ve put together a short list of items I tend to use over an over again in my stock or product photography.

Flowers or Greens

You CANNOT go wrong with incorporating fresh flowers or greens into your photos. The key here is FRESH. Now don’t get me wrong I still use a variety of faux florals but there is a time and place for those. Plus many of the faux options for certain flowers or greens just doesn’t cut it for me so I just plan on using fresh. One thing to keep in mind is that you have to PLAN your shoot. Make sure you take a day to plan when you are shooting because, well, fresh flowers and greens die.. In some cases they only last a day so its imperative you plan ahead of time or else you are totally wasting money. Here are some ways in which I’ve incorporated fresh flowers and greens.

Notebooks

I’m somewhat obsessed with planners and notebooks. There are so many amazing designs and colors out there that the options are endless! Plus I find they can be a great addition to many of my stock photos and target audience. So what I recommend is keeping an eye out on planners that are on sale! And if you are savvy with photoshop you can easily use an old one and just mask out the year! I’ve done that a few times. Here are some fun ways in which I’ve used planners and notebooks.

Keyboards

This one is a bit cliche lately but I just can’t help myself. I love adding a keyboard to my flatlays. It gives a sense of hard work and also appeals to my ideal audience. If you audience is necessarily one to work on a mac or just work on a computer in general, this may not be as useful to you. But its an easy thing to use especially since its a very common household item.

Scissors

Okay, so when it comes to flatlays and product photography I found adding various stationary and desktop items such as scissors can really add a sense of creativity to your photos. Scissors can be that perfect items that helps frame your image too when placed on the outside of your flatlay.