A flat-lay is a photograph taken straight down onto a surface. Put that surface on a tablet or monitor showing white and you get something a tabletop cannot give you: a base that glows. Shadows under the objects disappear, glass lights up from below, and the background arrives almost at pure white with no editing. I use it for jewellery, stationery, cosmetics and anything translucent.
What I use
- A tablet, or a monitor laid flat on a towel. Bigger is easier.
- A sheet of clear acrylic or glass to protect the screen and lift the objects.
- A camera or phone on an overhead arm, or a tripod with a horizontal column.
- One soft light or a window to one side, and a white card.
- A white screen in fullscreen, controls hidden with H.
Setting up
- Lay the screen flat and level. Check with a phone level app; a tilted base means converging edges.
- Open the white screen, go fullscreen, and set the display to full brightness.
- Place the acrylic sheet on top, raised 1 to 2 cm on four small spacers. This is the trick that hides the pixel grid.
- Arrange the objects on the acrylic.
- Position the camera directly above, sensor parallel to the screen.
Exposure: balance two lights
You now have two light sources: the screen underneath and your light above. The screen sets the background; the top light sets the product.
- With only the screen on, objects are silhouettes. Lovely for glass and leaves, useless for a lipstick.
- Add top light until the objects are properly exposed.
- Then adjust shutter speed until the background just clips to white. The background responds to shutter speed; if you use flash on top, the flash does not, which lets you set each independently.
On a phone, tap the product to set exposure, then drag the exposure slider up until the background is white but the product is not washed out. Lock it.
The screen sets the background. The top light sets the product. Balance the two and the edit is already done.
Avoiding moiré and banding
| Problem | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Rainbow ripple pattern | Camera resolving the pixel grid | Raise objects on acrylic; open the aperture; add a sheet of tracing paper over the screen |
| Dark horizontal bands | Screen refresh or PWM dimming against a fast shutter | Shutter at 1/60 s or slower; screen at full brightness |
| Colour cast in the white | Screen white point differs from top light | Custom white balance on the screen; gel or adjust the top light |
| Reflections of the camera | Glossy acrylic | Shoot through a hole in black card; wear dark clothes |
Full brightness matters. Many screens dim by flickering, and that flicker becomes bands at short shutter speeds. At 100 percent most run continuously.
White balance
A screen showing #FFFFFF is usually close to 6500 K. Daylight from a window is about the same, which is why window light and a screen pair so easily. A warm household lamp on top will turn the product orange against a blue-white base. Use daylight-balanced light, or set a custom white balance on a grey card at the product and accept a slightly cool background, which you can clip to white anyway. More in food photography white balance.
Styling for the grid
- Work in odd numbers and leave breathing space; the white is part of the composition.
- Align edges to the frame, or commit to a clear diagonal. Nearly straight looks like a mistake.
- Small objects want a tighter crop. Do not let them float in a sea of white.
- For a softer, less clinical base, switch to paper white or linen.
What it will not do
A screen is a small, modest light. It cannot backlight a large object, and it is not bright enough to overpower direct sun. Heavy or sharp items risk the glass. For anything larger than the screen, a lightbox or a white sweep is the right tool; I describe a cheap one in a DIY lightbox under $20.
Looking after the screen
- Always use the acrylic sheet. It costs little and saves a display.
- No liquids on set without a tray. Perfume bottles leak.
- Let the tablet cool between long sessions at full brightness.
- Lock touch input so a stray finger does not close the white screen mid-shoot.
Finishing
Most frames need only a crop and a small levels move to take the background from 250 to 255. Check the corners with an eyedropper, and confirm the screen you are judging on can show the difference with the calibration patches.
The short version
Flat screen, full brightness, acrylic raised a centimetre, camera square overhead, daylight-balanced top light, shutter at 1/60 s or slower. Balance the two lights until the white just clips. Open the white screen and try it with whatever is on your desk.
Once the set-up is right, leave it alone and work quickly. I arrange, shoot, swap the product, and shoot again without touching the camera or the lights, so every frame in the series matches and can be edited as a batch.
FAQ
For rings and small items, yes. A tablet gives you room to compose.
The screen is flickering against your shutter. Use full screen brightness and a slower shutter speed.
No. A phone on an overhead arm does well, provided you lock exposure and focus.