The arrival of this beautiful summer weather means one thing; Picnics with friends/family/housemates in the park or garden! I am a huge lover of picnics and always have been; whether this be on the beach in Australia, a park in London or my back garden in my parent’s home. I love creating the perfect picnic set up from the food to the comfort of cushions and blankets. Recently, I have done a few Instagram shoots with some friends and below are some of my tips on how you can create your own Picnic Photography Set up.
What I used (you can use whatever you feel works best):
☆ Blanket
☆ Several cushions
☆ Picnic Hamper
☆ Fruit – I used Grapefruit and Oranges
☆ Coffee mugs
☆ Vintage Camera for props
☆ Straw Hat
☆ Book
☆ Netted bag
The first thing you want to do is find a background that you’re happy with. In my local park, where both of these images were shot, there were some beautiful white flowers that were blossoming . We chose to set up here where we could create a mixture of full setup and close up imagery, using the flowers and imagery as the backdrop.
Once you’ve found a backdrop you’re happy with, start placing your blanket and cushions down – I recommend keeping it not too ‘perfect’ looking and more rough – so the blanket can have creases in it and the cushions placed around the subject you want to photograph.
The hamper is a great prop as you can interact with it or just using it in the background to create that perfect picnic feel.
Another great object that you can get your subject/model to interact with is fruit. I’ve always loved the look of oranges and grapefruits in photos – especially when it matches the clothing or other items in an image.
Experiment with different angles that you are shooting from – this could be from lower down like this first image above. I made sure the hamper was still in view so that it still gave the feel of a picnic set up. The second image was taken from up above and looking down – this gave a more flat-lay style to the image. You can also experiment with objects in the foreground, below are some examples of this:
There’s so many ways you can set up a little picnic photoshoot, even simply from your garden! You can easily experiment with different objects and don’t ever be afraid to try something new! Most of the time, trying something new is how I shoot some of my favourite images to date! If you try this, please be sure to send me your images, I’d love to see them. x
