Beach light is harsh. Here’s what to do

A trip produces hundreds of photos and, often, very little story. Back home, the camera roll is full of landmarks and empty of the moments that made the trip feel like yours.

This is how the two pictures sit together on one spread.

Why it works

Think of each day as a short chapter. A beginning, something in the middle, and an ending.

The people you travelled with matter more than the places. Make sure they are in the pictures.

• Keep one photo per day at most
• Hand the camera to someone else
• Leave the cover for last

Start with what you already have

Print sizes matter less than you think. A small photo surrounded by white space can feel more special than one stretched to fill the page.

If you have too many photos of one day, that day probably mattered. Give it a spread of its own rather than cutting it down to one.

The book comes, and for one evening nobody looks at their phone.

Marcus, father of three

What to look for

Quiet months are worth printing too. A month with no trips and no birthdays often turns into the book people return to, because it shows what ordinary life looked like before it changed.

Most people find the first month the hardest. You are learning what you like, and every photo feels important. By the third month you will notice yourself moving faster, trusting your first reaction and spending your time on the handful of close calls instead of on every single picture.

Good to know: every Paperleaf book has room for thirty photos, so there is no prize for keeping more.

A few small rules

Try to include everyone. It is easy to end up with a book full of the children and none of the person holding the camera.

Faces matter, but so do places. Include at least one picture of the room, the street or the view where the month happened.

• Keep one photo per day at most
• Back up before deleting anything
• Leave the cover for last

Try it this month

It helps to know what the book is for before you start. A book for grandparents wants faces and clear captions. A book for yourself can hold the odd corner of the garden, the shadow on the wall and the plate of food that only makes sense to you.

On the second pass, look for variety. A month of the same room and the same faces feels flat, even if each photo is lovely on its own.

We don’t take more photos than we used to. We just look at them now.

Ana, a reader since the first year

When to stop

Do not be afraid of imperfect photos. A little blur or a stray elbow often tells you more about the day than a tidy, posed shot.

Be generous on the first pass. You are not deciding what goes in the book yet, only what is definitely out.

Good to know: every Paperleaf book has room for thirty photos, so there is no prize for keeping more.

Make it a habit

Keep the phone charged and the lens clean on days you expect to matter. It sounds small, but a flat battery or a smudged lens has cost more good pictures than any missing piece of equipment.

When a month has a big event in it, such as a wedding or a first day at school, let it take over. There is no rule that says every week needs equal space. The book should feel like the month felt.

• Leave the cover for last
• Keep one photo per day at most
• Write a few words beside the best ones

What we got wrong

Keep a note of what happened that month as you go. A few words beside a photo are worth far more than you expect a year later.

Take one photo before the moment and one after. The before and after often say more than the moment itself.

My mum reads the captions more than she looks at the pictures.

Leila, who writes every caption by hand

One more thing

Watch the light at different times of day in your own home. Most houses have one window that is lovely for an hour every afternoon.

Do not forget the in-between moments: the car park before the party, the coats piled on a chair, the walk home in the dark. They are the parts of a day that nobody photographs on purpose and everybody recognises straight away.

Before you start: make sure your phone is backed up. Deleting is easier when nothing can be lost.

Keep it simple

If you share a camera roll with someone, agree on who picks which month. Taking turns means each book has a slightly different point of view, and nobody ends up doing all of the work every time.

Look back at last year’s book before you start this month’s. It reminds you what you enjoyed seeing again and what you skipped past, which makes this month’s choices quicker and kinder.

• Star photos as you take them
• Include at least one place, not just faces
• Back up before deleting anything

Why it works

Hand the phone to someone else at least once a month. It is the only way the photographer gets into the book.

Some readers keep a short list of rules on a sticky note beside the computer. Ours says: faces first, then places, then anything that made us laugh. It is not scientific, but it stops the session turning into an evening of second-guessing.

I thought I needed a better camera. I needed a better window.

Tom Okafor, Paperleaf