Your phone is a better camera than you think. Most disappointing photos come down to light, distance and a dirty lens, not to the hardware. A few habits fix nearly all of them.
Before you start: make sure your phone is backed up. Deleting is easier when nothing can be lost.
I thought I needed a better camera. I needed a better window.
Tom Okafor, Paperleaf
Keep it simple
None of this needs an app or an accessory. It only needs a moment of attention before you press the button.
If you try only one thing this month, try this one. It takes no time and the difference shows up on the first page of the book.
- Star photos as you take them
- Hand the camera to someone else
- Write a few words beside the best ones
A few small rules
Think about how the photos sit next to each other. Two busy pictures side by side can fight; a busy one beside a quiet one usually works.
Do not wait for a special occasion. The ordinary weeks are the ones people forget, and the ones they most want to see again.
We don’t take more photos than we used to. We just look at them now.
Ana, a reader since the first year
Make it a habit
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.
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.
Reader tip: one family keeps a paper list on the fridge of moments they want in the next book.
Start with what you already have
Make a cup of tea, sit somewhere comfortable and put the phone on do-not-disturb. The job goes faster when it does not compete with messages.
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.
- Pick a fixed day each month
- Star photos as you take them
- Include at least one place, not just faces
When to stop
Take one photo before the moment and one after. The before and after often say more than the moment itself.
If two photos are nearly the same, keep the one where someone is doing something. A raised hand, a turned head or a half-finished sentence gives a picture life that a perfectly still pose rarely has, even when the still one is technically better.
I thought I needed a better camera. I needed a better window.
Tom Okafor, Paperleaf
Try it this month
Faces matter, but so do places. Include at least one picture of the room, the street or the view where the month happened.
Set aside a fixed time for it. The last Sunday of the month works for a lot of readers because the week is quiet and the month is complete.
Quick tip: star photos on your phone as you take them. Picking takes half the time at the end of the month.
What we got wrong
Write the year on the spine. It sounds obvious, but without it a shelf of books quickly becomes a puzzle.
If you miss a month, do not try to catch up all at once. Start again with this month and fill the gap later if you feel like it.
- Back up before deleting anything
- Pick a fixed day each month
- Hand the camera to someone else
Why it works
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.
Share the book when it arrives. Leaving it on the kitchen table for a day is often enough for everyone to have a look.
Picking is a skill. Like any skill, it gets faster.
Priya Nair, Paperleaf print room
Saving this for the end of the month. Last Sunday it is.
Great question. Start with one photo per child per day and swap them on the second pass.
Thank you for not telling me to buy a new camera.
Agreed, this was the tip that worked for us too.
My grandmother cried when she got the book. That is all I wanted to say.
So glad it helped. Let us know how the first book turns out.
Such a simple idea and I had never tried it. Doing it tonight.
We tried the one-photo-per-day rule last month and it made picking so much easier. Thank you!
This is exactly the nudge I needed. My camera roll has four thousand photos from this year alone.
Try giving them the phone for a day. Worked with my teenager.
Saving this for the end of the month. Last Sunday it is.
Does this work for older kids too? Mine are 11 and 14 and hide from the camera.