Tap to focus, then drag to darken

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.

Quick tip: star photos on your phone as you take them. Picking takes half the time at the end of the month.

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

Tom Okafor, Paperleaf

What we got wrong

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.

1. Delete the obvious misses: blurs, pockets and thumbs.
2. Star one photo per day, even on dull days.
3. Pick the cover last, once the month has a shape.

Make it a habit

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.

Delete duplicates as you go rather than saving them for later. Later rarely comes, and a cleaner camera roll makes picking much easier.

Try it this month

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.

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.

• Hand the camera to someone else
• Pick a fixed day each month
• Keep one photo per day at most

When to stop

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.

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.

Start with what you already have

Leave a little space. Not every page needs to be full, and an empty corner gives the eye somewhere to rest.

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.

Reader tip: one family keeps a paper list on the fridge of moments they want in the next book.

What to look for

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.

Share the book when it arrives. Leaving it on the kitchen table for a day is often enough for everyone to have a look.

1. Delete the obvious misses: blurs, pockets and thumbs.
2. Star one photo per day, even on dull days.
3. Pick the cover last, once the month has a shape.

Why it works

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 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.

Keep it simple

Write the year on the spine. It sounds obvious, but without it a shelf of books quickly becomes a puzzle.

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.

• Pick a fixed day each month
• Keep one photo per day at most
• Back up before deleting anything