Top tips for starting a 10 on 10 photography project

The 10 on 10 project is one of my favourite photography projects and one that I’ve been doing pretty regularly since Nerys was a baby.

If you’ve never heard of it before, or aren’t sure how to go about doing it, then keep reading for my top tips for starting a 10 on 10 photography project.

First of all, what is the 10 on 10 photography project?

The 10 on 10 project is like the 365 project‘s more laid-back cousin.

So instead of taking a photo every day for a year, you take 10 photos on the 10th of each month.

How do I do a 10 on 10 photography project?

It’s really easy.

Just pick a month to get started, and on the 10th grab your camera and take 10 photos throughout the day.

Most people will treat the 10 on 10 project as a monthly ‘day in the life’, so the aim is to take photos over the course of the day to capture how life is at that moment in time.

This is the way I like to do it, recording the little moments of our family life that feel really routine and mundane right now, but that will all be so different in a few years time.

If you want to though you could take a different approach and pick a new challenge each month.

So this month you could take 10 photos of one particular subject, 10 photos using only natural light, or 10 photos with a slow shutter speed.

Getting started

All you need to get started is your camera or your phone and a bit of inspiration for the sorts of photos you want to take.

If you decide to take the ‘day in the life’ approach then my advice is to have a think at the start of the day about the particular moments you might want to photograph.

10 on 10 photo inspiration and ideas

Not sure where to start or feeling a bit stuck for ideas of what photos to actually take? Here are some prompts to get you going:

Think about the routines of your day

Walk through your day in your mind and think about the little details of your daily routines.

Things like:

the morning routine
meal times
school runs
bedtime

Look at the details

Get in close and take photos of the little details on things like:

shoes
books that are read over and over again at the moment
current favourite toys
clothing
little fingers and toes

Look at the big picture

Once you’ve captured the details take a step back and photograph the whole scene. It’s the bits and pieces in the background that really anchor your photos in time. Not sure what I mean? Think about photos of you in your teenage bedroom – it’s the posters on the wall and the magazines on the bed that really tell the story of when those photos were taken.

So think about photographing:

your baby in the cot, taken from the doorway to show the whole room
the wider scene at the park as you play or feed the ducks
the messy kitchen around you as you cook

Embrace the seasons

Let the time of year and the weather inspire you each month.

In the summer you might photograph:

a day at the beach or the park
sun cream bottles
ice creams
flip flops, sunglasses, and sunhats

In the winter it could be:

wellies and umbrellas
mugs of hot chocolate
bare trees
Christmas preperations

Get in some photos yourself

Make sure to include yourself in some of your photos.

Use a timer, a remote trigger, or a mirror to take photos with your family or by yourself as you go about your normal routines.

What to do if you get stuck with the 10 on 10 photography project

First of all, know that it’s completely normal to get stuck and feel uninspired to take your 10 photos some months. And it’s absolutely fine to skip a month if you’re really not feeling it.

If you want to push through though, try pushing your creativity by:

getting above your subject and take a photograph from this bird’s eye view
getting in close to focus on the details
stepping back to see the whole scene
taking a completely different approach for that month instead of sticking to the day in the life theme

The main thing to remember is that a 10 on 10 project should be fun, so don’t get hung up on the ‘rules’. If the weather is particularly dark and gloomy on the 10th, or you know that the 12th of the month will be a more interesting day to photograph, then take your pictures that day.

Let yourself just have fun with it, play around, be creative, and enjoy the process.

It’s also worth knowing that you might not think much of your photos at the time. But a year from now, when your children are that bit older and your life looks a bit different, you’ll really start to see the beauty in those pictures.

If you don’t think that the 10 on 10 project is the one for you, then read 7 photography project ideas to boost your creativity to find something else that might suit you better:

This glorious life