The rule
Often enough that you never wonder if you missed a stage. Rarely enough that two neighbouring photos look different. For most goals that's once a week, same day, same time.
By goal
Starting points, based on how fast each one changes:
- Fitness and body composition: weekly, before breakfast.
- Weight loss or gain: weekly, on the day you weigh in.
- Skin and acne: weekly, or every three days during a treatment.
- Hair growth or regrowth: every two to four weeks.
- A beard: every two weeks.
- A tattoo healing: daily for the first two weeks, then monthly.
- Plants and gardens: weekly in season, monthly in winter.
- Renovations: at each milestone, not on a schedule.
Daily, if you like the ritual
Daily photos are the best way to build the habit, and for fast changes such as a healing tattoo or a skin treatment they're the right cadence. For a body or hair, though, compare photos at least two weeks apart: day-to-day noise like water retention and stance will hide the trend if you look at neighbouring days.
Why not monthly for everything
A month is long enough to forget the setup, the pose, and the light, so monthly photos of fast-changing things rarely line up. If the gap is long, keep the setup simple and let an overlay of the last photo do the lining up.
Make it automatic
A cadence you have to remember is a cadence you'll drop. Set a reminder for the same slot each time, and give each thing its own collection so the schedule can differ: weekly for the gym, monthly for the plant. Journey Tracker does both, and its activity grid shows the days you kept it.
When to look back
Review less often than you shoot. Weekly photos, monthly reviews. Put the newest photo next to one from six weeks ago, then play the timeline. Small weekly changes add up to something you can see.