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10 Photo Assignments to Inspire and Challenge Your Skills

Liz Masoner is a professional photographer and she shares her tips and techniques on photo editing and how to photograph nature, portraits, and events with film and digital cameras. Liz has over 30 years of experience and she is the author of three books on photography.

The best way to learn photography is to practice, though sometimes you can get stuck in a rut and not know what to shoot. That is why photographers love assignments; they give us a purpose and an idea of what to photograph. 

Why Are Assignments Important?

Self-assignments are key to any photographer's growth. Even professionals with decades of experience will work on personal assignments that they may never get paid for. The goal of any self-assignment is to spur creativity, solve problems, learn new techniques, and challenge yourself.

As you start out in photography, you're probably filled with excitement and ready to shoot anything you can. That being said, sometimes a little direction and guidance are necessary.

Below, you will find ten photography assignments. Each covers a new topic, skill, or concept and they were chosen to help you learn how to see as a photographer. They are meant to be a personal challenge that you can complete at your own pace and with no outside judgment, simply as a means to practice and improve your photography. Hopefully, you will learn something new with each assignment and be able to use that in every photograph you take in the future.

Remember when composing your images to keep in mind the basics: the rule of thirds,  shutter speed , aperture,  depth of field , and  exposure .

Assignment #1: Up Close

This assignment encourages you to get close and personal with your subject. It is an exercise in viewing a common object in a new way and examining its finer details.

• Choose an object that you see or interact with every day.
• Focus on a small part of it, get as close as your camera will allow you to focus, and shoot away.
• Try to capture different angles and unusual lighting to add to the mystery of this tiny world.

From the whiskers of your cat to a fragile Christmas ornament, and even common soap bubbles, there is an entire world that we often overlook because we don't get close enough.

Assignment #2: Motion

Photography is a static medium which means that it doesn't move. Conveying a sense of motion is often crucial to capturing a scene or emotion and it is an essential skill for photographers to practice.

The goal of this exercise is to understand how shutter speeds can be used to convey motion.

• Choose a subject or series of subjects that will allow you to convey motion in your images.
• It can be slow motions, like that of a turtle, or fast motion, like a speeding train.
• Blur it, stop it, or simply suggest that there is motion in the photograph.

Challenge yourself to capture the same motion in different ways. For instance, you might go to a race track and stop the movement of the cars completely in one image, then leave the shutter open and allow them to blur out of the frame in the next. 

Assignment #3: Shadows

Shadows are everywhere and they are vital to photography because this is the art of capturing light. With light comes shadows and when you begin to look at shadows as a photographer, your world will open up.

• Take a look around for shadows and record them with your camera.
• You could show the shadow as the total focus of the image. Perhaps the shadow is incidental to the subject.
• Is the shadow natural or created by flash?

Shadows are integral to creating depth in a two-dimensional medium such as photography. Take some time to seriously explore the "dark side" of the light.

Assignment #4: Water

Water is everywhere in photography and it presents many challenges. There are reflections and movements to work with and in this exercise, you will take a deeper look at water.

• Find water anywhere: lakes, streams, puddles, even the glass on your kitchen table.
• Pay attention to reflections and use them to your advantage in the photographs. Use this opportunity to get familiar with a polarizing filter (a very useful tool in your camera kit) so you can accentuate or eliminate reflections.
• Play with the motion of a stream or the crashing waves. Notice the difference between stopping the flow of water and allowing it to blur to create a real sense of movement.

Be sure to make water the subject and not an accent to the image. Water alone is beautiful and mysterious and your challenge is to explore all of its potential as a subject.

Assignment #5: Leading Lines

A classic assignment in photography schools, 'leading lines ' is a popular and fun subject. The goal of this assignment is to learn how to direct the viewer to your subject using lines.

• Choose a subject then look around for lines in the scene that you can use to 'lead' the viewer to the subject. 
• Find an interesting line then determine what the subject of your photograph is.
• Remember that lines can be man-made or natural. For instance, the yellow line down the middle of the road or a tree branch. Even a person's arm can be a leading line of their face.

Use this assignment as an excuse to take an afternoon photo excursion. Walk downtown or in the woods and look around you for interesting lines that lead the eye to a subject. There is an amazing assortment of lines out there in the world and once you begin to see them, you won't be able to stop. 

Assignment #6: Perspective

How do you normally stand when you shoot? If your answer is straight up like a 5-foot-something human being then this assignment is for you. The perspective assignment challenges you to view the world from an entirely new perspective, which in turn gives the viewer a new look at the ordinary.

• Take another afternoon or evening for a photo excursion wherever you like.
• This time, every time you find something to photograph, stop!
• Ask yourself: How would a squirrel see that tree? How would a robin view that birdbath? How would a snake view that log?
• Take your photographs from very high or very low angles. Get on your belly or stand on a chair, whatever you have to (safely) do to get the 'right' angle on your subject.

If you pay attention to professional photographs, many of the images that have the WOW factor are photographed from extreme angles. People enjoy these photos because they've never seen an object from that viewpoint. It is new and unique, and you can train yourself to shoot with this in mind.

Assignment #7: Texture

You may have captured a few textural details in the 'Up Close' assignment, but this assignment takes that to the next level. The goal in this one is to study textures and forget about the object itself: the texture becomes the subject. You will also begin to realize how light affects the appearance of texture.

• Find a few objects that have very detailed textures like trees or rocks, even knit sweaters or woven rugs.
• Photograph them as close as your lens will allow.
• Use different angles and capture the same texture as the light changes. Notice how the different lighting directions and camera angles can change how much texture appears.

Textures are all around us and many of the best photographs in the world play up the textural element. This assignment should teach you how to recognize and accentuate those elements in your photos.

Assignment #8: Color Harmony

Color is important to photography because the world is full of color. This exercise requires a bit of study in color theory, which you will then put into practice in your photographs.

Do you remember art class in elementary school? You may have learned that yellow and blue make green, but color theory goes beyond that. There are cool and warm colors, complementary and contrasting colors, neutral colors, and bold colors.

It can get quite complicated, and photographers should have a basic understanding of color so you can use that when composing photographs. You don't have to study color like a painter would but can use tricks used by interior designers to influence your color decisions.

• Once you have an idea of color theory, take another photo excursion and put what you've learned into practice.
• Capture photographs with the primary or tertiary colors.
• Look for complementary colors then contrasting colors to photograph.
• Try finding a scene to photograph that is filled with neutral colors, then one that uses a bold color to 'pop' from the scene.

This is an advanced lesson, but one that any photographer working with color images will find useful. As you practice working with colors, it will become second nature and you will know how to work with color to change the feel of your images.

Assignment #9: Emotions

Take a photo of a person smiling or scowling, right? Not so. The intent of this assignment is to convey emotion in photographs  without  a face.

• Take photographs that express each of the basic emotions: happy, sad, and mad.
• How would you express the feeling of anger with no person? What about happiness? Sadness?

This is a purely conceptual assignment, but it is important to be able to relay emotion in your photographs and you might not always have a person available to do that with. Challenge yourself to think deeper about this one.

Assignment #10: Don't Look!

Are you ready to put your photography skills to the test? In today's world of digital cameras and the ability to see image captures right there on the LCD screen, photographers are losing some of the skills needed to visualize a photograph.

In this assignment, your challenge is to shoot as if you were using a film camera. That means that you will not look at the photographs you've taken until they are downloaded on your computer. Instead of relying on the camera's screen to see if you 'got the shot' you will rely on your instinct and knowledge, just like photographers did before digital photography. Can you do it?

• Plan a photo excursion to a particular location and permit yourself to photograph only 36 images (a roll of 35mm film).
• Turn off your camera's LCD screen so it does not show you the image after you have taken it.
• If you cannot turn off the camera's screen, cut a piece of thick paper and tape it over the screen. Use masking or painter's tape so you don't leave a residue on the back of your camera.
• Go out and shoot your 36 frames, thinking carefully about each image because you don't have an endless number of shots. Bonus points if you turn your camera to completely manual settings for focus and exposure.
• Don't peek at your photos until you get home and download them.

How did you do? Were you able to get good exposures on your own? How did it feel to be 'blind' and not know how your image turned out right away? 

This is similar to what it is like to shoot with film and it does require you to think harder about every image you take. Next time you shoot, slow down and pay attention, pretend that the screen is not there and rely on your own skills to create a great image. You will be a better photographer in the end.

More from The Spruce Crafts

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Lesson Plan

Five Photography Assignments That Invite You to Look Closely at the World

Students, try one of these exercises inspired by the visual series The Take. What can you learn about the world by looking at it through a particular lens?

By Natalie Proulx

How often do you look — really look — at the world around you? Below, we offer five photography assignments that challenge students to do just that, all inspired by The New York Times visual series The Take .

In this series, The Times asks photographers to explore different cultural themes through images — for example, to document what they see when they look up, to capture the sounds they hear in New York City or to find dance in everyday movements.

What can you learn about the world by looking at it through a particular lens? Choose one (or more) of the five assignments below to try out. For each, we’ll guide you through a warm-up activity, a reading of the Take article that inspired the exercise and your own photo shoot. When you’re done, you can create your own visual article by putting together a gallery of your images and writing a short commentary on what they mean to you.

These exercises are meant to be accessible to anyone with a camera or smartphone, whether you’re an experienced photographer or you’re just looking for a fun visual challenge. If you’d like to experiment with some composition and editing techniques, see our related photography lesson plan .

And if none of these projects inspires you, look through The Take’s archives for more ideas.

Assignment No. 1

Most of us spend our days looking down: at our phones, computers, homework, meals. What would you see if you looked up instead? For this assignment, we invite you to photograph what you see when you turn your gaze to the sky.

Warm-up: Wherever you are right now, look up. What do you see?

Spend some time studying the images, shapes, patterns, colors, lines, light, shadows, angles or movements above you. What catches your attention? What have you never noticed before? How is this angle different from looking at something straight on, straight down or from the side? Is there anything you see that strikes you as artistic, that might make for an interesting photograph?

How often do you look up? What does this quick exercise tell you about what might happen when you do?

Read “ When 4 Photographers Looked Up, This Is What They Saw .”

For this assignment, The Take simply asked photographers to look up. View the photos they made and their commentary on them. Then choose one that stands out to you. What did the photographer want to capture in it? Was the photo successful in your opinion? What does the image say to you? What does it show us about looking up?

Your turn: Photograph what you see when you look up.

You might approach this assignment in two ways: 1) You can carry your camera around with you for a day or several days and photograph anything interesting you see when you look up, as the photographer Ali Cherkis did venturing around New York City. 2) Or you might start with a specific place and idea in mind that you want to photograph, as Stella Blackmon did when she wanted to capture the “sense of wonder” she felt from seeing children climbing in the trees at her great-aunt’s home in Ozark, Mo.

Assignment No. 2

Capture the Sounds of a Place

Photography might seem like it’s all about sight, but it can evoke other senses, too. The Take challenged four photographers to try to capture the sounds of New York City in images. How can you show what the place you live sounds like?

Warm-up: What sounds can you hear in this photograph?

Study the photograph above closely. What might you hear if you were in the scene? Which elements of the image help convey those sounds? What senses or emotions does the photograph evoke in you? What story does it tell about New York City?

Read “ Sounds of the City .”

For this assignment, The Take sent four photographers to capture New York’s soundscape in images. Spend some time with the photos and the photographers’ commentary on them. Which images most strongly and clearly imply sound to you? Which ones surprise you or perhaps challenge an assumption you have about life in New York City? Choose one of these photos and repeat the exercise you did in the warm-up.

Your turn: Photograph the sounds of a place.

For this assignment, you might travel around your city or town and photograph the sounds you find. Or you might focus on a more contained space, such as your school, the skate park, your neighborhood or any other place where you spend time. You might try to capture many disparate sounds — quiet ones, loud ones, harsh ones, pleasant ones — as Daniel Arnold did in his photos of various corners of New York City. Or you can try to capture a particular type of sound, as Ike Edeani did in his photos of the subway stations’ “mini concerts.”

Assignment No. 3

Find Art Wherever You Go

Four photographers went in search of candid moments and images that struck them — impressionistically, conceptually or naturally — as art. Where can you spot art in the world around you?

Warm-up: What does art look like?

How do you know when you see something that is art? What elements make it so? What does it do to you, the viewer?

Look around the space you are in right now. Is there anything that strikes you as art? Perhaps it’s the way your jacket is draped over a chair, how light is coming in through a window, the interesting pattens created by a shadow on your desk or the shape someone’s face makes when they smile or frown. What about this thing makes it seem artistic to you?

Read “ Art Is Everywhere. Just Look to the Streets. ”

The Take invited four photographers to look for art in the streets of New York. Spend some time looking at all of the photographs and reading the commentary. Then, focus on one photographer’s images. How does this photographer conceptualize art? How does that idea come through in one of his or her photos? What do you think makes this photo artistic — impressionistically, conceptually or naturally?

Your turn: Photograph candid moments and images that look like art to you.

Where can you find art in the world around you? You might take your camera out for a day and start shooting anything that strikes you as art. Or you might shoot with a particular vision in mind, such as Sabrina Santiago who was “interested in what people are saying from the back,” or Trevor Wisecup who looked for “abnormalities in our day-to-day life, glitches in the matrix if you will.” Challenge yourself to capture candid moments, rather than trying to stage images.

Assignment No. 4

Explore the Ways We Move

The Take asked four photographers to find dance in our everyday gestures, whether reaching for a jug of milk, hugging a loved one or scaling a rock wall. How can you find beauty in how we physically navigate the world?

Warm-up: Can you see beauty in the ways that people move, even when there is no music?

Can you find dance in people’s everyday rituals and routines? To answer this question you might go somewhere crowded — your school’s hallway, a park, a basketball game — and spend a few minutes just observing people. Do any gestures look like dance to you? What is it about these movements that resemble those that dancers might make?

Read “ There’s Dance All Over, No Matter Where You Look .”

During the height of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, The Take asked photographers to show how people were physically navigating a world in which awareness of our bodies — how much space we took up, whether we were six feet from our neighbor — had become the norm. What they found was a kind of dance in these everyday movements.

Spend some time with the images and photographers’ commentary. Then choose one photograph to look at more closely. Why does this image speak to you? How does it represent dance? What emotion, experience or idea do you think the photographer wanted to capture in it?

Your turn: Photograph how people move through the world.

For this assignment, you can take your camera around with you for a day or two and snap a photo anytime you see a movement, posture or gesture that looks like dance to you. Or, you can go to a specific place. For example, the photographer Camilo Fuentealba went to Costco to document “the daily rituals we must partake in just to survive,” while Noah Sahady went to the San Bernardino National Forest to capture “the harmony of rock climbers and nature.” You might play with taking both candid and staged shots, or, like Jillian Freyer, shooting the “fragments in between.”

Assignment No. 5

Show Us What Fun Looks Like

Three artists photographed the many forms fun can take. An end-of-day ice cream ritual. Caring for rescued chickens. A bubble bath for an inanimate friend. What does a good time look like to you?

Warm-up: What do you do for fun?

Brainstorm a big list of everything you’re doing for fun these days. Do you play video games? Hang out with friends? Play sports? Make things? Write down everything you can think of, whether it’s an everyday ritual or a special event.

Then go through your list. Which of these activities feels most compelling or unique to you and your friends? Which might make interesting photographs?

Read “ Making Your Own Fun .”

The Take asked three photographers to document how they were having fun during the lockdown period of the coronavirus pandemic. Spend a few minutes looking at the photos and reading the commentary. Then choose one photographer’s images to focus on. What do you notice about their artistic choices — about their composition, the photographic style, how they were made? What do you wonder? What can we learn about fun from these photos?

Your turn: Photograph your fun.

Return to the list you made in the warm-up and choose one or several things from it to photograph. You might consider how you can get creative with your photographic style and composition, as the photographers in the article did. You can stage photos, as Sheida Soleimani did, or you can try to capture more candid moments.

Going Further

Make a Visual Article

Put together your photos with a written reflection to create your own The Take-inspired piece.

Related Article

Once you have completed one of the exercises above, choose three to six photos from your shoot and create a gallery of images that speaks to the theme of the assignment. Then, write a short commentary reflecting on the assignment and what you learned from it, just as the photographers and Times editors do in The Take.

Here are some questions that can help guide your reflection:

Who or what inspired you? Did you stage your photos or seek out candid moments? What composition and editing techniques did you use, and why?

Is there a thread — some theme, emotion or experience — that connects your images? Was it something you set out to capture? Or something you discovered during the shoot or after seeing your finished photos? Taken together, what do your photos reveal about the subject of the assignment?

What is something new you discovered or learned through this exercise? How, if at all, did it make you look at the world or the people around you differently?

How challenging did you find this assignment? Why?

You can put your images and commentary together using a digital program like Google Slides or Canva . Teachers might invite students to share their work via a gallery walk , whether in the classroom or online.

Find more lesson plans and teaching ideas here.

Natalie Proulx joined The Learning Network as a staff editor in 2017 after working as an English language arts teacher and curriculum writer. More about Natalie Proulx

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