How To Do Photography Exercises

I have it very clear. The best method to learn photography, once you have the basic knowledge, is to practice. If you read me often you will know that for me “practice makes perfect” is like a mantra.

And I won’t get tired of repeating it as many times as necessary if I can help you with that. That is why today I have proposed to gather in a single article all the photography exercises that I consider a great help for you to improve as a photographer.

Ready for training? oh! That you still have a lot to learn before practicing, good point, luckily we have a mega guide prepared for you, an essential guide so you can learn photography on your own.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO DO PHOTOGRAPHY EXERCISES?

Any discipline requires training and practice to master it. A pianist spends hours at the piano, even if he is a virtuoso of the subject, like the best sportsman.

Hours of training to correct mistakes, polish skills, and improve physical or mental fitness, are a must! We agree on this, right?

Well, the same thing happens in photography, practicing is not only useful but necessary. If you really like photography, you want to achieve impressive images and advance a little more every day, you have no choice but to do exercises to practice.

The camera alone keeps in its bag and raising hollyhocks is not going to make your photos better. If you still have doubts, here we tell you the benefits of practicing photography.

The type of exercises you do will depend on the moment, your needs or the photograph you feel like taking. For this reason, in this mega guide today I am going to leave you with exercises of a very diverse nature.

So that you organize yourself as you prefer without running out of ideas. Although listen (or rather, read) my next recommendation. IT’S VERY IMPORTANT!!

MAKE A CALENDAR

My IMPORTANT advice is to mark a calendar. Practicing requires an effort and sometimes well… it’s lazy, yes, I’ve experienced it firsthand.

But when you have set goals everything is easier, I assure you, either because you have made a commitment to yourself or because you don’t have to think every time “And what exercise do I do today?” (ahem… double laziness, right?).

The reality is that our mind tends to meet the dates, without them we are more likely to procrastinate, that is, leave things for tomorrow. A deadline is a challenge and a predisposition to finish the task in that time frame.

You will only have to make a little effort the first time to plan an exercise calendar and from there… to train! The commitment is with you, do not fail!

Attention, set realistic goals! Do not come up with a tight schedule that you will not meet later and only serve to frustrate you more. If you have time left over, you can always repeat an exercise or bring another one forward on the calendar.

In fact, repeating the exercises is something I highly recommend. Yes, yes, repeat them until you think they suck, throw or whatever you say in your land, but do them almost with your eyes closed. It will be then when you have really mastered it.

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WHERE CAN YOU FIND INSPIRATION?

In addition to all the exercises that I am going to share with you today, there are other ways to seek inspiration when practicing photography:

• photoshoots. Do you know our Photoretos? It’s like going to the gym, but to the photographic one. Every week we propose a different theme, we highlight a series of photos and there is also a winning photograph (with a prize, I say no more!).
• Contests. Winning a contest is the cane!, but it is not the only objective. Entering contests is a way to keep creativity active and practice. So, when you run out of ideas, look for contests and practice the theme or the idea that they propose as the theme of it. Seriously, these are a great source of inspiration.
• Photowalks. These photo walks are an excellent opportunity to go out and practice your favorite hobby in good company. Learning from others, sharing experiences, discovering other perspectives and new points of view, or giving and receiving constructive opinions, are some of its possibilities. It is an exercise that is priceless. Look around your area and, if you can’t find it, go ahead and organize one.
• photography associations. Surely there is an association in your area. It doesn’t have to be a big one, as long as it helps you meet people, carry out activities, meetings, propose challenges, etc., it’s enough to keep up the photographic activity.

GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE

Surely you have heard this phrase many times. There are those who think that if you are well why are you going to change anything. The question is… are you okay?! Do you already get the photographs of your life? Are you where you want to be photographically speaking?

If the answer is NO, my friend, getting out of your comfort zone is the only thing that will make you move forward and progress, the only way to bring about the changes in your photos that you need to see.

If what you do now doesn’t work, you’ll have to do something different to get different results, don’t you think?

To do this, dare to try new things, to set yourself challenges that you had never considered, and immerse yourself in disciplines that seemed unattainable to you (and that with practice you will end up mastering), because that is the only secret, (in)formation and practice. . You have the first on the blog, the second is up to you.

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How To Do Photography Exercises

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Now yes, let’s get into all the exercises you can do. Do you have paper and a pen? Remember that you can also put this article in favorites 😉

PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPOSITION EXERCISES

The composition of a photograph depends on how you place the elements of the scene within the frame. A good composition can save a technically imperfect photo.

However, the reverse does not happen, if the composition is poor, no matter how perfect the image is technical, you will have nothing to do. It will be boring to death. His destination: the trash can.

• That is why I recommend that you practice these exercises to improve your photographic compositions and with which I detail below:
• Includes a vanishing point. Photograph it from different heights, and see what happens as you get closer to the ground.
  Use one or more lines to guide the eye to the center of interest.
• Photograph a pattern, that is, an element that repeats itself rhythmically.
• Photograph a pattern with an element that breaks or interrupts it.
• Take a photograph of symmetry and then try to include an element that breaks that symmetry.
• Look for a composition through reflection that includes multiple layers or stories.
• Break one or more photographic rules intentionally, with a criterion.
• Photograph the same scene with different focal lengths.
• Photograph the same object with different focal lengths but moving away and/or approaching to try to make it the same size in the different images.

To master color in your photographic compositions, I also advise you to practice with these proposed exercises:

• Take a photograph in which there is chromatic harmony.
• Look for a scene contrasted by two complementary colors.
• Take a picture with warm colors and another with cool colors.
• Take a photo that includes a red element.

If you are starting from scratch, you may first be interested in knowing the 10 golden rules of photographic composition. And if you want more, here are 100 express tips to master composition.

PHOTOGRAPHIC LIGHTING EXERCISES

Objects change their appearance depending on how the light hits them or where it comes from. Hard light is not the same as diffuse light. It is also not the same that it is a front light as a side light.

Listen, it is important that you understand this well before moving forward because it will help you know when and how you photograph your subjects depending on what you want to convey or what you want to highlight about them.

Some exercises you can do to understand the behavior of light:

• Photograph the same object first in diffuse light and then in hard light .
• Illuminate the same object from different directions and take a photograph of each of these situations.
• Photograph an object or subject with or without a reflector. This can be any white or reflective surface, a sheet of paper, aluminum foil, etc.
• Take a portrait with the built-in flash, repeat it again but this time wrap the flash with a white tissue or cover it with a white bag.
• Photograph the same object or subject with the same parameters indoors but near the window; then a little farther; a third photo a little further still.
• When you observe what happens you will have discovered what the inverse square law is. It wasn’t really that difficult, because knowing this will save you a lot of photos. Photograph the same place at different times of the day.

Don’t stop at shooting and that’s it, each of these exercises is for you to analyze the result and check how the light behaves. Once you master it, everything will be much easier and more spectacular. You will see!

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EXERCISES TO DEVELOP THE PHOTOGRAPHIC EYE

Some people are born with a photographic gift and come naturally to compositions. The rest of us mortals are not so lucky. The good news is that the photographic eye can be developed and trained, how? Simple: practicing, for example, with these exercises.

PHOTOGRAPHY EXERCISES TO DO AT HOME

I know, I am aware that sometimes we cannot leave the house, for whatever reason: a pandemic, a cold, a super storm, a baby taking a nap or we simply do not feel like it, that one also has the right to enjoy home, right?

Should that be a reason for not being able to practice photography? Absolutely! You can carry out these photographic exercises without leaving home or resort to these other ideas to practice photography at home.

What’s more, did you know that you had the possibility to learn some photographic concepts without leaving your chair with these simulators? either…. (you won’t believe this!) do a search for all these photographic accessories that you already have at home and don’t know about and use some of them (or all of them 😉 ).

EXERCISES FOR URBAN AND STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

If your thing is to tour the city in search of urban or street photographs, I propose this series of exercises to overcome fear when photographing on the street.

And it is that fear that paralyzes us the most when photographing strangers and in public places. That is why there are those who prefer stolen portraits, if you dare, here are some tips and tricks to practice with stolen portraits.

But there is more, these are other exercises that I invite you to do to practice street photography:

• Find a setting to photograph in black and white.
• Find an image that stands out for its colors.
• Photograph someone smoking (a dark background and the right lighting will help you make the smoke stand out).
• Take a high-contrast photograph.
• Playing with the reflection of a shop window and passers-by, try to include different scenes or layers in the frame.
• Look for interesting reflections that include different scenes or stories.
• Make an attractive composition including lights and shadows.
• Photograph from or inside public transport.
• Photograph a silhouette.
• Look for pareidolias, it’s fun and stimulates the ability to observe.

EXERCISES TO CREATE YOUR OWN STYLE

Finding your own style in photography is not easy, but it is not impossible either. It is a path, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, but it involves a journey after all.

Here are some exercise ideas to find your own style:

• Answer some questions. It may seem too theoretical, however, being honest with you constitutes an important challenge, necessary, moreover. Finding your style requires knowing yourself more and better. What do you like to photograph the most? What moved you to take what has become your favorite photos? Which authors do you like the most and what do they have in common? The answers will be the starting point to move forward on the path. This is a friend’s advice, look for a notebook, or a piece of paper, and answer these questions by hand, I assure you that it is very different to write it than to think about it.
• Review your photo archive. Observe what is the most abundant, what is the type of photography that is repeated the most, what type of photos have more strength and which ones you identify more.
• No copying. Even unlearn photography if necessary, or what is the same, stop imitating or emulating the photographs of others. As much as they inspire you, doing what everyone else is doing will only take you away from your own style and unique look.

How will these exercises help you? They will help you to define what type of photographs correspond more to your way of seeing life and photographing it, or what is the same, to your own style. Defining it is the first step, focusing your efforts on this type of photography is the next.

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PHOTOGRAPHY EXERCISES TO SPARK CREATIVITY

Are you one of those who believe that creativity depends solely and exclusively on the arrival of the muses? Well, I’m sorry to tell you that you can sit and wait because they won’t come if you don’t shout for them.

And in case you had the privilege of receiving their visit, if they don’t catch you practicing you won’t even smell them. They are so capricious 😉 .

Creativity, the dear reader, wakes up working!!!, that is, practicing in our case. Like any other muscle, you have to train it (if I like to think of it as a muscle because the more you exercise it, the better it performs). Do you want exercises to train creativity? Here’s a good handful of them:

• Different photographs that you can practice right now.
• Awaken creativity with an everyday object like a glass.
• Play with the aperture to achieve creative photos.
• Play with the shutter speed to get creative .

In closing, I’d like to leave you with a read that will help you get creative photos when you’re short on ideas.

EXERCISES FOR EACH TIME OF THE YEAR

Sometimes inspire us more than others, like Christmas, for example, for which we propose this series of photographic exercises.

TRIPOD PHOTOGRAPHY EXERCISES

If you have a tripod, I am going to propose a series of exercises to familiarize you with it, with its possibilities, and to practice some somewhat more technical photographic skills:

• Bracketing
• Self-portrait
• Self-portrait with your baby
• Self-portrait with your pet
• Light painting
• Time-lapse
• Fireworks photography
• Photograph a lightning storm
• Capture long-exposure car light trails

Warning! In the next section, you will also find some ideas to practice with the tripod.

LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY EXERCISES

There are many types of landscapes: natural, urban, different, black and white, etc., in this mega guide you can delve fully into landscape photography if you are attracted to this discipline, here what I am going to indicate are some exercises that you can go practicing for when you have in front of you that landscape that you would never forgive yourself for not having portrayed:

• Capture the silky effect of water.
• Take a panorama.
• Photograph a minimalist landscape.
• Practice manual focus by focusing on the stars.
• Perform an exposure bracketing.
• Simulate fog with mist, Vaseline, or a white object in the extreme foreground.

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MOBILE PHOTOGRAPHY EXERCISES

Not all photography is with SLR, EVIL or similar. There are those who really enjoy photographing with their smartphone and it is just as praiseworthy.

Remember that it is not the camera that takes the photo, but the one who presses the button with all the intention behind that small gesture.

You can get just as excited with a mobile phone as with the most professional SLR. But you can’t get excited about the most expensive camera in the world if all you do is push the button leaving all the responsibility to the machine.

Because… it’s a MACHINE! He doesn’t have that superhuman power that you have to get excited and excited!

That said, with your mobile camera, in addition to many of the exercises that you will find throughout this mega guide, you can also do these others that we detail step by step in their respective links:

• Clone yourself without the need for an editing program.
• Achieve a perfect panorama with your mobile.
• Make a successful time-lapse.
• Achieve incredible and fun images with forced perspective .

In addition to these, you should try all the features it offers, shoot in HDR mode and without it, try portrait or night mode if it has it, observe the differences with it and without it, etc. I bet you haven’t spent enough time squeezing the possibilities out of your smartphone, right? Well, the time has come!

PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY EXERCISES

Portrait photography is one of the most practiced disciplines, perhaps one of the main reasons is its accessibility, which is why it is also a good resource to practice photography, for example, with these exercises:

• Different portraits.
• Take a portrait in hard light.
• Photograph different shots of the same person.
• Practice the poses, either women’s poses or men’s poses. In this way, when you are in a session with someone who does not know what to do, you will have the resources to save the situation and not go blank.

EXERCISES FOR NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY

Can you imagine if I presented you with a handful of spectacular nature photos and showed you how to take them to step by step? She closes her eyes for a second. Wish granted! 18 impressive photos of nature that you can take too, what are you waiting for?

EXERCISES TO IMPROVE FOCUS

Getting the focus right sometimes gives you real headaches, right? I know. I also suffered. It is lucky to have the automatic focus of the cameras, the bad thing is that it does not always work as it should or we would like.

That’s why there’s nothing better than practicing with manual focus for those situations where autofocus leaves you stranded.

My advice to practice is that, at times, when you have time, take the opportunity to focus on any subject or object in the manual. Don’t worry about getting a good photo, at first just worry that what you want to be in focus is in focus.

Make sure it’s like this by enlarging the image on the screen, which is deceiving to a small extent, if you don’t believe me, try it 😉 .

Practice this exercise until it’s easy for you to focus at first. It’s a simple exercise, but honestly, how many times have you done it before?

And now for a set of exercises to help you practice focusing:

• Take macro photography, if you don’t have a macro lens, flip the one you do have.
• Self-portrait.
• Shoot through the glass.
• Shoot with very wide apertures (for example, f/1.4).

Hey! Don’t go to practice yet… I have another proposal! Do you know what dissociate focus is? Do you know what a single focus point or selective area is?

Do you know when to use a simple or continuous approach? If you have answered “No” to at least one of these questions, take a look at this article to answer all your questions about focus in photography.

To master focusing in any situation it is important to know your camera and its related functions well, so don’t hesitate to dust off the instruction manual if necessary. I know, it’s a bit of a sucker, but whoever wants something has a hard time, right?

EXERCISES TO IMPROVE PHOTOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUE

Now that you have practiced with the approach, I am going to propose three exercises with which to train, both this aspect and others that are also more technical. Don’t be scared, you know that on the blog we make things easy:

• Practice the law of reciprocity, only if you still have a hard time exposing correctly (the name sounds horrible, but believe me, it’s much easier to understand and carry out).
• Same photo with different ISO until reaching the highest values. In this way, you will check from what value the noise is visible and thus you will be able to decide at any time whether to go higher or not.
• Photographing the smoke, it is not necessary that you smoke, we already know that it is not the most recommended, that of incense or a candle is also worth it ;P.
• Photograph a drop of water (and without dying of despair, hey).
• Carry out a sweep (and it is not with a broom).
• Practice with the hyperfocal distance (another horrible name that does not do justice to its simple explanation and what it is capable of).

EXERCISES TO IMPROVE AS A PHOTOGRAPHER

All the exercises in this mega guide will help you improve as a photographer, I guarantee that.

However, while the rest are aimed at improving a more specific aspect, in this section I am about to share a series of exercises that will help you improve as a photographer on a global level, such as the ones you will find at this link.

Or these other (non) photographic exercises that will also help you more than you think.

In addition, you have the possibility of carrying out a personal photographic project. In this article, you will find the reasons why it is a good idea to start a project.

If you decide, these are the steps to carry out a project, and avoid falling into the most common mistakes! Oh, of course, you don’t know where to start, you lack ideas.

I’m not going to do the trick of closing your eyes again, but you know that I love to make things easy for you, so here are some ideas for your next photographic project.

PHOTOGRAPHIC PURPOSES

You can call them purposes, exercises or whatever you really want.

If you feel that you are beginning a new stage in your life, a new year, the beginning of the course, a change of city, or any other turning point, it may be a good time to consider these photographic purposes or exercises.

This last batch of proposals is also a good point to close this whole series of exercises that I hope you will practice.

I’d like you to share in comments how you’re doing, which one(s) you’re practicing, if any of them got stuck, or even if you want to share the results, I/we’d love to read you.

And above all, I want to see how your camera SMOKE!

Wait! Before saying goodbye, how about you share this mega exercise guide with more people? Do you know someone who would like to train with you? I’m sure you can help each other, send it as an invitation 😉

Happy training. Happy photography.