Photography Exercise for Beginners: 20 angles

From time to time, I get asked by friends and bloggers how they could improve their photography skills, and the first thing that always comes to mind is a lesson a photography teacher introduced a couple of years ago. She told the class to go out and find an object and photograph it from 20 different angles.

The exercise seemed too easy at first, and then, after I snapped the camera for the 6th time, I was stuck. It surprisingly pushed me to expand my perspective.

Most people know they have to master the technical aspects of their camera, but composition is another huge factor that comes into play when improving their skills as a photographer. 

For this exercise, you'll need a camera and an object. I've done this with an abandoned shopping cart, a globe, and the dog book-end you see pictured. Some other great objects would be a chair, a musical instrument, a lamp, or maybe a stack of suitcases. 

The point of this exercise is to practice composition.

You don't need to create a work of art, you just need to start seeing your subject in more ways than one. 

Once you've practiced with 20 angles, push your self to do 30, then 40, then 50. 

As a photographer, my main goal is to get booked for my skills, but I also find extreme value in equipping others with the basic tools to wield a camera because I'm not always going to be there for the day-to-day photos that they desire to capture.

At the end of this exercise, I hope you'll feel confident in your approach to photo composition, but you may also get some great blog stock photos, or the next series of abstract art prints for your living room wall.

I'd LOVE to see your approach to this exercise. Feel free to link up below if you want to blog about your approach to this exercise, or post your examples and/or questions about this exercise in the comments!