Back in high school and college, my teachers always had unusual assignments that either tried to get us to look at the world differently or to push our shooting chops to the limit.

Let's face it, some of us end up shooting the same way over and over again. Whether it be at eye level, in the same place, or the same lens, we need something to break up the monotony. So here goes:

1.) 24 rolls in 24 hours.
I was a photojournalism major back in college, part of the mantra of shooting news is you should be ready to shoot anything at anytime. One professor came up with a clever or mashochistic solution (I never found out) in order to teach us. His solution:  Shoot 24 rolls of film in 24 hours. The idea was to do exactly what I mentioned before, force us to shoot whatever was around and see if there was potential in things we might not have considered if we had all the time in the world. Not only that, but it forced us to shoot at all different times of the day allowing us to work on our technical skills as well. Afterwards, we would all look at the many contact sheets printed and be amazed at the possibilities that could be further pursued.

2.) Being driven around in order to find assignments.
Imagine being asked to drive around someone for the sole reason to find a subject. But that's just what my PJ professor (the same one mentioned above) would ask his friends. He would have them randomly drive around town while he sat in the passenger looking for things to shoot. To him, driving was too distracting to find a good subject to shoot. For those who drive, which is just about everyone, how many times have you noticed something on the side of the road before you almost hit something?

3.) While walking around, hold your camera NOT at eye level and click the shutter randomly.
This one came from beginner photo classes back when I was in high school. My teacher showed photos she took when she was in college when her professor at the time asked the class to just carry their cameras around, and click the shutter at random intervals. As unusual as it sounded, some great perspectives, ideas, shapes and juxtapositions were realized after getting over the initial resistance.

So what's the bottom line? Photography being an art-science, especially with digital, the tendency is to focus more on the science (ie tech stuff) than the art side. Being able to break free of preconceived notions is an essential skill that makes the mundane photographer a better one.