Horden Beach, Durham coast © NTPL/Joe Cornish For the 'Coast Exposed' exhibition, the National Trust and Magnum photographers worked to a specific brief: to describe an aspect of coastal life through images.

Have a go at producing a set of photographs based upon the following titles:

• Seascape in the city
• Park life
• Tourists in the city
• City at night
• Love in the city
• City litter
• Animals in the city

Hints and tips

Look carefully at your environment. Look up, down, in and around corners. Look for details, obvious and not so obvious. Look for:

• Bold colour
• Strong shapes
• Unusual characters

Think about how you can compose the picture to create a dynamic or intimate feel.

Always look at the work of other photographers, you will learn a great deal from their approach to subject matter and technique. See our technical analysis of four images from the Coast Exposed exhibition for some inspiration.

Useful links

For more hints and tips, and to look at other photographers' work, try these websites:

• The Association of Photographers (for budding professionals and assisting jobs)
• The Photographers' Gallery (for fine art and conceptual photography)
• Magnum Photos (for reportage)
• National Trust (for landscape photography)
• The British Journal Of Photography (for practical tips, competitions and news)
• National Portrait Gallery
• V&A (for historical collections, education resources and frequent exhibitions)