Want to practice prior to heading out on an expedition? Pick up some useful self-assignments from Ralph Lee Hopkins, Director of Lindblad Photo Expeditions & National Geographic Photographer.

 Become familiar or re-acquainted with your camera! Read your camera manual and practice changing settings (f/stops, shutter speeds, and ISO).

 To practice for landscapes, find a scene with an interesting foreground and experiment with depth of field (DOF) by shooting with different f/stops from f/4 (shallow DOF) to f/22 (deep depth of field using Aperture Priority mode. Use a tripod.

 To practice for wildlife, find a situation with moving subjects (birds, cars, kids) and practice focusing on a moving target and shooting with different shutter speeds in Shutter Priority to stop the motion (fast shutter speed) or to show motion blur (slow shutter speed).

 For close-up or macro photography, start in your backyard or at the local botanical garden and practice shooting with your macro lens or with your camera in macro mode (flower icon). Experiment by varying the f/stop, distance of the camera from the subject, the focus point.

 And to practice people situations, visit the local farmer’s market and look for interesting people in different kinds of light. You'll quickly discover that soft or diffuse light is best for making portraits, so shoot in the shade or on a cloudy day.