Returning to the same place can be more useful than constantly searching for a new one. You begin to notice what changes with light, weather, position and attention. The challenge is to return with a question rather than recreate the previous photograph by habit.
I would keep a practice project small enough to finish. A familiar park, a short street or a view from an ordinary accessible spot is enough. The aim is to make comparisons you can understand, not to turn every spare hour into an expedition.
Choose a place with manageable variation
Look for somewhere you can revisit without complicated arrangements. It should offer a few different distances and subjects, but not so many possibilities that every visit becomes unrelated. Think about where you can stand comfortably and whether the space changes at busy times.
Write down what interests you there. It may be the route through the space, a repeated architectural shape or the contrast between an open view and nearby details. That statement gives the project a centre while leaving room to discover something unexpected.
Give each visit a single question
One session might ask how camera height changes the foreground. Another might compare a broad view with a close detail. A third could examine the same composition under different light. These questions are specific enough to influence what you do.
Avoid changing everything at once and then guessing which decision helped. If the purpose is to compare position, keep the subject reasonably similar. If the light changes suddenly, note that rather than treating the result as a clean comparison.
Keep a reference frame
Make one broadly repeatable photograph on each visit. You do not need perfect alignment unless that is the project, but a recognisable reference helps you see how the scene changes. Then use the rest of the time to explore your chosen question.
For example, an imagined month-long project might include a reference view of a path plus a different nearby detail each week. The repeated view records the changing conditions; the details help you pay attention to the place itself. Neither needs to be the final portfolio image.
Write a note before you forget
Record the date, the question, the conditions and one thing you would try next. A few lines are enough. Describe decisions rather than simply rating the session as good or bad. “Lowering the camera separated the wall from the trees” is something you can use again.
Keep the images organised by visit and preserve the original files. A project becomes harder to learn from when the edited selection is detached from the attempts that led to it. You need enough of the process to compare choices honestly.
Finish with a small selection and a new question
At the end, choose a handful of images that explain what you noticed. Include a comparison pair if it demonstrates a meaningful change. Do not feel obliged to show every visit merely because you completed it.
Then identify the question that remains. Perhaps the composition improved but timing still feels accidental, or close details worked better than the wider views. That gives the next project a purpose. Repetition is useful when it sharpens attention, and a controlled experiment can make that learning easier to recognise.