A major goal of nuclear physics is to quantitively and comprehensively understand the internal dynamics of the nucleon and nuclei described by quantum chromodynamics. Photon and electron scattering from the nucleon provide snapshots of the substructure at different scales. Compton scattering is a powerful tool to measure the electromagnetic polarizabilities which are fundamental structure quantities characterizing the response of the nucleon to an external electromagnetic field. At higher energies, deep inelastic scattering of electrons enables 3D imaging of the nucleon in terms of quarks and gluons. Polarized helium-3 has played a significant role in the study of nucleon spin structure. In this talk, I will present different experimental approaches to study nucleon structure using photon and electron scattering from the nucleon and light nuclear targets as well as recent development of a polarized helium-3 target in a high magnetic field.