We present optical V, R, and I-band observations on the structure and stellar populations of the M81 Group and IC342/Maffei Complex galaxies. The images have been obtained with the 6m BTA and 2.5m Nordic optical telescopes. Stellar photometry of several galaxies in these groups have been performed. The resulting colour-magnitude diagrams reveal the morphology of different stellar populations in these systems. Distances to the galaxies have been estimated from the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB), or from the brightest blue and red stars. For some galaxies the reddening, metallicity and surface profile parameters have been measured. We describe in more detail the results for four galaxies: IC 2574, Holmberg I, DDO 53 and IC 342. A more comprehensive project is underway.