What can I practice on without a person?

<p>Hi.<br>

I need to be really good with portrait lightning. <br>

But I don't want to bother people all the time and they don't have time enough to be my model etc. <br>

Any good idea to what I can use as a substitute for a model?<br>

I practice with a flash and a reflector.<br>

<br />Thank you.<br>

/S</p>

<p>maybe score a used/new mannequin head/figure?</p>

<p>There are very inexpensive mannequin heads available at Amazon. Check the customer reviews. Keep in mind how hair, and even eyebrows, can create shadows, so that you might want to consider adding a wig, etc. to a bare mannequin head.</p>

<p>Lobby Hobby and Michaels Craft shops have Styrofoam heads for storing wigs that cost 5 or 10 bucks. As Hector points out they're great for practice. </p>

<p>or go dumpster diving at the rear of some clothing stores looking for discarded mannequins etc.</p>

<p>Yes, mannequins, and for some leisurely study, try a "Barbie" and some small variable brightness desk lamps or flashlights. The principles remain the same but the effort in making changes goes down. </p>

<p>Use a mirror and use yourself</p>

<p>Self portraits are a good way to learn not just about lighting, but about what it feels like to be in front of the camera. If you can't direct yourself, then how can you expect to direct a sitter or model? A mannequin or styrofoam head can't be posed properly or change expression, so using yourself as a live model allows you to experiment much more with poses, camera angles, make up, etc, etc.</p>

<p>Get yourself a little remote trigger that can be hidden in the hand to fire the camera, rather than trying to use the self-timer. OK, some types of lighting are tricky to set up on yourself - Rembrandt for example, where you have to position the light exactly to get the correct nose shadow. It's all good practise though, and you'll soon get a feel for what works and what doesn't. </p>

<p>A bust of Julius Caesar I have on a column works for some things and is part of my living room décor otherwise. Get a more romantic bust and it can double as a prop. DOF, lighting patterns, use of gobos, background effects, fall off, feathering etc. Not so good for what skin will look like, spec highlights, catch lights. For experimenting with those things, I test on myself. Here's a test of shooting split light from the broad/lit side using a flag to give the appearance of a more slender face and thank you Tim, subtracting from the shadow side and below. </p><div></div>

<p>Very interesting tips. Thank you very much as always in this forum.<br>

Have a wonderful day.<br>

/S.</p>

<p>Years ago I got a mannequin head from my hair stylist. These are special ones that stylists get when they are learning to cut and style hair. They have realistic looking hair and facial features, complete with eyes and eyebrows, not just a bald head like you see on store mannequins. They even come with a clamp for attaching to a table. Just about anybody who cuts hair has owned one at some point and might still have it laying around. If you're not friends with your hair stylist, they can be bought from beauty supply stores and, I'm sure, online.</p>

<p>I use my kids toys (teddies and such) :-)</p>