Who to take portraits of?

I recently bought a Nikon d55000 and I have been taking a lot of photos but I'm really interested in taking portraits. The problem is I'm living in a small town in
interior alaska for now. I'll be going home in a few months where I can photograph my friends and family but for now I have nobody to take pictures of. Is there a way I can practice portraits until then.

Today I spent time digging through the Digital Photography School archives (there are now over 600 tutorials and articles) and noticed that we've covered the topic of Portrait Photography from a large variety of angles. I thought it would be useful to list some of the more popular portrait photography tips all in the one place.

Take portraits of random people in the street, but ask if it's okay with them first.
google search "photographers wanted in alaska"
post on facebook and ask if anyone would like to have any portraits taken.

Besides needing to understand how to get near perfect exposures each time you press the shutter release on the camera, there are two skills that are unique to shooting portraits.

* portrait lighting. Using a key, fill and rim light to give the person a three dimensional look on a two dimensional medium. This you can do using your lights and any object you like. I have used a camp coffee pot sitting on a table to practice my lighting techniques. The pour spout makes a near perfect representation of a persons nose when it comes to lighting.
* directing the subject into compelling poses. This requires you have a real person in front of your camera and your friends will suit that requirement just fine.

It can take years before you become a competent portrait photographer, so do not get frustrated when your images are not up to your standards right a way.

Visit Youtube and look for tutorials on portrait lighting and posing.