Fur Coat
Fur can add a hint of "sensuality" to an image. I don't mean in the sexual way, but in the literal use of "sense" - in this case the sense of touch. We can imagine how the fur feels against the skin.
Any clothing material beyond cotton can give you that sense: a latex skirt or a leather jacket. So when you shoot these you want to light them in a way that is as sensitive to the needs of the material as the need of the model.
In this case I've chose a maximum diffusion high-key box. The rear of the cove is lit in the usual way, with two lights above the cove shining onto the back wall.
For Leah, instead of choosing the usual softbox for the main light I am bouncing light into two 8 x 4 foot polyboards to give a really diffused light wash back into Leah. This setup produces an almost shadow less lighting style.
In this first image you can clearly see all the texture in the fur yet the only hint of a shadow is near Leah's back - so you can see how even this lighting setup is.
In the second image I have cropped in a bit tighter with a stronger fashion style pose. Leah is moving through poses very quickly and this has given the lovely flick in the coat on the left hand side of the image.
In the final image I have cropped in even tighter. I've also brought the polyboards in tighter to the model as well. So I am shooting through a tiny gap between the two boards. This is a very classic style of beauty lighting.
One thing I could have done is dropped in a beauty dish directly in front and above Leah's face. That would have helped emphasise the cheek bones. That would have completed the classic beauty light rig.
I really like the way the detail of the fur coat has been brought out by the lighting setup. I also like the soft catchlights in the eyes. Normally you want to avoid two catchlights - it can be a bit "goat" like - but here it really brightens the eyes.
key points
Sometimes you need to light for the clothes as much as for the model
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