Using Halloween as our excuse (like we ever really need one!) Claudia and I played dress-up, but not after a trip down the road to Cinema Secrets for spirit gum, a fake mustache, sideburns, a wig, and a seriously indulgent raiding of Claudia's closet. As you guessed, the above shot is the "before" picture, and after an hour of applying makeup, clothing, and a couple pounds of jewelry, we set about to shoot in character by the pool and the TV room.

We kickstarted the day with a continuous stream of Time-Life's Soft Rock Hits of the 70's piped through the speakers. The music, corny as it sounds, came from a latenight impulse buy from an infomercial hosted by the 2 dudes from Air Supply, and probably (at least subliminally) had a part in inspiring us to play dress-up in the first place. Singing out loud to greats like Gino Vanelli, Peter Frampton, Toto, Hall & Oates, and Boston, mated with layers of clothing and fake hair, a certain confidence reared its groovy vintage head and was very difficult to put back in the box.

So, for the technical side I used a single light for both the interior and exterior shots: a 3' Photoflex Octodome (with the gold interior) on a Profoto Compact 600R , just off to the right of the camera. I fired my camera wirelessly with a PocketWizard cupped in my left hand. It beats self-timer self portraits any day of the week, and allowed me fire off the trigger as fast as we could pose, almost filling an 8gb card. On the outdoor shot I underexposed the background by about 2 stops.

Combining wardrobe, makeup and music can completely change the dynamics of a photo shoot and ultimately your final set of photographs. Am I suggesting you dress up your next CEO portrait subject in a wig and mustache? Probably not, but acting in creative layers certainly makes you think beyond a traditional posed photograph. You can improve any portrait just by simply changing the color of a shirt or dress, or even adding a necklace or a scarf. Think in layers people!

I give a huge thanks to my partner in crime Claudia for making our playtime both in front of and behind the camera look so easy. She's spent more time in front of the camera than anyone else I know, so I always follow her lead. Please dance on over to her website and if you aren't already, become a fan of her work here: Claudia Christian

Peace, man,

Dave