Astral Boutique's blog

Winning Smiles, Winning CDs

If you have noticed my sparse blogging lately, I apologize- but hopefully you are using summer as a chance to break away from the computer like I am! I have so many neat photos to share, from my recent shoots, but first things first- I was interviewed on the Very Coolest Blog Ever, and there is a little giveaway going on over there to win Sasha and the Shamrocks CDs! Head on over to The Ghoul Next Door and leave a comment to be entered to win. (I hope you enjoy the interview, too- it was a lot of fun to do.)

Now onto those photos.... Last week I took a trip up up up to an Alpine Valley where sits the little town of Sierraville, and did a photo shoot in the Quaking Aspen trees in the hills surrounding the valley. I had noticed these trees and their stunning bark every time I'd gone to soak at the hot springs at Sierraville, and always wanted to come back and take pictures. Suddenly I found myself making plans for the expedition, which was accomplished to a soundtrack of The Fairport Convention and The Steve Miller Band. I think luck and the fairies were on my side that day, because these are some of my favorite photos ever!

 

 

(there was gorgeous Mugwort in the High Sierras!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's a bit blurry, but you can see the incredible colors on this insect! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Naturally, I went to the hot springs between my morning and afternoon photo shoots, so I was feeling on top of the world! I think, at 5,000 feet, I actually was on top of a good part of the world... 

 
 

High Sierra Dreaming

The foothills are wonderful, but sometimes you got to get outta Dodge. Luckily, if you head East or North from Grass Valley, it is only about 15 minutes until you are in the true wilds of the Sierras. Yesterday, I felt the urge very strongly, and took a long  up the highway 20 to this beautiful nature trail at the head of the road to Lake Bowman. I know the tiger lilies in the wetland bloom sometime around now, but it changes every year, so I was crossing my fingers... and I was in luck! It was so gorgeous up there, above any last traces of smog which may have crept up from the Sacramento Valley, and totally temperate even though it had been 100 degrees at my house. It was so nice to take pictures with a different backdrop. Natural light can be soooooo frustrating (I had to wait a half hour for the sun to go behind a distant pine tree so I could capture this one shot perfectly... talk about being in the moment!), but the results can be magical. I certainly felt the presence of a multitude of Nature Divas (aka fairies, brownies, elves, etc.) in the crystalline air, and there were many, many voices mixed in the sounds of the Bear River. I didn't see any bears (I kept singing and snapping my fingers loudly, so that I wouldn't see any bears, don't worry, mom, I was thinking of you-- for some reason the soundtrack to A Clockwork Orange, which actually has some lovely ancient music on it, was what I was using as my self-defense!) but I did see tons of beautiful birds... and flocks of mosquitos, at dusk, when I literally had to run for my car to get away from them! I counted five on my arm at once. Argh! Maybe they liked the banana chips in my blood? I did eat a lot on the way up there... these days I am trying not to have any caffeine, except in emergencies, because it tweaks me out so badly, and I re-remembered that bananas give me a true boost of energy and stamina. Better than caffeine, actually. Anyway, here are some of my favorite shots... I hope you enjoy! The feather, incidentally, was waiting for me on a tree trunk on my path down the to tiger lilies. Serendipity!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you all are having a beautiful summer... I have been blogging a lot less, cause I have been making outdoor Rest and Relaxation a top priority. After this endlessly rainy winter, I am not taking the sunshine for granted! Sending good wishes to my readers in all corners of the globe. Wait, isn't a globe round? Hmmm. Must be a holdover phrase.........

The Inside Of My Mind Looks Like My Windowsill

...or is it vice versa?

Yesterday, as I was working, I looked up and noticed that all of these characters had somehow gravitated together. I had to capture them for posterity: 

 

As they say in California, there is an Epic Hang Sesh going on here. (-;
  

The Magic Camera- Laura Marie Imagery

I feel so blessed to have so many amazing photographers suddenly helping me out lately! There is a great movement of energy in my life in the arena of my Etsy store, because I am going to be leaving my day job in a few weeks to do it full-time (hooray!!!!). I think the Universe totally picked up on this, and is giving me a big thumbs up by bringing these incredible artists my way. 

Case in point: look at this photo shoot that I did this weekend, with the amazing photographer Laura Marie. My drop-dead-gorgeous friend Arielle (from the rollerskating adventure!) modeled with me, and naturally we had to go to Bridgeport. Just look at some of the stunning images that Laura created:

 

 

Laura was ridiculously fun to work with... she thought on her feet so quickly, while being totally mellow and making us feel comfortable in front of the camera. It really felt more like playing more than working; she has a true gift that way. Not to mention that she orchestrated several outfit changes and backdrop changes in just a few hours time, and I was awed at her efficiency combined with endless Good Artistic Ideas.

Laura Marie works out of Sacramento, and you can find out all about her here. I am so thankful to her for doing this shoot!

 

Bohemian Rhapsody

You remember those pictures I promised you, from my friend Anthony Georgis, who did the Astral Boutique "art" shoot the other weekend? Well, my friends, Anthony has made some serious magic in the photo lab! Here are some of my fave shots... I am just blown away by how gorgeous these are! A HUGE thanks to Anthony (peep his work here- you are going to be impressed) and our beautiful model Julianna!

 

 

And here's one especially for fans of my cat, Zazou (you know who you are!):     

 

(His mane looks magnificent in the light, don't you think?)
 

Girls On Film

This weekend, Chris' best friend Anthony Georgis came down from Portland, Oregon for a visit/business trip, and he very sweetly offered to do an Astral Boutique photo shoot with his super-awesome cameras. Yes, that's cameras, plural, because Anthony is a real, working, professional photographer! So darn professional, in fact, that he was chosen this summer to do Levi's cross-country photo campaign, "Go Forth", documenting people and places of the "real" America. He has always had the talent of capturing the perfect, most evocative moment on film, and the world has taken notice. 

We worked with a gorgeous model named Julianna. I took a few snaps with my own camera for the Etsy store, but I am really excited to see what Anthony captured with his carefully composed, "arty" shots! (Since they are on actual film, he has to get them developed and all that old-fashioned stuff.) At one point we actually tangled pine needles from the forest floor in Julianna's hair, on purpose, for that essential bohemian flair. Here is my mini-documentary of the day's shoot:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can check out Anthony's awesome work here.

Julianna models in the Sacramento/Auburn/Nevada County area-- all you artists and fashionistas can just give me a holler if you want to get in touch with her!

..........Stay tuned for more pics from this very special shoot!.........
 

Dress Up

There is nothing I love so much as a warm day and many leisurely hours to play dress-up and take pictures! It's been a rare thing this winter, as I have kvetched to you ad nauseum, so the break in the weather was a piece of Heaven. The night before this photo shoot, Chris and I watched the DVD of The September Issue, and my head was bursting with inspiration. I especially loved the runway show in Paris that was "inspired by Princes of the world"-- I tried to make all of my styling a little over the top, a little "royal" (at least, the royalty of the fairybook landscape of my imagination). I hope you enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

For the record, this is tambourine goes by the official name of "The Emergency Tambourine". It lived in the trunk of my car for many years, where it would jingle every time I went over a bump; and emergencies it has served in include not only live shows where all other tambourines were forgotten at home by the musicians present, but also as entertainment during one particularly memorable thunderstorm camp out near Crater Lake, Oregon, and as an amazingly effective distraction back in the days when when I was a nanny and found myself with a car full of crazy kids and an unexpected hour to kill. Emergency Tambourines: keep them close at hand, cause you just never know.
 
   
  

Mad As A March Hare!

For those of you who somehow didn't hear the news, Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" (really, an original third chapter which follows Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass) opens this Friday. The Alice mania is reaching a fever pitch not only in popular culture, but in my own house! I happened to get this perfectly "Alice" outfit this week, so I challenged myself yesterday to create a main image for the Etsy image that would be straight out of Wonderland. 

Musing on the many fine "Alice" themes with which everyone is familiar-- being attacked by a deck of cards, playing croquet with flamingos, talking to caterpillars on mushrooms, etc.-- the one that involved the simplest prop was the very beginning of Alice in Wonderland, wherein Alice-- unbeknownst to herself-- falls asleep out of doors, while her sister is reading a book, and dreams she sees a white rabbit, which she then follows down a very weird rabbit hole and eventually into Wonderland.

Thank god Easter is around the corner, because white rabbits were very easy to find at the local drugstore (the guy behind me in line was buying three things: a brown stuffed rabbit, a case of beer, and a huge bottle of vodka- go figure!). Mr. Buns turned out to be an amazingly patient, malleable actor. Here are some of my favorite images from the shoot:

 

I liked the drama of this series, but they are not very well-lit, so I moved into a lighter spot in the woods for the next round:

This one was, ultimately, the winner, as it says everything I want to say! I'm going to crop it and use it as my main pic for the listing today. Meanwhile, I like some of these-- they had me almost peeing my pants laughing, looking at all the ways I was attempting to express "hey, I want that rabbit!/god god, what is a rabbit doing here?"   

 

Here's an example of one that is just TOTALLY the wrong expression altogether:

 

Honestly, I look like I am sizing him up for rabbit stew. "Hmmm, I wonder if the broasting function on my stove still works? Should I garnish with parsley, or sage?"
 
Maybe this one is only funny to me, but there is something so weird about it-- like I'm saying "hey buddy, you forgot your change! Come back here!"-- I love it! Hello new Facebook profile picture!

 

I hope the Etsy world appreciates my Alice attempt! 
    
 

The Magical Poladroid

I have to thank Rachel at Mousevox Vintage for introducing me to an amazing toy-- a (free!) program called "Poladroid" that creates fake digital "Polaroids" out of your pictures! I don't have any photo editing software, besides basic i-photo, and I've been craving some new tools. This is so perfect, since, in my opinion, nothing rivals the look of a Polaroid picture. You can grab the picture at any point in its development- check out how cool the "underdeveloped" ones look. And hey, if any of you know any other free photo editing programs, please share the links with me, cause I love to play around with color and texture. 

(Both of these gorgeous dresses are in the shop, by the way!)

 

 

  

Some Kind of Fairy Tale

All the pictures I took yesterday seemed to end up like mini scenes from fairy tales... easy to do when you are running around the misty woods in flowing gowns, I admit! I thought you all would enjoy these:

Beauty and the Beast

 

Alice In Wonderland

One Thousand And One Nights

 

Snow White

 

Moominland in Midwinter

 

The "Alice" one is going to be my new avatar! It turned out especially well.... come to find out that my camera really likes the lighting on the forest floor. I would never have guessed!