Sunday, September 16, 2012

recent inspirations

A few photos that I've come across in the past week or so that have been an inspiration to me. I feel like these photos together describe my mood lately. Most of these photos are linked to their rightful owners, however, some are just randoms from tumblr with unknown sources. Unfortunately too many photos have lost their photographers credit on the internet.

Someday..














there are a bunch more pics on my tumblr blog :)

with love,
neena noel

Saturday, September 15, 2012

who am i anyways?

I come from the Myspace generation and you all know how fun those bulletin board surveys were. Here's a little "twenty things about me," and I know people rarely read them but we all love to dig into our minds and think about a few things that we'd be willing to share with the rest of the world. When I find a blog or a webpage that I'm genuinely interested in I'll be curious about the person behind the photos. I've been scouring the internet for inspiration and also for other beginning photographers like myself. So, I've started up a couple new projects and I'm revamping my webpages in hopes that they can appeal to like-minded people. 
Project one: I've redirected my old tumblr to a new one with an about me for people who are interested. I hope to be a friend to those who have battled with similar issues and a friend to those who aspire to reach similar goals as me. I have a few photos of my own on there, but it's mostly a collection of photos that inspire me. --> http://noelebelle.tumblr.com
Project number two: I've been getting way into Flickr and joining groups to share my photos. There are so many talented people hiding out on that website, though I feel like my photos are no where near as good as some it gives me room to grow. I created a group for people to share their favorite photos with me. I'm asking a favor of other photographers to give me something to be inspired by and I can't wait to see others photography and what they've chosen to share with me. Come join, everyone is welcome --> http://www.flickr.com/groups/letmedream/


Now for the fun part..
One. I've lived in Southern California for my entire life, all the way from birth until now. 
Two. I could never keep a journal. I'd write a few pages for a couple days straight and then give up on it. Eventually I'd grab a new notebook and try writing again, but I never finished a single one. I have piles of empty and partially full notebooks in my closet.
Three. I have been a pescetarian since the age of six. Meaning I don't eat any meat besides eggs and fish. (I'll occasionally eat chicken ever since I was reintroduced to poultry when I was fifteen.)
Four. Natural Born Killers is my favorite movie of all time.
Five. I have never broken a single bone in my body, nor have I ever been pulled over while driving. People always tell me to "knock on wood" when I say such things, but I think I'm just lucky. (:
Six. I have 442 artists on my iTunes and 7,834 songs. That's 21.8 days of non-stop music. (Thanks for the stats, iTunes.)
Seven. I'll make sense out of something in my mind, but can never seem to put my thoughts into words that make sense to others. Sometimes I just wish I kept things to myself.
Eight. I take most of my photos with a Canon Rebel XSi that my father passed down to me. I have three other cameras, one digital and two film. I hope for my collection to grow.
Nine. Though I control how often I eat them, I am obsessed with Hot Cheeto Fries.
Ten. I would rather read a textbook and learn about a subject on my own than take a class about it. I graduated high school a year early by going to a school that allowed me home school myself and I found that I learned more that way. Classrooms full of people just distract me.
Eleven. A couple of my pet peeves are watching commercials and people who yell out of moving car windows.
Twelve. I drive a 1998, silver Mustang convertible. The paints peeling off in places and it has some dents and bruises, but I love it all the same.
Thirteen. Both of my ears are gauged, size 00.
Fourteen. I love reading but I can never find time to finish a book. I like autobiographies, drug stories, true stories, Hunter S. Thompson, tragedies, comedies, etc.
Fifteen. I've been clean from heroin for a year and half to this day. It's a thing of the past, don't judge.
Sixteen. I have one of the cutest dogs in the world. Her name is Kokopelli and I got her as a little baby puppy only seven weeks old. She's all black, medium sized, pointed ears and an unknown breed full of love.
Seventeen. I love the ocean, I really feel like it keeps me sane.
Eighteen. I have no tattoos but I want many.
Nineteen. I consider myself to be Pansexual, choosing my partners based on who they are not their color, creed or gender. 
Twenty. I love incense and hookah and all those other peaceful things.







with love,
neena noel

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

film makes more memories

I always love the way film photos come out, even out of a disposable camera. I find the snapshots to tell more of a story even when the picture doesn't meet photography's standards. There are still a lot of things to love about digital photography, but I feel like film has it's own unique style and always stands out to me. I could look through albums of snapshots for hours. I've taken some photos off of my computer that my mom and I took with a disposable camera at the burning man festival in 2010. Our cameras got caked in dusty dirt which I think made the pictures even more interesting. I'll be on my way to the store to buy some more disposable cameras until I can get my old film cameras fixed.










back when I had short, black hair and that's my baby girl Kokopelli.

with love,
neena noel

dream a dream

sleepless night til early morning, dream a dream. imagine, restless, all the things, that come to be, a part of me. slow down, silence, rest in peace. dream a dream, sleep now for me. 


I've been up all night so far looking through archives and albums of photos. I find peoples lives so interesting seeing what they see through through their lenses. Photography is such a beautiful art to me, I love learning more and more about it. I am definitely an amateur, never took a photo class but I know how to read a manual at least. I don't mind being an amateur either, experimenting with something is the best way to learn more about it.

I'm thinking about a perfectly happy life, the one I'll have when I've settled into my artistic style. I'm very unorganized right now it seems, and though I can run my shop well I haven't quite figured out what it is that I'm going to continue to sell and how it's all going to appear to the public. And though photography is just a hobby, a way for me to document my life, I would really like to learn more about it and maybe possibly make a job out of it. For now I'm just having fun with everything and trying not to stress out. I imagine a life full of good, healthy food, organized workplaces, lots of books, time to study on my own, and varieties of hot teas. :)






flowers from 2010


with love,
neena noel

Sunday, September 9, 2012

mom jeans

"Earnesty and clarity, those wonderful mentalities of decent positivity are all that we can scribe, but misery and poverty they follow me and my family and though it seems that I can't win, I think I have to try."
-Andrew Jackson Jihad


Simple outfits and bare feet help me beat the heat. It's still extremely hot here in southern California, and I find myself wiping sweat off of my face every few seconds. How's a girl supposed to feel pretty in heat like this? I keep my confidence by finding a couple simple pieces of comfortable clothing that stand out and grabbing a big, floppy hat. A couple of my go-to threads are my DIY high shorts and my big button-up, collared shirt. I didn't care for the whole "mom jean" trend at first, and even thought it was kind of silly, but what can I say, it grew on me. I never really thought about owning a pair until one day, while shopping at the Goodwill it sounded like a fun idea to cut up a few of the old pairs of jeans hanging in there. So, I bought a pair, cut them up and bleached some of the color out of them. I love their new color, and I even though I cut them at kind of an awkward length I don't think it really matters. I've learned to appreciate the mom jeans and actually really like the way they fit on me and how they look. There's always something cool about being a little old school.

With just a little bit of work on the jeans, this outfit cost no more than twenty dollars. (If I had put on some shoes it would have added on to the price a little bit, haha.) There are so many good reasons to shop thrift, I love the things that I find and how they inspire me.








Shirt: Crossroads Trading Comany, Santa Monica
Jeans: Goodwill, DIY
Arm Band: Farmers Market
Wooden Bracelet: IHsquared

with love,
neena noel

happy weekend


We can all thank my friend, Torrie, for the above picture. Thanks Torrie <3. In case you didn't know, Torrie is a very talented young woman with an already excellent collection of artwork and you can discover her here: torrieanneart. I had a great weekend with this lady down in the LBC and even got a chance to explore around town to take some pictures. This weekend has been a nice break, but I'm excited to get back to work on some of my projects as soon as the sun comes up tomorrow.

I was, however, a little bummed to find out today that my free Flickr account has run it's course and I'll have to upgrade to a Pro account to continue to share all of the photos that I'd like to share. You got me there, Flickr. Until I upgrade only some of my photos will be viewable, so I'll be holding off on adding too much to my album. It may seem like a silly concern but I am definitely looking forward to the day when I can afford to upgrade my account. I would love to continue creating albums where people can look at my photos without having to read all of my ramblings or scroll through my piles of webpages. Buy me a Pro Account?  Maybe? (click here to see my photo album.) Hey it's worth a try, and I know I would be eternally grateful for such generosity. $24.00 is too much to ask for, but you can cover me for three months for $7.00 if you click "Buy Now." I'm patient though and willing to wait until I have some extra money to expand my photo album.

All of that aside, I appreciate everyone who has supported me with my shop and my other projects, and to all of the people that are reading, advertising and following my blog, thank you all so much. Every little bit helps and I'm happy to know that I already have so many supporters in the beginning stages of a long term goal. I promise I will not disappoint! Much love, now here are some things to look at:
















That was quite the large handful of pictures, 
and I just had to include the cute little animal piƱatas too. :)

with love from, 
neena noel