Multimedia II: The Importance Of Social Networking

Alas, Multimedia II is coming to a close. This class was definitely one of my favorites. I love wed design and development and I love making things work and connect through the web, and this class gave me plenty of opportunity to do so. Until this class I never really realized how important it is to twitter or blog or keep my post count up. I have gained a LOT of exposure through this class and I am still growing. I used to always say that soon I'm going to redo my portfolio site and make it live again but never had time. This class allowed me time time to get new mediums for getting my work out in the process of working on my main site. I will definitely keep posting and keep my online presence alive.

The Fashion Adventure

Today We had critique in class for our advanced portraiture final - the fashion/fantasy shoot. It went excellent, My teacher gave me the big "well done" on it (pictured above). I wanted to do a nautical theme using blue white and red in the wardrobe. so I got a guy, an assistant, a boat, a model, and my new speedlight and hit the docks. My man Tom Sawchuck took us out on his amazing sailboat. So - Day 1 was a pretty rainy day...not really any quality of light. So I did what I could with the 430 and a bounce umbrella. I wasn't very pleased with the images...

Multimedia II: Wordpress = The Best CMS

So before I took multimedia II I had only read about wordpress and never actually used it. So when I heard our assignment was to make a wordpress I was quickly intrigued. So - I began my research looking at what WP had to offer and why it was so revered. Well, unlike most blogs like blogger or tumblr wordpress can be installed onto your web server. I installed it onto my subdomain so that now I can use it as part of my portfolio site. I can customize anything I need on wordpress and make it fit my style and needs. This was my favorite part of the class. I will definitely keep the wordpress along with my tumblr. In conjunction they can be very useful.

Multimedia II: Pixelpipe

One of the most important things I learned in multimedia II was Pixelpipe. I love how you can cleanly allocate your media and posts. This thing rox and I will most definitely be using all the time. I can conveniently make one post here and it will be redirected to my other social net sites. AWESOME! Keeping all of my blogs in sync makes news about my work spread incredibly fast and efficiently. Besides..I was kinda tired of posting the same thing 100 times all over the internet.

Everyone, Meet Mr. Zee

So back in high school I was working hard to get noticed much like now. Of course, my work wasn't quite as good as it is now back then, but it got me one of the most influential opportunities I've had in my life. I was offered an internship at a local magazine and ad agency. There I worked with 2 designers that gave me huge insight into the industry. I worked closely with the web designer, Zee Valliani, who showed a lot about web design and development. He's a pretty rad guy. He recently made a blog for himself on top of his portfolio site. The guy is a computer genius and an awesome designer. Go to his site and check him out.

Yar She Blows!!!

So the portraiture final is coming up and I began scouting for my concept earlier this week. Here we have a sailboat. This will be the stage in which I shoot my model on. I'm really excited to get this shoot on the road. Although it was raining that day - so the boat doesn't look so fun and sunny. but I assure you - when the time is right it will provide some nice images. Thanks to my buddy Tom Sawchuck I get to take this bad boy out in the water for some fashion shots! I'll be updating more about the shoot soon.

Oh Tumblr...How I've Changed

Alas, The final addition to the tumblr research. I have to say after looking through the many different tumblr blogs I gained a new respect for it. I think I may even use it to my advantage in the future. Well for the final blog I would like to exhibit one cool guy. Mister Stephen Polanco. This dude is a graphic artist and photographer. Although, I'm unsure if this is all of his work, yet it is inspiring nonetheless. Also, I like how clean the blog is. It is very minimalist. Lookie!

Tumblr...Again

Well I decided to go off the beaten path just this once. I found a really nice graphics and photography blog. It is incredibly long and is full of really nice content. I love the typography and photography posts. It is a really good blog to look for some inspiration. I implore you to take a look - you wont regret it friends.

Tumblr Time 3: The Third Tumbling

Again - I am posting about Tumblr pages I have researched for class. In my search I stumbled (or Tumbled) across this helpful blog. This blog is a pretty good source of info on getting cash for your pictures. It is also a pretty nice portal to find other photography blogs and sites. It is definitely worth looking at. Look!

Tumblr Time

So the second tumblr site I have found belongs to a site I frequently go to Lookbook.nu. Although I'm pretty positive that lookbook.nu is a tumblr site. either way - this site is pretty cool, although I'm not a huge fan of the template. I have a thing about having main components of a site being aligned to the left and right. but meh maybe that's just me. Check it out.

Ew Tumblr

So I may not be a huge Tumblr fan, but schoolwork is schoolwork. Here is my first tumblr site I've found. I really love how the wide thumbnails of the images and how quickly you can scan through the page. This site is primarily only for inspirational fashion photography, but good find nonetheless. Although I kind of wish the thumbnails were all lined up. Check it out

FACEBOOK!

For class I'm required to make a facebook...which I'm a bit apprehensive about it. I have never really thought of making one before - but nevertheless it will be made. SO - here I'd love to exhibit my new facebook fan page simply titled - Erik Helms. This will be similar to my flickr by showcasing my works both old and new. I'd love it if you Liked it!

OneLight

I'm pretty sure most of everyone in my class KNOWS about the Zack Arias' Onelight Workshop, but has anyone ever seen it? I have had the pleasure of checking it out and I gotta say it is pretty dang rad. It is incredibly helpful, and it's useful for staying on the budget while producing some sick images. I really implore more people to check it out.

Inspiration Station: Vault 49

I once worked at an ad agency, but it wasn't quite like this one. Vault 49 is certainly one of my biggest inspirations. These guys do it all. Illustration, photography, web, animation - basically a very well rounded agency.I was first impressed by the photo illustrations, which is one of my favorite forms of art. Their website is also one of my favorite sites. It is so interactive and clean which provides that professional yet modern look.

Is expensive equipment what we really need...?

I found this on one of my usual searches through the youtube. This guy shot automobiles with one light and and a g10. he would use the high sync-speed to get rid of the ambiant light and then just piece parts of the car together with different angles of flash. I have seen this before but not with using an electronic shutter like the g10. I find it very impressive when people take equipment that most people would see as inferior and make something great out of it. Great use of tools.

The First Of Many and The Importance Of Craigslist

As I've said I have come up on new equipment and one new addition to the Erik Helms Arsenal is the new 28-135mm USM lens. The best part about it is I bought it for $250 with a UV filter and lowepro lens case. The lens normally retails for about $400 depending on where you buy it. I got a heck of a deal. This is basically just my "on the fly" lens, but a USM for $250 seems like a price I'm willing to pay.more lenses for low prices to come.

The Soundtrack To My Workflow Vol. 2

So there are a lot of new changes in my life right now, which includes my current playlist. I have been going crazy listening to Tiesto. The man is gifted! I love seeing what people listen to while they work. Music is so inspiring to me and greatly influences my work. I always feel like if they hadn't listened to that song at that time their work would alter. Well here ya go - click on the albums to find the artists music.

Little Things That Make Me Happy

I ordered a new bag from B&H a few days ago and it came in a day early! I'm pretty psyched about it. I ordered a Kata 123-GO 20" bag. This bag is rockin' so far. This is my first camera bag and after checking out whats out there I think I made a pretty good choice.

Firefox: Web Developer Add-On

I would like to show everyone an AWESOME tool firefox has to offer. It is an add-on called Web Developer. My old web designer mentor showed me this back in the day. This add-on is amazing in many ways. You can isolate different elements of a page to view the sizes of images, css strings of the image or even where they are positioned on the page. you can disable things on the page like the css or java. The possibilities are pretty vast. If you are interested in this little tool you can find it under the add-ons.

Speedlights

Here I am again - up late waiting on photojournalism critique. I am pretty nervous about it. This assignment had me asking more questions than any other assignment. I am hoping and praying I finally got it right. I shot a beautiful co-worker of mine - Alison - who was very good. I tried shooting around sunset but I was late and the sun had pretty much set. I think I accomplished the assignment by meeting the criteria. And as always in photojournalism - I did little to no post-processing. I used a d90 and a sb600 with some reflectors. I really love using speedlights and plan to make a big investment in them. I have been reading about different uses and lightings one can accomplish with speedlights. A wiseman once told me investing in speedlights can take you far. I plan to see how far I will go.

Let Me Introduce You To Lisa

So - I have come upon new equipment in the past few days. One of which is rather special to me. Lisa is my new Octopus flash drive. The reason I am posting about this is because not only is this flash drive incredibly cute, but it is also an awesome deal.

Logos! Logos! Logos!

One of my favorite parts of designing is making a new logo. In my opinion the goal is to make the most recognized symbol. I found this site that shows off some of the best logos out there. These are freaking AWESOME!! I especially love the blue giraffee and mood board logos. Check it out! they rock. I think its just in time to start thinking about our own personal identities with portfolio coming around.

CSS Remix

If you ever want to see a portfolio of different css you should really check out this site. CSS Remix is an exhibition of some of the coolest sites out there coded with the cleanest CSS you can find. You can really get some good ideas and tips from this site on boosting your style sheets and make a completely table less site. If your site makes it on this exhibit your traffic is sure to skyrocket. Check it out!

Inspiration Station: Douglas Bowman

When I found this guy I was instantly impressed by both his work and his clientele. This is the guy who made the interface for blogger. He worked for google! If that isn't a client to have I dunno who is. This guy now works for twitter as their creative director.  Bowman will be at the Future of Web Design expo in NYC. If you have ever been curious as to who is behind all the social networking sites.

Oren Lavie Video in Stop Motion

One of my favorite forms of animation is stop motion. I absolutely fell in love with this concept. This is definitely an inspiration to me, so I decided to share it with you. I am very impressed with the amount of detail put into it as well as the execution of the idea. I think this is one of the best videos I have ever seen. If you liked the song you can check out Oren Lavie here. He makes some pretty awesome tunes.

Erik Helms Design 2.0 - New Identity Perhaps?

I'm playing around with new logos - and I don't know which direction I should really go in. SO here I'm showing you 2 different ones. Maybe I can get some feedback? I'm certainly not married to either of these ideas. I might just throw this whole concept out of the window and start over. But I like the octopus silhouetted behind the logo, but I might not like the way I made that particular logo. I like the top one because I think it's simple and clean but it doesn't have as much personality. I definitely want to see how people feel about it before I start laying out a new site that plays off of that idea. The 2.0 definitely won't stay there - but that's how I think I'm going to market my new site. comments and critique welcome as always.

The lights are..FLICKR-ING...In the Flickr Department.

Dig the pun? Me niether. But it is true that I am working on the Flickr account and I plan on uploading a ton of new work that I've been doing. Some new design stuff and maybe even a new website are also going to be added on top of my photography. I have some huge plans for the upcoming projects for school and some side projects of my own. I even have some stuff from high school...If that means anything to ya. Now it isn't complete by any means but isn't it all about the building? You can check out the Flickr here or at the top of the site. Now...if I can just add more than 100mb a month...

P.S. Thanks Flickr - I can greet people in 68 languages now. Thanks.

Where to Go From Here

So I have finally gotten my hands on some extra cash and I am having a little difficulty deciding the next investment to make for photography. I think lens is the answer but I'm seeing some pretty awesome deals on nifty 50Ds. I would love some help finding a good direction to go. I'm one of those who can't commit to making big purchases..so I'll need it. Can I get any comments or messages with the help attached?

The Seo Rapper

If you ever need a little outline to live by when it comes to web development This guy says it all. Follow this man's words and your site is going to increase traffic and functionality ten fold. Plus it makes me dance. Which I know everyone loves to see. And Yes...I have incorporated the dougie into this song. Will I make a video of it? Doubtful.


But not only does he cover the basics of web development, he also makes very valid points on several matters like social networking, page rank, and all that good stuff. Check this dude out and maybe even buy one of his albums at his site

if anything at least check out this video.

Holiday Portraits: Blog!!

I am very happy to announce the GTC Holiday Portraits blog is now complete! I made it all using css. I did have bigger plans for it to make it a little more elaborate but working on 3 blogs, plus twitter, plus photojournalism, plus portraiture, plus math, plus speech, plus plato's closet, plus watching seinfeld / assembling 2000 piece puzzles really took too much time away from me. But here it is now - done. although - I did stick to my sketch ideas which makes me feel good about it. comments and critique?

Banksy

I saw this on The Simpsons the other day and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Banksy - the infamous graffiti artist is now a household name. That is amazing that an artist is so revered he is on The Simpsons! well - this post isn't about that, it is about the work Banksy makes.

Commercial Photography

So next quarter I will begin taking the advanced commercial photography class. I really liked summer quarter when I shot it with the 4 x 5 and chrome film. I may be overly enthusiastic about it, but I can't wait to do it again. I did pretty well last quarter and I definitely learned how to see the light. I just love how many variations of lighting there are available and how controllable the settings are. I have a lot of awesome ideas to present and I really believe I will execute them properly. Above is one of my test images I shot with the 20d to see how my exposure looked (don't worry I got rid of that dreadful horizon line). I wonder how transitioning to DSLR from film will affect people's products. Before it was imperative to be careful and to see your light critically. Will we be as cautious now that we can shoot 100 frames?

Inspiration Station: Vincent Dixon

Before I began at GTC I was looking at other schools. I stopped by Art Institure of Atlanta and when I went for my orientation I saw the gallery, which was displaying work for one of their upcoming photographers who speak to the students. This was Vincent Dixon. Vincent creates some incredibly stunning ads through  his photographs. His images look so fun and playful and at the same time evoke an emotion in me. I think he is one of the more interesting photographers out there. He was born in Ireland and he went to school to get a PhD in molecular biology! Then I guess he picked up the camera and said - "I change my mind". Check his work out. I can really see a personality in it.

Tutorial Time! How to Upload a Favicon

What is a favicon you ask? It is the small icon located at the very left of your URL. If you look at mine - you should see a black and pink icon. We are always trying to improve our web traffic, and I know this little icon can make a pretty big improvement. Considering how much work is involved in making one, it would be silly not to make one.

My Next Project: The Ring Light

Through the next few months I wanna begin building a ring light (not a ring flash). I've been researching this for a while on various different sites and this was one of my favorite videos. This is actually a pretty nice one and it isn't expensive, since I dont have 2k to buy one. So - when I do make one I will document it kinda like this guy - and make a response to his video. Ya know, shake the web a bit. So maybe after a few months I'll post my cool video of me and my process through making one and my products of using it. With my luck - alienbees will release an affordable ring light in a month.

Nikon D7000

In case you live in a cave and haven't heard about the new Nikon D7000, I have provided a little info on it. I'm a bit more biased to Canon, but I was rather impressed by the new Nikon D7000. here is a little review on it. comments and criticism welcome.

The Future of Web Design 2010

If you have never heard of FOWD, well let me tell you. It is an amazing conference held in NY which exhibits some of the biggest names in web design. It is a two day event and it costs a LOT of money to go. Although - if anyone is interested there is a promotion on Abduzeedo that is giving away free tickets. I'll definitely apply and hope others do too. They will be covering some new material about the new interfaces of the web as well as CSS3 and HTML5. Sounds awesome right?

Wordpress: The Final Frontier

Welcome to my room. Here on my floor we have a pile of magazines. I am an avid reader of Web Designer magazine, and recently I stumbled across an old issue on Wordpress. I also found one of the many css issues they publish that has a LOT of awesome css tags and codes to simplify any style sheet (ahem - like wordpress). I recommend giving these a look through if you ever find them (Issue 149(WP) and 151(CSS)), that is if you care to learn a thing or two about how to spice up the ol' template a bit.

Ma.tt: The Master of the (Blog) Universe

So one of my favorite sites to check out is the founding developer of Automattic: Mr. Matt Mullenweg. Automattic is the company behind wordpress, buddypress, akismet, and gravatar. even his URL demands authority - Ma.tt. This guy is an amazing web developer. If you can ever find his layouts give them a look. He makes a lot of stuff for wordpress you can download as well. He also has a lot of presence on different support forums giving some advice on coding compatibility and other technical issues. I read about this guy in PCworld when he was nominated one of the top 50 people on the web. He's cool, check him out, give him props.

Halloween! A Day Late

so I have sorta been neglecting the blog over the weekend. Not in the way that I have been attending Halloween parties like I should, but I have been doing a lot of looking into this wordpress thing (also carving some kick ass pumpkins with mom!).I have made a lot of new discoveries in wordpress. I have to say - it is pretty awesome. I am able to edit almost any part of the php I want or just make a custom css for the layout. It is incredibly editable and easy to use making this an awesome marketing tool. I will definitely be investing some time into this to make it a branch from my erikhelmsdesign site (or whatever I make in the future). If you are conscious of your online presence I would definitely recommend wordpress to be a good part of your web arsenal. I will provide some helpful links and sources soon as well my wordpress. C YA!

The Soundtrack To My Workflow

I'm hopping on the bandwagon and posting up my personal choices of harmonic escape. I love listening to music while I'm working through the usual photoshop process. I switch it up a lot to whatever the job requires. Lately I've been feeling the techno scene mixed in with Regina Spektor. Here is what i'm keeping on the repeat button:

Inspiration Station: Jef Van den Houte

Ok so I figured I'd cool it on the designers for a bit and show you some photographers I've found. Well I stumbled across him on photo.net and I Instantly loved it. I am a huge fan of abstract art and architecture, so this is a double whammy for me. I sharp angles, the colors, and clean composition of the images. This is my type of fine art photography. If you are interested in his work you can see more of it here.

Photojournalism Feature

In critiques this morning I was told I should have left the image color when I had turned it black and white.I wanted to post it up as color to show people the way it was meant to be seen. Although, I do see how I left the color of the ice cream truck out. I thought the image in black and white gave it a little more mood or emotion. I guess just like everything there are two ways to look at it. I cant decide which one I like better. Of course it's to late for critique, but I still love to look at things and try to understand them in different perspectives. Any feedback on it now that it is in color?

The Megaton Thunder Lens

So I'm looking up lenses to buy for the 20Diesal and I come across this...

Its the Sigma APO 200-500mm f2.8. Maybe I sound like an amateur - but this seems like a pretty impractical lens. Further research shows me this lens is worth $28,000. It makes more sense to buy more lenses Than to buy one giant lens. Although - it can be attached with a teleconverter to make it a 400 - 1000mm f5.6. You lose a lot of stops but at 1000mm - that's not bad. Back on the down side its Sigma glass - which I hear mixed reviews about but to me, it will always be inferior. anyways - if you wanna read for yourself check it out. I wanna hear other people's opinions.

The Prototype

As I've said I'm working on a whole new set of marketing tools. So here we have the first prototype of the new business card. This is just an idea, but I'm thinking of going in this direction. I had my beautiful mom make a few prints and I just cut this one out with an xacto-knife. You can tell its me because I totally sucked at cutting it out nicely. so here it is - it is the same size as a business card ( 3.5in X 2in) but just missing the negative space around the octopus. So it fits where any business card fits.

Holiday Portraits: Flyer Completed!!

This is it! The finalized flyer is done, along with 5 other sizes and versions. I'm excited that they are finally getting printed and ready to get moved out. So - next step is the blog. You can see it here. It will soon evolve into a nice pretty layout that plays off the flyer. So - now that we have this, We can market it! If anyone knows places that will distribute the flyer for us, you can message me via twitter, email, or facebook about the location and I'll bring them up a stack of flyers. I'm currently trying to get my job to let me leave a stack for people to grab on the way out. we have 1500+ flyers so lets get them out there.

Also - please check your twitter because I will be asking a lot of questions about the blog. Thank ya much.

The Feature Creature

Wow...So this week our feature project is due. A feature picture is basically any picture that tells the story. So - I went to the sugar hill festival with Katie and Chris. Gotta say - I didn't really get any shots I wanted. So - now I have two options:

- Turn in the shots I deem unworthy

- Hope and pray that I got a ballin' shot in Italy.

Well both sorta happened. I was given two options so I'm just going to put them both up here and turn one in. I'm interested to see how critique will go. 

After I took the picture of the ice cream man - I pushed that girl on the ground and took her Popsicle.

Canon Fan? Me Too!

Whether you prefer Canon or not this forum is an awesome source for photographers to get feedback on images, research equipment, or even just argue with people about who is a better photographer. Photography-on-the.net is also really useful if your looking to sell any equipment or buy some. People from all over the country post their work as well. Some photographers do post some really weak stuff though, so be warned. Me and Trent Chau have been members on it for a while. Go look!

Where It All Began.

I was looking back at some old work I did back in high school and started laughing at how stupid I was. Some of the things I was once so proud of look horrible to me now! No matter how horrible the picture is though, It will always have a big place in my heart. I love seeing how other artists progress, and now I can finally see myself the same way. I wonder when I'll look at my work now and see how silly some of it is...

Operation: Italy - pt. 3

The more I look at these pictures the more I really miss leaving such a wonderful place. It was so strange to me to see how wrong I was about Italy. I guess when I think of a foreign land I think that they are always doing something cool. But traveling the streets and cities of Italy I just saw that they are really no different than me and my surroundings. I guess it depends on how you see it. Anyway, this entry will show the things I miss most about Italy. some pictures I left nice and artsy, others I just figured - hey, this one means a lot to me, even if it is a stupid picture, so I'm posting it! I'll start off with the first image up top, which makes me think of all the times I got to eat at delicious Italian restaurants. Enjoy.

Inspiration Station: James White

Dig those colors!! James white is the founder of the agency Signalnoise. Well...IS the agency. I found him way back in the days when I worked at the magazine. He really opened my eyes to color. If you think the 80's were as cool as I do, then you will love White. His clients range from Nike to Disney. Have you seen the art for the new Tron movie yet? Well you can thank him for those awesome images.

Who is Erik Helms...?

I've made it my mission for the months and/or years to come to get my name KNOWN!. I am working on the new site, new business cards, and networking everywhere I go. I began thinking...these guys don't know who I really am. So - as part of the Erik Helms Push Project I've decided to post an about me movie I made in a multimedia class. The project was just to tell your life story any how any way with a video camera. I plan on posting a much much more about my new projects and ideas. Follow me! for more updates

Models and Mechanics

Today was the very hectic and very time consuming Low-key shoot. I took a while setting up since I had absolutely no clue what I was doing, but then quickly adapted to the situation. I learned all about that thar hair light to separate my subject from the backdrop. I used my manager from work Brittany who did an awesome job. I really loved working with and shaping the light to separate my subject. I really want to shoot a high-key set next. I cant wait to see the finished product. Advanced portraiture is really starting to get fun.