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.

EHD V2.0

Part of my ultimate goal in life is to be a successful designer as well as photographer. I've begun my work on my new site Erik Helms Design V.2.0, and I should have it live in a few months. It will be my new portfolio site for any music projects, design projects and of course photography projects I do. I'll post up any new things I want to try and I hope to get some input about it. I'm so excited to see the new site!! I promise it is going to ROCK!

Oh ya....there may be a touch of flash on it.

Goodnight Atlanta!

 

     So its about that time to hit the sack. I've been thinking a lot about photojournalism. I just cant believe some of the moments photographers like Robert Capa and Don McCullin got. I think in honor of photojournalists everywhere I'm going to document the highlights of my life 15 minutes prior to me sleeping.  I start with the traditional shave and brushing of the teeth...and then, well, I'll let the pictures tell the story. I kept true to the photojournalists way of retouching...by not doing any.

Gwinnett Tech: Holiday Portraits

So here is a rough draft of the flyer (so fill in the blanks with words your mind created) I made for Gwinnett Tech's Holiday Portraits. Soon I'll begin working on the blog and I have some really cool ideas for it. Of course everyone saw the layout, but I'm thinking we should all put a downloadable (I think I made that word up) copy on our blogs. Perhaps? Perhaps not?

Either way I'm excited to see marketing committee and design committee work together to make this event super popular. I'll post up the finalized one very soon. And to all involved with Holiday Portraits......Godspeed.

Operation: Italy - pt.2

 As a continuance from the last Operation: Italy Post, I'm going to post some more pictures from my little excursion in the East. This post pertains to the people of Italy. One of my favorite things to see about new places is the people. Here are a few from a rather large number of shots. Enjoy

Inspiration Station: Sal Della'quila

So back in my high school day I used to be an avid reader of DG magazine. I read an article about a designer who used to make layouts for cds or flyers local bands. I absolutely loved this guys illustrations. He is one of the reasons I got interested in design. Now he's making graphics for pepsi, mastercard, and HBO. I absolutely love the colors he uses in his illustrations and his crazy concepts. The guy is awesome. Definitely check out his work here. He makes some awesome prints.

One Color...Nothin' Special About it.

Think your business card rocks? Think again. This guy opened my eyes on what to really get out of one of your most important marketing tools. lol - this guy cracks me up. Seriously though, I've been looking into new ideas for my business card and I have a few ideas and concepts sketched out. I'll post them soon for some opinions.

In the meantime dig these awesome card ideas I stumbled upon in my research. I love seeing creativity at its finest. Post moar soon!!

I've Been Workin' on the Railroad

Saturday I went with a  group on a photoshoot with a friend of mine.  We assisted her at the southwestern train museum. She got some really cool shots and used an awesome model. Check out her work - she's pretty rad. Also check out Starburst...they have this awesome new pack of just the red colored Starbursts.

Julie!!

For my Child portraits I shot my beautiful niece Julie. She was very cooperative and definitely made the shoot enjoyable. I tried to go for a denim rocker kinda look. She made such an awesome expression that makes me think of Johnny Cash. After a little post processing I'll have my final product!

Operation: Italy - pt. 1

Back in September I traveled to Europe with some classmates for study abroad. The trip was amazing. I shot 3000+ Images in my 9 days there. So - what I intend to do is to post a few pictures from the trip according to a theme. So in the next few weeks I'll post pictures from Milan, Florence, Bergamo and everywhere I went. I think I'll start my first one off with "The Architecture of Italy".



I'll post part 2 up in a few days. My next theme - I'm thinking "People of Italy".

Inspiration Station: Gavin Strange

So in this month's Computer Arts has an article on one of my favorite graphic artists ever: Gavin Strange. The incredible and incredibly strange Gavin Strange is a huge influence on me. If you have never seen his work head over there NOW!!!!

Gavin Strange's clients range from Cartoon Network to Aardman Animations. Gavin is a huge inspiration in the fact that he is so versatile being a photographer, graphic artists, and web designer.

He also has his own set of vinyl toys which are pretty cute too. "Droplet" vinyl toys are actually pretty popular. Although I'm not crazy about vinyl toys I love the concept and the design of them. He's been featured in several magazines giving tips on how to make better logos or how to clean up your code on websites. Keep your eye out for him - I see him being a huge name in design in the years to come.

So...Blogger Layout Taking A Little Too Long?

I just finished my blogger layout and it was a bit of an ordeal. Blogger will recode certain parts of your code. I found a pretty cool site that helped me out so I thought I'd share.It has more than just code stuff it also has some really cool stuff in the forums. Check it out!

Peachtree Battle

Atlanta Celebrates Photography is back again, and have a whole lineup of awesome things  to check out. Last night I headed down to the Hagedorn Foundation Gallery in Atlanta for Paul Hagedorn's exhibit.  He recreated a war scene from his old army models and some fireworks. The product was incredible. It is such a great illustration of the line between playful and chaos. At first I thought it was all photo manipulation but Hagedorn actually shot everything. He used a sky mural as his backdrop and shot behind a protective glass so he could get right on the action. Check it out!!

The models used in the photos

 

 The gallery will be open until Oct 26. It is most definitely worth seeing.

1st Post

  
         So, now we begin the perpetual postings of Erik Helms.