The time has come.....and I am almost done!

It is hard to believe that this year has gone by so fast! "Exploring Photography" the name of my project has gone so very far! I have taken hudreds probably over thousands of pictures this year! Although I have been so busy all the time this year I really enjoyed it! I am not quite done yet though I have to send my Calendar off on Friday so still a little more work on that. Along with sending the calendar  Also I am working on my portfolio for Senior Project along with creating a different portfolio for SCSPA Journalist of the year. One thing I learned from this year is I have got to learn how to say no to people! I am only one person and I cannot do everything! I learned a lot about myself and a lot about photography this year. I was thankful to have such a great mentor like Mrs. Ledbetter she truly helped me out so so much and inspired me so very much I appreciate her so much! So I am sending the calendar off hoping to sell 200 calendars if not more! and To buy a Camera sometime soon when I get all of the calendar money. My goal is a Nikon D-5000 or 3100. I also learned a ton about time management this year! My pictures were used in the Yearboook Journalism as well as tons of Marketing pieces for Oakbrook. I took pictures of 8 families and raised almost $400 and will use that money and the calendar money to buy things for yearbook! I enjoyed this project but know for sure that I am not taking pictures. It is my passion and my love and I am not stooping here! Thanks to everyone for their encouragement and support I hope the end of my project works out and that Yearbook gets ton of use our of my calendar for years to come.

Spring Break.....No break in my week!

It is spring break and I am still very busy! Next week Friday April 8 I am sending off my calendar! I need to sell 200 to make my budget. I have no purchased the camera yet because I plan on waiting to get almost all of the calendar money so I can get a great camera and maybe if I have enough money a video camera for Journalism or some flash drives and other things that the yearbook staff needs that they do not already have. On top of sending my calendar off next week I also am entering the SCSPA (south carolina scholastic press association) Mrs. Ledbetter is entering me as a journalist of the year which is huge but pretty sure my chances of winning are slim but we will see. I have to get several recomendation letters I have to make a huge portfolio and write an essay and also send that off by next Friday making  next week a VERY VERY BUSY WEEK FOR ME.

Goal for next week:
Plug in rest of pictures for Calendar and SEND IT OFF! (Add in school dates)
Get order forms out to all families via Email and Thursday Folders grades k4-5
Also giving every student in their english classes an order form!
Get yearbook staff to help make posters to put up around the school.
Make portfolio for SCSPA
Get recomendation letters and essay ready to be sent plus print GPA and other stuff needed for SCSPA.

Hopefully by Friday Afternoon= RELAX for the first time all year!

This has been my week!

To the left this picture has been pretty much what I have been doing all week. I am helping out.....(surprise) with the action and I had to take pictures of grades 6-12 and K-4.
I had to organize each grade at different locations around school. I also helped photograph auction items. These pictures of each grade will be auctioned off to make money for the school all I really hope people like them and want to buy them. Thanks go out to admistration for helping me take these pictures get people quiet and placing people!

Calendar is a full work in progress!

This is a picture of the the layout of my calendar this picture is where the front cover will be. I have started working full force on my calendar! Picking tons and tons of pictures out! I am using indesign to create my calendar which is the same program we use for yearbook it is very complex but I am pretty used to it! Lots of work ahead of me but feeling better now that I have all 12 months laid out I just have to add pictures! Since I live and breathe pictures hopefully this will not be too hard!

More Time.....Still not enough

I got more time because adventure week was cancelled...........adding another week for me to work on my calendar. I am working ALL next two weeks on nothing but the calendar! I am getting Mrs. Ledbetter to send an email stating basically to leave me alone for the next two weeks........in a nice way.

More photo projects!

This is a photo from Mrs. Thomas class this past week. I took pictures of their individual feet as well as this photo off the whole class. They are blowing it up on a canvas to auction off at the schools auction that is coming up soon. I think it turned out well but I hope others like it and that it makes the school some money. The verse they used is Romans 10:15. Other grades are soon to schedule their photo with me. Next week is key for working on my calendar taking the class of 2012 picture and working hard on calendar! This past week I was also on the news taking pictures of Rick Santourum.....it was pretty neat.

Calendar is moving along!

This week with the big help of Mrs. Ledbetter I finished layout of the Calendar now all that is  left to do is to take remaining pictures, plug them in, and get facts put in the calendar! I am very excited. I got a quote from the company JS printing. I plan on selling the Calendars for $12 each. I still have to decide how many Calendars I am going to order I am thinking of ordering 400-500 Mrs. Ledbetter suggested closer to 500 but I really hope they sell! I would like to buy a Nikon 3100 which is Nikons newest addition it would be a great camera for Yearbook Staff and the school and I hope that I get the opportunity to buy that camera!

Downtown.....Finally a break!!!!!

Two of my photos are downtown Spartanburg on main street on the Oakbrook banners! Kinda neat to see my pictures downtown for all to see if people only knew the photos were mine. On Thursday February 10, 2011 Is no picture Thursday! I am constantly busy taking photos for people being told what to do without people asking me, having people in yearbook and around Oakbrook always needing photos and needing me to take pictures and do things for them. Since I have been so busy I am tired and worn out sick of being up late editing photos or emailing them so on Thursday I am not doing anything with photos! I have covered so many events and done so much lately so I am planning on giving myself a break and not even bringing my camera to school. Making everyone else stop work around me and hold off until at least Friday so I can at least have a one day break!

And the calendar begins!

I started the calendar! I am very excited to get to work on the calendar. I have been asked to take pictures for annual fund things as well as events coming up. The banners with my photos are currently downtown Spartanburg on main stress. I am starting to wonder who is going to take pictures next year at Oakbrook? I have no idea! Working on calendar with Mrs. Ledbetter and soon working with different people around the school for facts about to put in the calendar. I have been very busy shooting yearbook photos and at times I get sick of taking pictures but I am still enjoying it just trying to learn how to handle stress. I picked out a company for my calendar JS printing is the compaines name and we use that company for Journalism.

Photo of the week: cannot add one this week they are all being used in the yearbook sorry!


Things complete:
Knightly News
Tour Brochure
Banners downtown
A few family portraits


more to come!


my website is:
taylerhelmsphotography.webs.com
check it out

You mean I can't get on the roof? Ah man.....

I am trying to plan the front picture of my calendar and I really wanted to put the school in the letters OPS but today I had the idea of if I can not get a helicopter out to the school which is quite the crazy idea then I would get on the roof but today I was told that because of insurance and liability I cannot get on the roof. Since I cannot get on the roof I am trying to think of different ideas for the front of my calendar. I also am scheduling  the pictures I was asked to take for the schools auction I am pretty excited but I am just very busy!

Timeline....there is no time I can put on this project!

This past week I had to make a timeline for my Senior Project although it will be helpful in keeping up with my own deadlines I found it almost impossible to write down all the times I take pictures and all the time I plan on taking pictures. I also talked to Mr. Hinds and other administration at school this week about my calendar. I looked at companies to print with and got a few quotes. I decided that I am going to sell my calendars for $15 and plan to order a minimum of 200 and maybe a few more so the school can use them for school tours and other things. I am looking forward to getting to work on my calendar!

Ladies and Gentlemen....we found a winnner.

The photo to the right has brought me some luck this year. Taken during the summer in Reidville, SC. I have won first place in the SCISA photo competition. Honorable Mention in the Piedmont Interstate Fair. 2nd place HubBub Spartanburg High School Art Show and hopefully more awards to come! I also won second place in the fair for another photo! I am enjoying getting my photography where people can see some of my work. Some of the money I win from competitions will help my project as well as my photography portfolio. I also had my 4th photo published in the Hearld Journal this past week which is always really exciting!

A busy girl......glad to be on break!

I have been an extremely busy girl and I am very thrilled to finally be on Christmas Break. I have been running around school....afterschool....before school taking pictures. It seems that every five minutes someone needs something. The good news is all by time will pay off in the future. I have been working on many school things such as picking out pictures for the banners than will be hung downtown Spartanbug for the entire month of January. The banners have two of my pictures. Glad to be displaed in downtown Spartanburg and will also be something good to put in not only my senior project portfolio but also but photography portfolio. I also am working on picking out and shooting pictures for the school tour brochures. One of my favorite photos that I was secretly hiding for the yearbook my favorite picture from this entire year I let go this week. Mrs. Ledbetter my mentor and I both agreed that this photo is great for not only the yearbook but also that it would benefit my future to be seen by more and more people on the tour brochure if it is used. I also have been extremely busy working on the Villager....which is FINALLY done!! The Villager is the yearly news publication at Oakbrook. I took almost all of the pictures in the Villager except for maybe three or four. In the past few weeks I have had to take a pictures for the Villager that included school administration pictures as well as a picture of the schools board which was quite awkward because I am used to taking photographs of children not adults. I am having to step out of my comfort zone a lot. So I have completed the Villager photos as well as the down town banners. Working on yearbook, catching up on Knightly News because I have not had photos in there for several weeks because I have been so busy but plan to start again after the first of the year. I also am working with people on making the school brochure better and next maybe even the schools website. All of these things that I am doing will look great in my photography portfolio!! The picture to the left is one of my favorites from last week. I took pictures at the Winter Concert and enjoyed taking dance photos for the first time! I cannot wait for their next performance dancing photography is very challenging. Glad to be on break to well....take a break! After I return to school I will be busy working on my calendar and hopefully more family photos I need at least 4 more families to buy camera but also more families after that to help pay publishing costs for my calendar! Cannot wait for 2011 but it will for sure be a very very busy year filled with lots and lots of pictures!

Research Paper and tough choices

Research paper working on it now and all week. Today I took more family pictures. This past week I had to turn down a family for pictures because I have to do my paper. I was running out of time and had to say no. I felt really bad and still do. I had to put my school work in front of pictures otherwise I would still be doing this senior project next year! Turn in research paper tomorrow so I can finally start work fully on my project and I cannot wait!

"The Pictures Aren't On The CD"

"The Pictures aren't on the CD...." I made my first big mistake this past week. I was editing photos and saving them to a disk and I formatted the CD wrong and the pictures did not save onto the CD so when the family went to look at their pictures they were not on the disk. It worked out though I made the family a new CD and all is well. My biggest challenge as you can see in the picture is the size of families. The last two bookings I have had were big families. One family had seven people and the other had eight. Telling people where and how to stand can be major challenge. I hope the families are understanding that I am by no means a professional. On saturday I took a families pictures at their house in front of a lake and they went great I think they really liked them! The family I did Sunday afternoon was definetly a learning experience. The sun was very bright I would place the family one way and the sun would be behind them and it would not work, and then I would face them another way and the sun would be in their face. I took those pictures at Glendale my favorite picture place but not the place to take photos in the middle of the day! The photo to the right was one of the only ones I liked. I am very worried about the family not liking these as much. I am very new at this so from this experience I learned two things. First I learned that taking pictures at 1:30 is not a good idea. Second I am still researching the best way to take photos with bright light. The good news is that I have $350 for camera fund and have three families coming up in the next two weeks. This project is a learning experience and that is all that matters! I am learning!

You Stand Here.....You stand there....

This was my photo of the week! One of many from this past week.
This weekend I have two more families booked. One bright and early at ten AM and another one
on Sunday at one in the afternoon. After this weekend I will have a minimum of $300 from taking family
photos! So excited I hope I can keep this up and continue to book more and more! My challenges from last week were I need to take pictures of events but sometimes I am involved in the event and cannot take pictures or I cannot make it! Everything is going absolutely great though! Enjoying my project. Although taking photos is very challenging. Thinking of new ideas and lining people up. I am having to be very bossy. Telling adults what to do is sometimes hard. After this research paper is turned in CALENDAR time! Having a absolute blast very busy but still going great!

I need a calendar.....good thing I am making one!

Project is going great! Took pictures last weekend. I took pictures of one family and five exchange students with a start of $100 to my buy a yearbook camera fund. Good news is tomorrow I have a family to take as well as three to five booked between now and Thanksgiving break! I am glad my goal seems to get closer and closer. The picture I posted was one of my favorites that I took of the family I did last Sunday. That family was the first time I have ever taken pictures of boys. Unlike girls, boys do NOT like to get their pictures made. It was quite the challenge. I am giving the family their CD on Monday. I really hope all of the families like their pictures! Taking pictures makes me very nervous at times. I have had to talk with a lot of people on the phone working with scheduling and such I do not like it but I think I am starting to improve! I have one family tomorrow followed by two this weekend. I have more to schedule and many more pictures to take! Including school pictures for yearbook! I was put in the paper for photography contests. 2nd place and honarable mention in Peidmont Fair and 1st place in the SCISA contest in the entire state! I am very excited about seeing my own picture in the paper. I am trying to come up with days where I can schedule people. The photo sessions are taking about 1-2 hours! That is a long time but I take a lot of pictures so the families not only have a lot to choose from but I also make sure I have enough good ones! I am having fun but I am one busy girl!

Marking my Calendar....get it Calendar?

Marking my Calendar.....

Marking my calendar to write down appointments for photo sessions! This Saturday as well as Sunday! I also have next Saturday scheduled!
I am very nervous but excited. I am on my way to buying a camera!  Today I took pictures at Veterans Day and I took all of the Club photos for the yearbook. Organizing people was not easy.....I do not have much patience but got through it all in one period with lots of help! I also took pictures of Brad's signing for college today so in one day I took over 1500 pictures imagine that? I also sent some pictures to the news from the Veterans day program. Looking forward to taking these pictures all weekend! I am also working on re-doing the Oakbrook brochures with my pictures!




Photo of the week:

Learning...

Learning that I cannot be in all the places I want to be at once. This week I have been pricing calendars and I learned that I can actually print them through Costco I am thinking about all of my options and have started selecting photos for my calendar. I am very excited! I missed some lower school events this week and it really frustrated me because I could not be there. We are getting our research papers returned to us in the next week or two and I know mine needs a lot of WORK!! I cannot wait to get to work on the Calendars but also stating taking peoples pictures and hopefully picking out a camera for yearbook in the near future!

Finally!

Finally turned in rough draft of research paper it still needs a lot of work but I finally feel like I accomplished something. Tonight I went to take pictures of Erica Rohlmans Senior Project as apart of my project I am taking pictures for other seniors Senior Projects. So far I have taken some for both Erica and Carrie and have many up coming. I now have five different families to schedule for pictures and I am pretty excited! Glad I have  finished rough draft of my paper. Cannot wait to get started on taking family pictures! Knightly News is still going great each week and shooting Oakbrook events is keeping be busy but going great. Also my mentor Mrs. Ledbetter is keeping me busy but I enjoy being busy.