johnnydugs on "Problem Excluding Categories using query_posts on index.php"

Hey Folks,

I have my front page setup as a static page which uses a custom page template. My blog is setup as a page in the WordPress admin and uses the default, index.php template. I am trying to prevent my photos from showing up on my blog. Photos are stored in the category with an id of 6. My attempt at using the query_posts function to modify the default loop is not working. Index.php code below:

<?php
/**
 * The main template file.
 *
 * @package _s
 * @since _s 1.0
 */

get_header(); ?>

		<?php
			global $query_string; // grab the global query information
			$posts = query_posts($query_string.'&cat=-6'); // exclude Photos category
			if ( have_posts() ) :
		?>

			<div class="grid">
				<div class="span12" role="navigation">
					<?php _s_content_nav( 'navbar-top' ); ?>
				</div> <!-- .span12 -->
			</div> <!-- .grid -->

			<?php /* Start the Loop */ ?>
			<div class="grid" role="main">
				<?php while ( have_posts() ) : the_post(); ?>

					<div class="span6">
						<div class="module module-entry">
							<?php
								/* Include the Post-Format-specific template for the content.
								 * If you want to overload this in a child theme then include a file
								 * called content-___.php (where ___ is the Post Format name) and that will be used instead.
								 */
								get_template_part( 'content', get_post_format() );
							?>
						</div> <!-- .module -->
					</div> <!-- .span6 -->

				<?php endwhile; ?>
			</div> <!-- .grid -->

			<div class="grid">
				<div class="span12" role="navigation">
					<?php _s_content_nav( 'navbar-bottom' ); ?>
				</div>
			</div>

		<?php else : ?>

			<div class="grid">
				<div class="span12">
					<?php get_template_part( 'no-results', 'index' ); ?>
				</div> <!-- .span12 -->
			</div> <!-- .grid -->

		<?php
			endif;
			wp_reset_query();
		?>

<?php get_footer(); ?>