LCD from Arduino Starter Kit not displaying text

Question

I've been tinkering with my new Arduino a bit and I was adding an LCD from the starter kit, using information from the eleventh project in the project book, "Crystal Ball." When I connect the Arduino to my computer, the LCD lights up, but no text is displayed on the screen.

Here are some screenshots of my connections:

Finally, here's the code that I uploaded to the Arduino:

#include <LiquidCrystal.h>

// Create this display with the pins that I wired
LiquidCrystal lcd(12, 11, 2, 3, 4, 5);

void setup()
{
    // This is a 16x2 display
    lcd.begin(16, 2); 

    lcd.print("hello!");
}

void loop()
{
}

edit: Additionally, I tried adding a potentiometer to control the display, but to no avail. Below is the wiring for this (back pin goes to the third to last pin for the LCD).

Answer 1

Looking at your first picture it looks like you are wired on 12 and 13 not to 11 and 12 like your sketch specifies.

Double check your wiring against this : https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/HelloWorld

Also take your multi-meter out and buzz your connections.

Answer 2

In the end, it turned out being a combination of what Andre's Answer suggested, as well as the "brightness" of the LCD. My potentiometer seems to have kind of a "stick" to it, meaning that to get the LCD to move to the value necessary, I had to crank the thing harder than normal, then it started displaying my text.