How we shot some of the best BBQ in the world

Well, if you're a fan of BBQ anywhere in the world, you've most likely heard of the" World Famous" Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que. They've gotten rave reviews from Presidents, sports stars, celebrities, foodies, and of course by yours truly.

We had the privilege of being asked to shoot their food for the new website.  Joe's Kansas City is now selling their world famous Bar-B-Que all over the USA from the website.  Now, if you're in Memphis or Seattle and need a great BBQ fix, all you need to do is order it.

This was an especially gratifying project since it's a locally owned company and we're big fans!

Joe's KC came to us and said we want some great photography,
but we don't want our photography to look like all the other companies selling BBQ on the web.  We want the photos to capture the authentic and real look and feel of our product. The shots should look as if the pit master just took it out of the hot smoker.   We don't want it to look perfect.  We want it to look authentic with some meat drippings on the surface, the utensils to be a little messy.  We were fortunate to find a hundred year old butcher block table for our background. It is 12"thick and three and a half foot in diameter and made out of one solid walnut log.  It set the tone for the whole shoot with it's authentic wear and cracked surface.  To finish out the authentic and real look, we shot with all natural light and let the shadows go a little dark.

Here are a few fun images from behind the scenes, along with a few of our favorite final shots.    

Food Stylist prepping the brisket for it's close-up.

David about to get slapped for moving the styled food.

Clients and crew taking a well deserved lunch break.

Final image

Yummy Ribs

My favorite burnt ends!

Finding Your Unique Visual Language

Early in my photographic career, two of my photographer friends were out on a fine art photo trip and I suggested we all take a photo from the same tripod holes.  I wanted to experiment and see if we all saw the world in the same way.

To my surprise, all of our photographs looked completely different.  We all have, what I call our own "Visual Language".  Everyone sees the world in their own unique way.

I recently took this a step further and looked to see if there were any similarities between my personal fine art photography and my commercial photography.

What do you think?

For those of you just getting started, the process of finding your personal "Visual Language" will take some time.

The best way I know to figure this out is to shoot, shoot, shoot!

The other advice I have that has helped me figure this out is, print out little thumbnail prints (no more than 2x3 inches ) of your favorite images.  Lay them out on the floor and start putting the images together that look and feel similar.  This will help you start seeing your own "Visual Language".

  

    

Photographing in Studio with Natural Light

Although you can come close to imitating natural light, that imitation simply isn't the same. The combination of natural light and a long exposure time adds a quality to images you just can't achieve any other way. 

When we designed our studio, we knew we wanted to be able to shoot with natural light. As part of the studio design, we added softening silks and blackout curtains to the windows so we could control the amount of sunlight that comes through to naturally light a set.

We recently shot a new line of holiday candles for Trapp Candles, one of our amazing, long time clients. On this particular project, we were challenged to illustrate how consumers can use Trapp's products in and around their homes. We were also challenged to show retailers how they can best display Trapp's products and achieve greater sales results.  

We wanted the light in each shot to look natural, like you'd see in your own home or in a retail store window. So we used the softening silks to diffuse the natural sunlight while still highlighting the products and set.

You may look at these behind the scenes images and ask yourself, "Why in the world are the table and chairs on apple boxes?" In order to achieve the right perspective between the table, product and background, we had to raise the table and chairs. If we hadn't done this, we wouldn't have been able to see enough of the fireplace mantel to frame the shot. Just another trick of the trade!

Apple boxes were used to lift the table and chairs.

So many silverware options for our dining room table!

Adjusting the window silks to control the light on the front of the table.

Putting the finishing touches on the set before we shoot the final image.

After David completed the main shot, he moved in and captured a few detail shots.

Wax and wax melter shot.

Putting the final touches on the display image for retailers. This shot will be
composed with another image we shot to create the final display image.

Stacks and stacks of Trapp product!

Retailer display shot.

Some of the most difficult items to photograph are made of foil or chrome.
Here, David works to get the lighting just right on the foil product box.

Final dining room shot.

Final fireside pumpkin candle shot.

Big Production Shoots are a blast! The key is organization.

We had the privilege to shoot another large production for our friends at VML and Tom's of Maine.   When shooting large projects like these there are a lot of moving parts and people to keep organized.

You have a number of people from the client and agency. We also had second photographers, photo assistants, set builder, models, talent agencies, producer, production coordinator, chef, hair and make-up stylist, and photo retoucher.  Not to mention we needed to do a casting session to find the right models.

The project involved hundreds of email, texts, five different estimate versions, creating a shooting schedule for both photographers to make sure we got all the shots done on schedule, photo retouching schedule, building sets, prop shopping, checking in product to make sure everything is at the studio and in photo condition.

Of course then we needed to pre-light the sets, get all the props in place, check that all the set lights to make sure they work, add dimmers to make sure they didn't over power the natural light, make sure the set paint was dry and that everything looked perfect.

One of the things I've learned over the years is that you always have to be ready for the unexpected.  This project was no exception. In some of the photos below we had to spin the sink and vanity around backwards.  We had to do this so the shot fit the layout better.  It worked perfectly!

The bottom line is with any project you need to be organized and ready for the unexpected, this is especially true with big productions.    

Production Board and hourly schedule.

Casting session included photographing models hands, teeth, and action shots.

Hair and Make-up stylist in action.

Our second photographer and retoucher Tiffany ( upper left ) shooting product on white while I shot product families on set.

Props and wardrobe choices for the shoot.

A peek behind the photo sets.

As I mentioned we had to turn the sink and vanity around to fit one of the layout.

Shooting the lifestyle shots in the green room.

The blue room set.

Chef Pauline putting the final touches on lunch for the clients and crew.

Beef tenderloin filet with roasted veggies and salad.  It was awesome!

Shooting our lifestyle model in the blue bathroom set. 

That's a wrap!