Four BBQ photography tips for beginners (plus top news & videos)
During the coronavirus pandemic, many of us have been stuck at home and cooking up a storm. Whether you are making well-known barbecue recipes or shaking things up with inventive dishes, then comes the hard part — how to show off your creations to the world.
High-quality food photography isn’t as simple as pointing your phone or camera at your food and then eating. If you spent a lot of time on making the dish, you might as well spend at least a minute composing a good shot to post on social media or share on texts with your family. While we can’t help you shoot like a pro in one sitting, we can at least use our years of shooting barbecue to help you get started.
Here are a few tips to help you being to take a lot of great shots of your barbecue.
Manage Light and Shadows
Barbecue enthusiasts are often forced to take photos under less than ideal conditions. Barbecue joints are often dark with poor lighting, while at events and in the backyard you’re often faced with taking pictures under bright sunlight. Be aware of the source of light and try to avoid shadows obscuring the food you are shooting. Additionally, using a portable external light can also ensure you have enough lighting if you are shooting at night or in a restaurant.
Try Different Angles
The standard top-down photo of a loaded tray of barbecue is classic and often a wonderful shot. However, don’t be afraid to try different angles when taking barbecue pictures. Close-up shots can show off wonderful detail that is often missing and different angles can add perspective to your photos.
Get Handy
Shooting food on a plate or on a platter can look boring sometimes. One trick you can use to change this up is incorporating your hand or a friend’s hand, which can show an interesting angle and perspective. For example, shooting a giant beef rib with two hands holding it can show how enormous it really is.
Establish Your Location
While your food is the star of the photograph, don’t neglect the surroundings or the background of your photo. If you are a food festival, for example, try to incorporate the festival behind the food or get a shot of the food being prepared by a chef. Establishing location can also be as simple as making sure your grill is partially in the frame if you are getting a shot of meat over fire.
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For more tips on taking great photos of your food, be sure to check out this recent BBQ Beat interview with Weber photographer Mike Lang. Lang has lots of great examples and ideas to make sure you get better food shots.
Ryan Cooper (BBQ Tourist) and Sean Ludwig (NYC BBQ)
Co-Founders, The Smoke Sheet
Here are the top recent barbecue news stories from around the country:
Carey Bringle of Nashville’s Peg Leg Porker caught the spotlight recently after penning an open letter to the mayor about potential tax increases.
Carey Bringle, owner and pitmaster of the popular restaurant Peg Leg Porker in Nashville, wrote an open letter to mayor John Cooper concerning a proposed property tax increase. The proposed increase of 32% would bring Bringle’s property taxes to $72,000 per year, an increase of 1600% since he bought the property seven years ago. Peg Leg Porker recently re-opened for carryout and delivery after having been closed for six weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Texas Monthly barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn and taco editor Jose R. Ralat wrote about the decisions restaurants face following Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s announcement lifting of the ban on dine-in service in the state. New restrictions allow restaurants to open at 25% capacity (50% in some rural counties), with limitations on party size and tables spaced at least six feet apart. While some joints, such as Panther City in Ft. Worth and Hays Co. Bar-B-Que are re-opening immediately, others joints like Franklin Barbecue will remain closed until they feel it is safe for customers and staff to re-open.
J.C. Reid of the Houston Chronicle wrote about how barbecue joints are weighing the risks and benefits of re-opening following the new state guidelines.
Todd Johns of Plowboys BBQ spoke with Fox 4 in Kansas City about how coronavirus outbreaks at meat processing plants are impacting local restaurants and grocery stores. Johns said recently only a portion of their brisket order was delivered and pork shoulder is hard to find, while chicken and turkey are currently available.
Speaking of the potential meat shortage, big box retailer Costco and many grocery store chains have begun limiting the amount of meat products customers can buy to reduce panic buying. Costco’s policy says each member can buy three meat products while some grocery stores have limited customers to one product per visit.
The annual Jiggy with the Piggy event in Kannapolis, North Carolina (which celebrates all things barbecue) was forced to take place in an alternate form this year. Rather than cancel altogether, organizers worked hard to create a virtual event with cooking lessons from Tuffy Stone, a tribute to barbecue competition teams, music videos, and more.
The National Turkey Federation recently announced a partnership with the Kansas City Barbeque Society to launch the inaugural Turkey Smoke Series. The series “will incorporate a turkey category into contests where thousands of dollars in extra prize money and bragging rights among pitmaster competitors” during the 2020 competition season.
Ed Randolph, owner of the Handsome Devil BBQ catering and competition team and author of two barbecue books, announced he will soon open a new restaurant in Newburgh, New York.
Two high-end non-BBQ San Francisco restaurants that had to stop service because of the pandemic have teamed up to create a BBQ takeout joint. Saison and Angler have created Saison Smokehouse, which serves smoked chicken, pastrami brisket, pork ribs, pastrami on rye, and sides including buttermilk biscuits and burnt ends dirty rice.
The Californian recently profiled Cali Comfort BBQ in San Diego, which has been making big changes to its business including offering cocktails-to-go and working to feed front-line workers.
Frontline Foods and Jack's BBQ in Seattle have teamed up to help feed healthcare workers during this crazy time, Seattle Refined reports.
DAS BBQ, a popular Atlanta barbecue joint, spoke with AJC about its successful transition to an all-takeout restaurant during the pandemic.
The Dallas Observer creatively walks through how to place a single large BBQ order and turn it into several leftover meals. They used an order from hotshot Cattleack Barbecue and turned it into sandwiches, loaded baked potatoes, and more.
Here are BBQ shows, podcasts, or books you should check out this week:
Chef Vivian Howard travels to different areas of the country to understand barbecue traditions in this new episode of Somewhere South.
Watch: How Do you Cue? — Somewhere South
In Somewhere South, chef Vivian Howard takes viewers on a culinary tour of the South through cross-cultural dishes. Every Southerner has a particular way they cook and eat barbecue. While Vivian knows North Carolina’s tradition of whole hog barbecue, she travels to Florida for smoked mullet, Tennessee for smoked bologna, and Texas for barbecue with Japanese and Mexican twists. Watch here.
Listen: What’s This Meat Shortage? — The BBQ Central Show
In the last week, an impending meat shortage has been making news across all media channels and online landscapes. Host of The BBQ Central Show Greg Rempe chased down Kevin Green from The Butcher Shoppe to talk about what is realistic and what is nonsense with this issue. The Butcher Shoppe has never seen busier times than they have during this pandemic and they have been servicing their customers with much success. Find out what to expect and how to best source meat during these challenging times. Listen here.
Read: The Franklin Barbecue Collection [Special Edition, Two-Book Boxed Set]: Franklin Barbecue and Franklin Steak — by Aaron Franklin and Jordan Mackay
From brisket to steak, here's everything you need to know about meat. This deluxe boxed set from the revered pitmaster and New York Times bestselling author behind Austin's Franklin Barbecue features exclusive paperback editions of his already iconic books: Franklin Barbecue and Franklin Steak. From America's foremost barbecue authority and bestselling author Aaron Franklin comes this collection of two essential books for anyone interested in cooking meat to perfection. Franklin and James Beard Award-winning coauthor Jordan Mackay unlock the secrets behind truly great barbecue and mind-blowing steak, sharing years' worth of hard-won knowledge. Buy it here.
Bradley Robinson from Chud’s BBQ shows you how to make the perfect Texas pork spare ribs.
Texas Style Spare Ribs — Chud’s BBQ
For this week’s Recipe of the Week, we chose this video for Texas style pork spare ribs from Bradley Robinson of Chud’s BBQ. This is a very basic recipe and technique video on Texas style spare ribs, cooked using post oak wood on a 65-gallon offset smoker. Bradley shows you how to best trim the ribs and season simply with salt and pepper. View the recipe here.
In light of the constantly changing coronavirus crisis, we will be leaving this section blank for a little bit. Many events you know and love have been postponed. We’ll be updating the events section on our website with the most up-to-date information as we have it.
See the full Smoke Sheet events calendar online here.
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