Hey BBQ lovers! Texas Photo Roundup has a great opportunity to learn how to take photos of the food you love from one of the masters: a BBQ road-trip led by talented photographer Wyatt McSpadden!
ILTP talked with Wyatt & Kimberly Davis about the upcoming event. Kimberly is one of the head honchos behind Texas Photo Roundup and has been photographing food for years.
ILTP: Kimberly, as a food lover and photographer why are you excited to put together Wyatt’s BBQ roadtrip?
Kimberly: To spend a day with amazing photographer, Wyatt McSpadden, (who is to BBQ photography as Aaron Franklin is to brisket) is such a great opportunity! Wyatt probably has more Texas Monthly covers than anyone, and his BBQ photography in particular captures the culture of BBQ and all of the elements that make each place unique including the atmosphere, the pit, the food itself, and especially the people behind the food.
Wyatt’s work tells a story, and this workshop will allow you work with Wyatt first hand.
Wyatt’s work tells a story, and this workshop will allow you work with Wyatt first hand. Approaching each location as if on assignment including different lighting techniques. This workshop will also be a lot of fun because of the location. Lockhart BBQ is legendary- some of the best BBQ you’ll ever have and the atmosphere of each location is unique! Everyone is encouraged to bring their camera so they’ll come back with a great experience, pictures, full bellies, and an autographed copy of Wyatt’s book.
ILTP: Wyatt, what is your experience shooting bbq?
Wyatt McSpadden: I’ve been documenting the Texas BBQ scene for more than 20 years. I moved to Austin from Amarillo in 1992. The Panhandle of Texas is a BBQ wasteland. A new friend, food and music writer John Morthland, took it upon himself to school me on real Texas BBQ. Most of our journeys were to Lockhart and the original Kreuz Market location.
True believers from all over the world travel to this area to enjoy the places and the food.
I fell in love with the food and the place and as the years went by had the good fortune to shoot most of the great BBQ joints in Central Texas and beyond. The Austin area is a Meat Mecca. True believers from all over the world travel to this area to enjoy the places and the food. Ultimately I took on the project of shooting the book Texas BBQ in an effort to document the places and people who make this amazing food.
ILTP: What makes shooting bbq different from other food?
Wyatt McSpadden: BBQ doesn’t happen in a hurry. It takes hours of low heat and high smoke to do it right. The pits can range from great brick constructions to steel barrels that have been modified into smokers. Some is made indoors and some outside.
The best places serve the BBQ on paper with a little onion, pickle and maybe some sauce.
Some pit masters have secret formulas and techniques that they refuse to share; others are open and eager to explain how they do what they do. The best places serve the BBQ on paper with a little onion, pickle and maybe some sauce. Kreuz market has no forks, you have to use your hands. The presentation is simple and beautiful as the preparation.
ILTP: How are pit masters different from other cooks?
Wyatt McSpadden: They may not be all that different other than the hours they keep. Pit masters are up early in the dark hours of the morning. I’ve met and shot pit masters that range from congenial to surly. Some are on a holy smoke mission some are just on the job.
“Please Rick, just a little smile” he looked at me with his very stern face and said “I am smiling.”
ILTP: Do you have a favorite story from a bbq shoot?
Wyatt McSpadden: There are so many. I feel so fortunate to be welcome back to any of the joints that I’ve shot in the past. I’ve made many friends in and around the BBQ biz. Most of these folks are small town people who don’t really see themselves as part of a food phenomenon. Rick Schmidt, the former owner of Kreuz market has been a subject for many years. He’s a stoic German who isn’t given to much frivolity. After years of patronizing his place and photographing him he finally began to warm up a bit. I had him in front of the camera one day and was begging him for a change of expression “Please Rick, just a little smile” he looked at me with his very stern face and said “I am smiling.”
Want to join Wyatt on this amazing day of shooting, eating, and drinking? Registration is open now. Sign up quick!
Get a taste & check out this little video of Wyatt on the Travel Channel’s show, Food Wars.
I Love Texas Photo is a proud media sponsor of the Texas Photo Roundup.
