How to edit food photos: an interview with BBQ bloggers Ken and Patti Fisher

Ken and Patti Fisher started their popular BBQ blog Date Night Doins in 2010. Since then, they have shared over 1100 recipes. All their posts feature mouth-watering food photography from burgers to blueberry tart.

They told us about how they started their blog, and how they create amazing food photos – sometimes with a little help from inPixio.

“One night a week, just for us.”

Ken and Patti Fisher always set aside one night a week to cook and eat together. They especially enjoy cooking on the grill and eating outside on their patio, with a little wine, or strawberry margaritas.

“We have done it with a bit of a rainforest theme” they describe, “little lights, candles, lanterns, and surround sound”.

Sometimes they invited guests to their date night dinner and often these guests would ask for the recipe. “We found ourselves emailing out 100 copies of that week’s recipe” they explained, “so we thought we would try a blog”.

Their blog, Date Night Doins, is now packed full of recipes and ranked no 3 on a Feedspot list of top BBQ blogs.

The blog aims to show readers how to become a “Grill master” but it’s also about spending quality time with a significant other. “Date Night is all about sharing good food, fun and conversation together” they explain.

Mastering food photography

The recipes on Date Night Doins are easy to follow thanks to detailed step-by-step instructions illustrated with photos.

Perfecting food photography was difficult at first, with lighting a particular challenge. However, Ken and Patti have learned by doing. They have upgraded their camera 5 times and now have a “forest of lights on tripods” that they can move.

Another issue was what Ken describes as “Props”, referring to plates, platters, and backgrounds. These props need to “add to the photo not become the photo” he suggests.

Ken and Patti recommend that the focus should stay on creating delicious-looking food. “It helps if it looks good to start with. If it doesn’t, you’ll never make it look good.”

“Your background can make or break a shot”

Ken and Patti started using inPixio Photo Studio about a year ago as an easy way to change the backgrounds on their food photos. They didn’t have any previous photo editing experience but are now enjoying the process of tweaking their photos.

They know now that changing a background can transform a picture. “Your background can make or break a shot” they state.

Ken and Patti enjoy playing with different backgrounds to see what works best with each image. They also use Photo Studio to adjust exposure and lighting and cut out unwanted stuff from their photos.

Their edited photos have been attracting a lot of attention. “I have learned how to post a pic that does not get many hits to using the same pic and changing the lighting and background it gets 1000’s of hits” explains Ken.

He shared an example of a picture for a “Diablo Sliders” recipe. “I changed the background and folks went nuts…” he said.

Tips from the professionals

Ken and Patti shared 3 photography and photo editing tips for aspiring food bloggers:

• Keep everything clean, everyone will be looking at your work
• Have interesting props that add to the photo not become the photo (plates and backgrounds).
• Remember the picture is of the FOOD

We asked Ken and Patti which recipe we should try first on their blog, and they agreed that it’s a tough question.

“So, let’s go with a simple Burger” Ken suggests, “I LOVE BIG BUGERS!!!”

We apologize if this article left anyone feeling super hungry. We are signing off now and heading to the kitchen!

You can find all of Ken and Patti’s recipes on their blog Date Night Doins BBQ For Two

If you’d like to try changing your photo backgrounds like Ken and Patti, you can download a free trial of inPixio Photo Studio here.