Portraits and More

This past Saturday at Hot Thomas’ BBQ I was able talk with Mark more about his father, Hot Thomas, and he showed me some photos of Hot and posed for a portrait.

Getting the Story

This past weekend I went to Hot Thomas’ again to try and get more audio that better tells the story and I got it!  Mark really opened up to me and gave me some great things to work with.  The interview took most of the time I was there, but I did get a couple of detail shots that I feel help describe the setting.

Hot Thomas BBQ has t-shirts, baseball caps and visors for sale.  Their merchandise lines a section of the bookshelves that surround the restaurant.  The bookshelves also have antique items, some of which have been in the building since it was a general store decades ago.

A customer at Hot Thomas BBQ props his feet back as he enjoys his meal.  Many of the customers that come in, especially on Saturdays for lunch, come in their hunting or fishing attire.

Audio

This week I met briefly with Mark and was able to get a little audio.  Between our schedules we didn’t have much time, and only covered some of the basic questions.  I’m looking forward to getting more in depth on Saturday when I return to the restaurant.

Friday Lunch

Over Spring Break I had the opportunity to go to Hot Thomas’ during lunch on Friday, which is arguably their busiest time of the week.  Due to my school schedule I’m never able to make it out there on Fridays to catch the crowd, so it really excited me that I would finally be able to capture what they’ve told me about.  I definitely wasn’t disappointed.  Almost every table was occupied and there was hardly a moment when someone wasn’t in line for a pick up order.

The parking lot at Hot Thomas’ BBQ is packed during the Friday lunch.

Almost every table is occupied by customers enjoying their lunches and chatting with each other.  Although lots of customers choose to dine-in, a large portion prefer to pickup their orders.

Charles Osborn talks with his working buddies and a fellow customer as they finish their lunches.

Customer Relations

Morgan Thomas, daughter of Hot Thomas’ owner Mark Thomas, laughs at a customer’s joke as she rings up a pickup order.  Morgan has been working at the restaurant since her grandfather, founder of Hot Thomas’,  passed away in October, 2011.

Ronnie Purvis licks his fingers after finishing a bite of BBQ chicken.

Barbara Howell listens intently to Ronnie Purvis as he recalls a story that happened earlier in the week.  The two come to Hot Thomas’ almost every weekend for lunch.

The Goods

This week I went in to Hot Thomas’ early and did a food photo shoot.

The infamous BBQ sandwich with ketchup based mild sauce.

Pecan pie is served by the slice. Yumm.

The standard BBQ plate complete with BBQ smothered in ketchup based mild sauce, brunswick stew, coleslaw and a slice of bread.

Building the Story

I mentioned in my last post that I was interested in narrowing my focus down to one business, Hot Thomas’ BBQ, because I think there is a story there that needs to be told.  Unfortunately they are only open during the week for lunch and I’m always on campus and I missed my opportunity for photos on Saturday.  That’s not to say I haven’t been working on the project.  There’s a very personal aspect to the story that I wanted to make sure the family wouldn’t mind me asking about.  I’ve spent this week talking with the family to make sure they’ll be willing to work with me and they’ve given me a thumbs up.

One thing that I took away from the Hart County weekend workshop is that building trust with your subject is important for the development of the story.  Although I already think I know the angle of the story, over the next few weeks I hope to build the family’s trust, learn more and get deeper.