Lance Kirkpatrick, pitmaster at Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew. (Photo ©Daniel Goncalves)

Here's a sneak peek at the beginning of an extraordinary photo project by Dallas-based editorial and commercial photographer Daniel Goncalves. As most of you know by now, the Posse is a pretty creative group, made up of Dallas Morning News photojournalists, writers, editors and their friends. With this project, Daniel has raised the creative bar for the Posse.

Daniel writes about the concept:

I love people as much as I love food. The Posse has introduced me to great people and incredible BBQ. While on tour I've been working on a pitmaster portrait series. Photographers usually shoot with digital cameras. At times I get a bit nostalgic and miss the dark room days. A couple of months back I bought a Fuji Instax 210 instant film camera for a road trip to Galveston. It's a compromise between the instant gratification of digital while still shooting film (without the need for chemicals in a darkroom).

Polaroid stopped making film a while back. The Impossible Film Project saved the last Polaroid production plant and started producing Polaroid film again in the Netherlands. Fuji has also entered the instant film game and I decided to get the Fuji to play with on personal projects. Another great thing is that it is very simple camera. No dials, minimal settings, virtually no control and it's quite finicky. The other great thing is that it's a huge and ugly camera which helps break the ice with the person I'm photographing.

Tom Micklethwait, pitmaster at Micklethwait Craft Meats. (Photo ©Daniel Goncalves)

Having recently become a Texan, ie: Texas resident, I've been blogging a "This is Texas" photo series on my Tumblr site. The instant film was a natural extension. Instant film has that white stripe at the bottom of the photo. It's a blank canvas and I noticed that it's rarely used as such.

The idea is to make a portrait of a pitmaster, hand over the print, have them pick a color sharpie and write what BBQ is to them on the photo. I tell them to "write whatever you like, no restriction," and they immediately start thinking and writing. It's been a fun and interactive project which lets the pitmaster make the photo an even more personal portrait of themselves.

This set of photos is from our recent Austin tour and I plan on continuing this as a long term photo project. Watching a blank piece of paper turn into a beautiful image after pressing a button is magic. It is ironic that I have to digitize the print to share it which comes full circle.

John Lewis, pitmaster at La Barbecue. (Photo ©Daniel Goncalves)

John Mueller, pitmaster of John Mueller Meat Co. (Photo ©Daniel Goncalves)

Clockwise from top left, Posse members Gary Jacobson, Gunnar Jacobson, Chris Wilkins & Jim Rossman. (Photos ©Daniel Goncalves)

Clockwise from top left, Posse members Bruce Tomaso, Bryan Gooding, Daniel Gonclaves & Tom Fox. (Photos ©Daniel Goncalves)