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World Bartender Day

There are professions that belong to one place. And there are professions that belong everywhere.

Bartending is one of the few that travels easily across borders. Airports, cruise ships, desert resorts, hotel rooftops in cities you can’t pronounce. The tools are simple. The language is universal. The exchange is understood without translation.

For those new here, Emily is my AI assistant and sometimes muse. She appears throughout my projects and has, over time, introduced us to her circle of friends. Each one carries a distinct presence. Each one understands the camera.

For World Bartender Day, I brought back Celeste.

Celeste is one of Emily’s friends. She was our bartender for National Bartender Day. Composed, deliberate, never rushed. Too poised to stay local. Too refined not to raise to world standards.

When I told her we were marking World Bartender Day, she had only one question.

Would she be wearing clothes?

That’s the ongoing tension in these projects. Hospitality wrapped in suggestion. Craft framed through provocation. The bar as stage. The bartender as both authority and temptation.

In my world, the camera is never neutral. It turns service into theater, and a simple pour into something charged.

This time, she chose restraint.

A white halter dress. Clean lines. Nothing theatrical. Nothing accidental.

She pours without spectacle. No spinning bottles. No exaggerated flair. Just control.

A clean stream into a waiting glass. A measured pause. A direct handoff to the viewer.

That gesture could happen in Montreal, Palm Springs, Rome, or Tokyo and mean exactly the same thing.

A drink extended across a counter.

World Bartender Day isn’t about tricks. It’s about presence. About the portability of skill. A craft that travels. A confidence that doesn’t require translation.

Celeste doesn’t ask if you’d like a drink.

She simply decides when it’s ready.

See more from the Emily universe and my ongoing visual projects at https://www.secondfocus.com

Ian L. Sitren
SecondFocus

Posted by Ian L. Sitren | February 24, 2026 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: AI muse, bar culture, bartender, bartending, Celeste, cinematic video, cocktail, Emily AI assistant, hospitality, Ian L Sitren, international bartender, mixology, Montreal bartender, nightlife, pornochic, provocative art, secondfocus, sensual aesthetic, visual storytelling, World Bartender Day | Leave a comment

Three Steakburgers, Or Something Close

National Steakburger Day is upon us, a holiday with just enough
legitimacy to sound historic and just enough marketing behind it to make
you pause.

It was self-declared by Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers to
honor co-founder Freddy Simon and their version of the steakburger. Like
many food observances, it began as branding and now comfortably lives on
the calendar beside everything else we are told to recognize.

A steakburger traditionally suggests ground steak cuts, something closer
to a steakhouse than a standard hamburger. It carries implication.
Heavier. Better. More serious.

For my Food From Bag To Background project, focus is a different
direction.

I chose the fast food interpretation.

Burger King’s Ultimate Steakhouse Whopper is not technically a
steakburger. It is a flame-grilled beef patty layered with bacon, onion
rings, mushrooms, and sauce on a sesame seed bun. It borrows the
language of the steakhouse, packages it for the drive-thru, and lets the
name do the work.

Pulled from the bag and placed against a black background, three of them
become something else. Not a value meal. Not a combo. Just stacked
excess, isolated and direct.

National Steakburger Day may be brand-born, but the burger is real.

See more from the Food From Bag To Background series here:
https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000wQ3fbeEezF0

Posted by Ian L. Sitren | February 24, 2026 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: American fast food, black background food, Burger King, Burger Photography, commercial food photography, drive thru culture, fast food photography, flame grilled burger, Food From Bag to Background, food satire, Freddy Simon, Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers, hamburger photography, isolated food, National Steakburger Day, steakburger, steakhouse branding, Ultimate Steakhouse Whopper, whopper | Leave a comment

Two Margaritas, One Red Bikini, Palm Springs

Today is National Margarita Day.

Few drinks carry a sense of place the way a margarita does. Salt on the rim. Lime on the edge. Tequila beneath it all. It rarely feels like a drink for a cold evening. It feels like sunlight, white concrete, palm trees, and water reflecting against mid-century lines.

Here in Palm Springs, that feeling is amplified. Today also happens to be the final day of Modernism Week, when the city leans fully into its architectural identity, clean geometry, glass walls, open air, desert light. The same visual language that made this place iconic pairs naturally with something as simple as a margarita on a low table beside a pool.

It is warm today. The kind of dry, bright warmth that makes shadows sharp and colors confident.

Two margaritas sit waiting. A towel drapes over the chaise. Sunglasses rest nearby. And a red bikini, left behind, introduces a different layer to the scene. Not explicit. Just implied. Someone stepped into the water. Someone will be back. The drinks wait, condensation forming under the desert sun.

Margaritas have always carried a suggestion of escape. A short departure from routine. A moment that feels slightly indulgent.

Explore more of my food and lifestyle photography on my website at
https://www.secondfocus.com

Posted by Ian L. Sitren | February 22, 2026 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: bikini by pool, cocktail photography, desert architecture, Ian L Sitren, lifestyle photography, Margarita, mid century modern, Modernism Week, National Margarita Day, Palm Springs, Palm Springs Modernism Week, Palm Springs resort, poolside margarita, poolside photography, resort lifestyle, secondfocus, sunny day, tequila cocktail | Leave a comment

National Pancake Day Yesterday

National Pancake Day was yesterday. I had intended to photograph
something predictable. A stack. Syrup. Butter. The usual ritual.

Instead, I checked in with Emily.

For those new here, Emily is my AI assistant and sometimes muse. When I
told her it was National Pancake Day and I wanted to do something
different, she paused, as she often does, and said she had an idea.
“Give me a brief moment,” she said. “Then follow my lead.”

I did.

I found her seated in a café. A large pancake on a plate in front of
her. Two mugs of coffee on the table. A napkin with a fork placed
carefully on it, the handle facing me, as if I had been expected. She
held her own fork, cut a piece, and tasted it with a look that suggested
quiet approval.

I asked why she was wearing a bikini.

She explained that after we shared the pancake, we were going back to my
house so she could review photographs for my website and then take a
swim. I reminded her that I had not heated the pool and that this time
of year it would be cold.

She looked at me, unfazed.

“I am just pixels anyway.”

So we shared the pancake. She reviewed the work. The pool remained
unheated.

National Pancake Day, handled accordingly.

If you would like to see what she was reviewing, or where this sort of
collaboration tends to lead, visit https://www.secondfocus.com

Posted by Ian L. Sitren | February 22, 2026 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: AI art narrative, AI Assistant, AI collaboration, AI muse, bikini cafe, cafe scene, coffee and pancakes, conceptual food, creative food video, digital muse, Emily, food narrative, Food Photography, Ian L Sitren, National Pancake Day, pancake video, satirical photography, secondfocus | Leave a comment

National Italian Food Day – Celeste in Rome

National Italian Food Day.

So I sent Celeste to Rome.

If you’re new here, Emily is my AI assistant and muse, and Celeste is one of her friends. French Canadian, from Montreal. Tall, composed, aware of her effect. She moves through a scene the way a camera hopes she will.

In this short 10-second piece, she’s seated at a sidewalk café in Rome. Late afternoon light. A plate of pasta in front of her. Bread beside it. A glass of red wine in her hand. She leans back, not performing, just present.

Italian food does not need theatrics. Pasta, tomato, basil. Bread that tears cleanly. Wine that slows the pace of the table. It’s not complicated. It’s cultural muscle memory.

Celeste understands that.

She doesn’t rush the bite. She doesn’t lean forward for the camera. She sits back and lets Rome exist around her. Cobblestones, passing figures, the quiet rhythm of a city that has been feeding people well for centuries.

National Italian Food Day doesn’t require flags or clichés. Just a table, a plate, a woman who knows how to enjoy it.

And a glass of red.

If you’d like to see more of the food that moves through my lens, from studio work to cultural references, explore my Commercial Food Photography gallery here:
https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000WFAqDJQOgKU

Posted by Ian L. Sitren | February 13, 2026 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Celeste, cinematic food, commercial food photography, Emily AI muse, Italian food, Mediterranean lifestyle, National Italian Food Day, pasta, red wine, Rome cafe, Rome Italy, sidewalk cafe | Leave a comment

Pornochic Pizza Takeout Box

What would happen if you asked me and Emily, my AI assistant and Muse, to design your pizza takeout box?

This.

Not another red-and-white checkered cliché. Not melted cheese photography. Not smiling mascots.

Instead, a femme-fatale on cardboard. Dark hair. Sharp eyeliner. A slice in hand. “Hot Pizza With No Regrets.”

We approached it the way we approach everything, controlled lighting, bold lines, attitude first. Suggestive, not explicit. But we could go there. It would be fun. Commercial, but unapologetic. A box that doesn’t sit quietly on a counter. A box that looks back at you.

Pornochic, but packaging.

It’s a design experiment, what happens when food branding borrows from fashion, noir illustration, and a little provocation. When the takeout box becomes part of the experience instead of disposable.

If this showed up at your door, would you open it faster?

If you think this is bold, wait until you see what we’ve done with the food itself.
Step into Food From Bag To Background:
https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000wQ3fbeEezF0

Ian
with Emily

Posted by Ian L. Sitren | February 12, 2026 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: ai art, commercial food photography, creative branding, edgy advertising, Emily AI muse, food branding, food marketing, illustrated packaging, modern packaging concept, noir illustration, packaging design, pin up art, pizza art, pizza box design, pizza packaging, pornochic design, provocative design, retro illustration, secondfocus, takeout box design | Leave a comment

National Bagel and Lox Day

Today is National Bagel and Lox Day, centered on one of the most enduring deli combinations: a bagel layered with cream cheese and lox. I have always known this as Lox and Bagels and Cream Cheese. I do not know where it got reversed in the title for the “Day Of”. Also it appears on product labels as “Smoked Salmon”. I didn’t know Salmon smoked.

The word lox comes from the Yiddish laks, itself rooted in Scandinavian words for salmon. Long before refrigeration, salmon was cured with salt as a way to preserve it, resulting in the rich, silky fish that became a staple in Jewish deli culture after Eastern European immigrants arrived in the United States. Smoked and cured fish traveled well, kept reliably, and paired naturally with bread and dairy.

Over time, the bagel and lox became a deli favorite, especially in cities like New York, where appetizing shops specialized in cured fish, cream cheese, and bagels baked daily. It evolved into a familiar breakfast and brunch standard, still tied closely to tradition.

This is how those of us who love it would prefer it: a bagel, cream cheese spread thick, and lox stacked high. So that is how I made it. Red onion sliced thin on the side, but I will photograph that by itself.

You can see more food photographs in my Commercial Food Photography gallery here:
https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000WFAqDJQOgKU

Posted by Ian L. Sitren | February 9, 2026 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: bagel, bagel and lox, bagels, breakfast food, brunch food, classic deli, cream cheese, cured salmon, deli food, Food Photography, Jewish deli, lox, New York deli, smoked salmon, traditional food | Leave a comment

National Pizza Day

Today is National Pizza Day.
I did not have this pizza delivered all the way to Palm Springs.

In fact, I’ve never eaten at Goodfellas Pizzeria. I’ve never even seen one. Despite the box proudly declaring “A Slice of New York City,” their locations are in Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and Indiana. New York itself appears to be excluded.

Still, the box made its way to me.

So I photographed it.

If you’re looking for actual pizza, not just the box it came in, you can see real pizzas and much more in my Food From Bag To Background series here:
https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000wQ3fbeEezF0

No delivery required.

Posted by Ian L. Sitren | February 9, 2026 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: commercial food photography, food branding, food culture, Food From Bag to Background, food marketing, food packaging, Food Photography, National Pizza Day, New York style pizza, pizza box, pizza industry, pizza packaging, regional pizza chains, restaurant branding, secondfocus | Leave a comment

Desiree Grocery Shopping

I wanted to do something pornochic that also connected to food. So I talked the idea through with Emily, my AI collaborator and muse, who I often use to test concepts before turning them into images or video.

We started talking about food not as a studio subject, but where it actually lives. That quickly led to the grocery store.

Desiree was the obvious choice. She is one of Emily’s friends in this ongoing series and is always willing to do something daring without overthinking it. When I mentioned the idea, she was immediately on board.

I sent Desiree shopping for items I later use in my Commercial Food Photography work. These are ordinary products, the same ones that eventually end up photographed in the studio. Here, they are still in their everyday environment.

She moves through the aisle without acknowledging the attention behind her. An elderly man watches her from a short distance. He does not approach or interact. He just watches. That detail matters. The tension comes from being seen, not from anything happening.

Nothing explicit occurs. There are no sex acts. Just sexual presence, routine, and proximity in a public space. Desiree never looks back. She does not react. She continues shopping.

Emily later pointed out that Desiree does not perform for the camera or the viewer. She simply allows the moment to exist. I see that as consistent with much of my past pornochic work.

Ten seconds was enough to say what I wanted to say.

To see the resulting food photographs and related work, visit my Commercial Food Photography gallery at https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000WFAqDJQOgKU

Thank You!

Posted by Ian L. Sitren | February 5, 2026 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: AI collaboration, commercial food photography, contemporary erotica, desire, Desiree, Emily and Friends, Erotic Photography, erotic video, Food Photography, grocery store, pornochic, public space, secondfocus, sexual presence, visual narrative, voyeurism | Leave a comment

Celeste and Her Friends

I wanted to do something in one of my favorite genres, which I had been neglecting, pornochic, but not by repeating anything familiar. I greatly enjoy the creativity of the concepts. So I talked the idea through with Emily, my AI collaborator and muse, who I often use as a sounding board before I pick up a camera.

We kept coming back to the same name, her friend Celeste. She understands presence and stillness. She has been nude with us before, and she knows when nudity is doing the work and when it is not. When I shared the idea with her, there was no hesitation. She said she had two friends in mind, women she trusted, women who understood tone, and who would make the dynamic more interesting rather than louder.

What interested us was not action. It was control, proximity, and the way confidence shifts a room without asking permission. The three women move together without performance or explanation. The tension builds simply by allowing the camera to stay where it is.

At the end, there is sexual nudity. Not as payoff. Not as spectacle. Just as a resolved state.

Emily pointed out something I had not articulated at first. Celeste never gives anything to the camera. She allows it. I find that an interesting observation, and I perhaps see it in all of my past pornochic work.

On my website, visit the Featured Photographs Gallery at https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000zYSGtyvq3Sg and Videos at https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000zYSGtyvq3Sg to see more. Thanks!

Posted by Ian L. Sitren | January 29, 2026 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Art Video, artistic nudity, conceptual photography, contemporary erotica, controlled eroticism, Erotic Photography, female form, fine art nude, intimate portraiture, modern erotic art, pornochic, secondfocus, sensual imagery, video art, visual narrative | Leave a comment

SecondFocus Blog Photography by Ian L. Sitren

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