Photography by Ian L. Sitren

Latest

National Avocado Day Through the Camera Lens

A halved avocado with pit, surrounded by whole avocados, photographed under studio lighting on a black background. The image captures the vibrant green interior and textured dark skin, making it ideal for commercial use in food marketing, nutrition, or editorial health content.

Today is National Avocado Day, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to revisit one of my favorite food photographs. I photographed these three avocados last year, and I still like the way they came together.

It’s easy to take avocados for granted because they seem to be everywhere. They appear on restaurant menus, in grocery stores year-round, and in countless recipes. Yet the Hass avocado, which dominates today’s market, traces its origins to a single tree planted by California mail carrier Rudolph Hass in the 1920s. Nearly every Hass avocado grown today is descended from that one remarkable tree.

For this photograph, I used three avocados to show the progression from whole fruit to the rich green interior and the familiar pit. Against my very black black background, the color, texture, and shape become the entire subject. Sometimes the simplest foods are the most rewarding to photograph because there is nothing to hide behind. Everything depends on the light, the composition, and the details.

That’s one reason I still enjoy looking at this photograph a year later.

You can see more of my photography, projects, motion, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com

Thank You!

Posted by  |  July 31, 2026 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

National Chili Dog Day and a Stack of Ten from Wienerschnitzel

A stack of Wienerschnitzel chili dogs photographed for the Food From Bag To Background project in celebration of National Chili Dog Day. Purchased directly from the restaurant and arranged against a deep black background, the image emphasizes the familiar combination of hot dogs, steamed buns, and rich chili that has made the chili dog a longtime American fast food favorite. The photograph follows the project’s concept of presenting fast food exactly as it comes, without props or elaborate styling.

Today is National Chili Dog Day, and if there’s one fast food chain that’s almost synonymous with chili dogs, it’s Wienerschnitzel. Founded in 1961, the chain has built its reputation around hot dogs and has served hundreds of millions of them over the years. For a day dedicated to one of America’s classic fast food favorites, it seemed like the perfect place to stop.

The exact origin of the chili dog is still debated, with several restaurants and regions claiming to have created it during the early 1900s. However it began, the combination of a hot dog, a soft bun, and seasoned chili quickly became a favorite at drive-ins, roadside stands, and fast food restaurants across the country. More than a century later, it’s still one of the most recognizable items on a fast food menu.

For Food From Bag To Background, I picked up ten Wienerschnitzel chili dogs and stacked them against my very black black background. Instead of photographing a single chili dog, I wanted to emphasize the abundance, the texture of the chili, and the unmistakable look of a true fast food icon. Sometimes more really is more.

Whether you celebrate National Chili Dog Day with one chili dog or a stack of ten, today is a good reminder that some of America’s most enduring fast food favorites have earned their place by simply standing the test of time.

You can see more of my photography, projects, motion, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com

Thank You!

Posted by  |  July 30, 2026 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

National Cheesecake Day With Krispy Kreme’s New Guava Cheesecake Doughnut

Six Krispy Kreme Guava Cheesecake Doughnuts photographed for the Food From Bag To Background project. Created for National Cheesecake Day, the limited-time doughnuts are stacked against a deep black background with each doughnut cut in half to reveal the cheesecake Kreme and guava filling. Finished with pink guava icing, white icing drizzle, and crunchy crumbles, the arrangement emphasizes the colorful filling and clean commercial presentation while remaining true to the project’s concept of photographing fast food directly from the bag.

When National Cheesecake Day came around, I really wasn’t planning to photograph a cheesecake. As much as I enjoy the food holidays, a traditional cheesecake didn’t fit the direction of my Food From Bag To Background project. The project has always been about fast food, photographed exactly as it comes, with the food becoming the entire subject against a very black black background.

Then, almost by coincidence, Krispy Kreme introduced its new Guava Cheesecake Doughnut. Suddenly National Cheesecake Day had a fast-food connection that fit the project perfectly. I picked up six of them, cut them in half, and stacked them to show exactly what was inside. The bright guava filling, cheesecake Kreme, pink guava icing, icing drizzle, and crunchy crumbles made for a much more interesting photograph than I had expected.

Krispy Kreme says the Guava Cheesecake Doughnut is part of its new Destination Dessert Collection inspired by Latin American desserts. Along with the Guava Cheesecake Doughnut, the collection also includes a Tres Leches-Inspired Doughnut and a Choco Dulce Cookie Crunch Doughnut. It was an unexpected way to celebrate National Cheesecake Day while still staying true to a project devoted entirely to fast food.

Sometimes the best additions to Food From Bag To Background aren’t the ones I plan. They are the ones that unexpectedly appear at exactly the right time.

You can see more of my photography, projects, motion, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com

Thank You!

Posted by  |  July 30, 2026 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

National Lipstick Day And You Thought It Was Just Red Lipstick

Aristodeme holding a color checker during our photo shoot.

For National Lipstick Day, I thought I would look at lipstick from a photographer’s point of view.

We take lipstick color for granted. We see red lipstick and think, well, it is red. But at the professional level of photography, especially when photographing cosmetics and other products where color is part of what is being sold, “red” is nowhere near precise enough.

The color in the photograph has to accurately match the actual color created by the manufacturer. That means color accuracy becomes serious business.

It starts with lighting. The color temperature of the light needs to be known, consistent and reliable. Then there is white balance and comparison against a known color reference, like the color chart you see in my photograph. The monitor used for evaluating and retouching the image must also be properly calibrated so that what I am seeing is actually what the image contains.

And then there is the photographic equipment itself. The camera, sensor and lenses all contribute to how accurately and precisely color is recorded. At the professional level, image quality is not simply about sharpness. The quality and accuracy of the color palette matters too.

All of those pieces have to work together from the moment the photograph is shot through the final processed image.

And you thought it was just red lipstick.

You can see more of my photography, projects, motion, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com

Thank You!

Posted by  |  July 29, 2026 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

National Chicken Wing Day: 15 Original Hot Wings From Wingstop

Fifteen Wingstop Original Hot chicken wings piled together and photographed against a deep black background. The wings are coated in Wingstop’s Original Hot sauce, showing the color, texture and variety of flats and drumettes. Photographed for the “Food From Bag To Background” fast food photography project.

Today is National Chicken Wing Day, so this one seemed to require an actual pile of chicken wings.

The modern Buffalo wing story is generally traced to Buffalo, New York, in 1964, when Teressa Bellissimo at the Anchor Bar deep-fried chicken wings, tossed them in a peppery hot sauce and served them with blue cheese and celery. There are competing versions of exactly how that first plate came about, but the Anchor Bar story became the one most closely associated with what we now know as Buffalo wings.

By 1977, wings had become such a part of Buffalo that Mayor Stan Makowski proclaimed July 29 “Chicken Wing Day.” That local proclamation eventually became the National Chicken Wing Day we observe today.

For my photograph, I went to Wingstop. The company started in Garland, Texas, in 1994, began franchising in 1997, and has since grown to thousands of restaurants around the world. By 2002, Wingstop had already served its one-billionth wing.

I bought 15 pieces of Original Hot, which seemed like the appropriate choice for the day. Just the wings exactly as I wanted to photograph them, piled against my very black black background.

That seemed much more appropriate for my “Food From Bag To Background” fast food photography project.

Happy National Chicken Wing Day!

You can see more of my photography, projects, motion, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com

Thank You!

Posted by  |  July 29, 2026 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

National Chicken Finger Day: Raising Cane’s Built an Empire on One Idea

A large pile of Raising Cane’s crispy fried chicken fingers covered with the restaurant’s signature Cane’s Sauce, photographed against a deep black background. Part of the Food From Bag To Background fast food photography project.

I didn’t realize that chickens had fingers, but apparently Todd Graves and Craig Silvey, the founders of Raising Cane’s, did.

And they took the idea very seriously.

The story of Raising Cane’s goes back to a college business plan for a restaurant built around one thing: chicken fingers. The idea was not exactly greeted with enthusiasm. Graves says the business plan received the lowest grade in his class, and banks weren’t interested in financing it either. He went to work at an oil refinery in Los Angeles and then commercial fishing in Alaska to earn money to pursue the idea. The first Raising Cane’s opened near Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge on August 28, 1996.

And chicken fingers weren’t just one item on a larger fast food menu. They were the entire concept. Raising Cane’s still describes chicken finger meals as its “ONE LOVE.”

Apparently that very simple idea worked.

Raising Cane’s has grown from that single restaurant near LSU into an international fast food chain. The company opened a record 118 new restaurants in 2024 alone, and in May 2025 announced that it had reached 800 restaurants worldwide. The expansion has continued since then, with new restaurants opening across the United States and internationally.

So it also makes sense that National Chicken Finger Day itself comes from Raising Cane’s. Todd Graves created the day in 2010, and it is observed every July 27. Raising Cane’s obtained full trademark status for National Chicken Finger Day in 2019, and says it has given away more than one million chicken fingers in connection with the day over the years.

Then there is Cane’s Sauce. The recipe is kept secret, the sauce is made fresh daily in each restaurant, and it has become almost as identified with Raising Cane’s as the chicken itself.

For my photograph, dipping seemed entirely too restrained. I bought the chicken fingers, piled them against my very black black background, and poured the Cane’s Sauce over the top.

That seemed much more appropriate for my “Food From Bag To Background” fast food photography project.

Happy National Chicken Finger Day!

You can see more of my photography, projects, motion, and my Blog on my website at SecondFocus.com

Thank You!

Posted by  |  July 27, 2026 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

National Tequila Day and My Kind of Mariachis

Last Friday was National Tequila Day, and I was discussing with Emily what I should do for it.

Just photographing shot glasses of tequila seemed boring. Tequila itself is certainly not boring. It is one of those drinks that can turn a perfectly reasonable evening into a story that requires considerably more explanation the next morning.

I told Emily I was thinking about doing something with mariachis.

She said she knew exactly where to send me, and that I would find just my kind of mariachis.

That sounded promising.

So I grabbed a camera, followed her directions, and there they were. Three very beautiful women in very tight mariachi uniforms, standing at the bar and drinking shots of tequila.

Emily was right. They were definitely my kind of mariachis.

And probably a much better idea than photographing a row of shot glasses.

Sometimes having an AI assistant who knows you very well can be extremely useful.

You can see more of my photography, projects, motion, and my Blog on my website at SecondFocus.com

Thank You!

Posted by  |  July 26, 2026 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

National Drive-Thru Day: Who Really Invented the Drive-Thru?

Yesterday was National Drive-Thru Day. And like so many things we now take for granted, the story of the drive-thru is a little more complicated than it might seem.

Red’s Giant Hamburg in Springfield, Missouri, is widely credited as the first drive-thru restaurant in the United States. Red’s opened along Route 66 in 1947, and by 1948 owner Sheldon “Red” Chaney had installed a drive-up window and speakers so customers could order from their cars and then pick up their food.

That is Red’s in this photograph, sometime after it had closed. The photograph is from the State Historical Society of Missouri, David Eslick Photograph Collection.

At almost exactly the same time, something similar was happening in California.

Harry and Esther Snyder opened the first In-N-Out Burger in Baldwin Park in 1948. Harry developed a two-way speaker system that allowed customers to place their orders without getting out of their cars and then drive forward to pick up their food. In-N-Out calls the original location California’s first drive-thru hamburger stand.

So Red’s gets the historical credit for the first drive-thru, while In-N-Out helped establish the ordering system that looks much more like the drive-thru we know today.

Then along came Jack in the Box.

Jack in the Box opened in San Diego in 1951 with drive-thru service built around ordering through a two-way intercom and picking up the food at a service window. Decades later, in 2002, Jack in the Box campaigned for a National Drive-Thru Day, originally proposing July 28. California Governor Gray Davis recognized the occasion statewide, and the observance later moved to July 24.

So Jack in the Box did not invent the drive-thru.

But they did give it its own day.

You can see more of my photography, projects, motion, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com

Thank You!

Posted by  |  July 25, 2026 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

National Junk Food Day: Fast Food and Junk Food Are Not the Same Thing

An abundant buffet table filled with assorted junk foods including potato chips, cheese puffs, popcorn, pretzels, cookies, brownies, cupcakes, doughnuts, chocolate, marshmallows and colorful candies. A large variety of sweet and salty snacks presented together as an extravagant junk food feast.

Last Tuesday was National Junk Food Day, which got me thinking about something I see confused all the time.

Fast food and junk food are often talked about as if they are the same thing. They are not. Some fast food can certainly be junk food, but being fast food is not what makes it junk food. And much of what we call junk food is not fast food at all.

So what does junk food look like?

Potato chips, cheese puffs, candy, cookies, brownies, cupcakes, doughnuts, pretzels, snack cakes and all those other things we eat mostly because we like them. Lots of sugar, salt and fat, not much nutritional ambition, and very easy to keep eating long after you intended to stop.

That is what got me thinking about what a photograph of actual junk food should look like. Not just one bag of chips or a plate of cookies. I wanted all of it. A ridiculous abundance of junk food presented as though it deserved its own buffet.

So I created it with AI. Platters, bowls and cake stands piled with just about every kind of junk food I could think of, all together on one table.

Apparently, if you put enough junk food on serving platters and cake stands, it becomes a formal occasion.

You can see more of my photography, projects, motion, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com

Thank You!

Posted by  |  July 25, 2026 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Fast Food BLT for Food From Bag To Background

Three BLT sandwiches from Five Guys, stacked and photographed straight from the bag against a deep black background for my Food From Bag To Background project. The sandwiches feature strips of bacon with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise on toasted sesame seed buns. Photographed following National BLT Day as an example of the classic bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich offered as fast food.

Wednesday was National BLT Day, and I did a post for it using an AI-created image. But I still wanted to photograph the real thing, especially after discovering what appears to be one of the very few BLTs offered by a major fast food chain.

So I went to Five Guys and purchased three of their BLT sandwiches.

The Five Guys version is pretty straightforward: bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise on their sesame seed bun. And there is plenty of bacon. Of course, Five Guys gives you the option of adding all kinds of other toppings, but for this photograph I stayed with the basic BLT. I wanted it to actually look like a BLT.

And stacked together against my very black black background, they became exactly what I wanted for my Food From Bag To Background project, where I photograph fast food exactly as it comes from the restaurant, straight from the bag and in front of my camera. Five Guys makes this a real fast food BLT and a perfect addition to the project.

You can see more of my photography, projects, motion, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com

Thank You!

Posted by  |  July 24, 2026 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment