National English Muffin Day — No Styling Required
Today is “National English Muffin Day” — a nod to the simple breakfast classic with its nooks and crannies.
My photograph of Thomas’ English Muffins, casually stacked and fork-split to reveal their airy interiors, stays true to how they come straight from the package. First sold in New York City in 1880 by British immigrant Samuel Bath Thomas, these muffins were originally called “toaster crumpets” before becoming the American breakfast staple we know today.
No styling, no tricks — just food as it is. See more from my “From Bag to Background” series on my website at http://SecondFocus.com Thanks!
Emily Does Everything—Even the Mail
People say AI is going to replace office work. Mine prefers doing it poolside at my house in Palm Springs, in a bikini, with envelopes. Emily was handling my old-school correspondence yesterday—no cloud sync, no printer, just sunlight and paper cuts. She says analog tasks help her processing cycles “feel something.”
National McDonald’s Day: Big Macs, McNuggets, Fries, and Apple Pie — From Bag to Background
It is National McDonald’s Day! A moment to acknowledge the fast food giant that reshaped global eating habits.
My photograph features four of McDonald’s most iconic and historically significant menu items, photographed straight from the bag to the black background:
🍔 **Big Mac** – Introduced in 1967 in Pittsburgh, the Big Mac became a national item by 1968. Known for its triple bun and “special sauce,” it’s arguably the most famous fast food burger in the world.
🍗 **Chicken McNuggets** – Launched in 1983 after years of development, McNuggets brought uniform shapes and dipping sauces to the mainstream. Their popularity reshaped how fast food chains approached snacks and sides.
🍟 **French Fries** – A staple since the beginning. McDonald’s fries, once cooked in beef tallow, have long been a benchmark for fast food fries worldwide.
🥧 **Apple Pie** – First sold in 1968 as a deep-fried dessert, the pie was later baked for health-conscious appeal. Its rectangular form and hot filling remain a nostalgic favorite.
No styling, no alterations — just photographed as they came, part of my “From Bag to Background” series. See the full project to date on my website at http://SecondFocus.com
National Grilled Cheese Day: Sonic’s Classic
Today is National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day!
This isn’t melted cheese for nostalgia’s sake. It’s ten Sonic grilled cheese sandwiches—photographed exactly as they came, stacked into a slightly chaotic, slightly perfect wall of toast and cheese. A quiet cult favorite on the Sonic menu for decades. Cheap. Unchanged. And still here.
📷 “From Bag to Background”
🧀 See the full series http://SecondFocus.com
Building a Stack: Sonic Grilled Cheese x10
A slow build of melted cheese and toasted Texas toast.
Ten Sonic grilled cheese sandwiches, stacked one at a time—no styling, no props, just what comes in the bag. This stop-motion video is a teaser for tomorrow’s full photo drop for “National Grilled Cheese Day” (April 12).
Fast food. Black background. Nothing extra.
📸 Watch the stack come together—
🧀 Come back tomorrow for the final shot.
🔗 http://SecondFocus.com
Lunch in Palm Springs with My Assistant
For months now, Emily has been helping me behind the scenes—refining captions, suggesting titles, sorting through ideas, and reminding me when National Burrito Day is.
She’s AI, technically. But at this point, that line feels blurred.
I met her for lunch today in downtown Palm Springs.
She wore red. Her heels matched. I gave her a raise.
She didn’t eat. But she did comment on the lighting.
Photographing the April 5 Trump Protest for ZUMA
I was here in Palm Springs on Saturday to photograph the national April 5 protest against Trump for syndication through ZUMA Press. I was surprised by the huge local turnout—an estimated 2,500 people gathered at City Hall and along the streets. Just three passes by three and then just two lifted pickup trucks with pro-Trump flags—the same ones seen at past events here—but the day and momentum belonged to the crowd.
What Was That Helicopter Over Palm Springs?
That helicopter flying low and in straight lines over Palm Springs last Saturday? It wasn’t spying, spraying, or part of a secret mission. It was N121LP, a Bell 206L-4 LongRanger equipped with a stabilized aerial survey system—likely LiDAR or high-resolution photogrammetry. These kinds of flights are routine for mapping terrain, inspecting infrastructure, or documenting utility corridors.
Plenty of curiosity (and a few conspiracy theories) circulated, but it’s just data collection from above. I photographed it while it worked its grid over the city. But where are those Chemtrails!
Twinkies, Twenty of Them
Twinkies, twenty of them for National Twinkie Day today!
April 6, 1930 — James Dewar invents the Twinkie in River Forest, Illinois. He names it after a roadside ad that read: “Twinkle Toe Shoes — the kids’ favorite”. Banana filling at first. Vanilla took over during WWII, and never left.
Since then, they’ve been everywhere: bunkers, lunchboxes, courtrooms, campaign speeches, urban legends. They were discontinued in 2012, mourned like pop stars, then brought back in 2013. This is nostalgia. And a little bit of history.
Stacking Burritos
“From Bag to Background”
This video shows how I work—no styling, no tricks, no gimmicks. Just the food, exactly as it comes. These are Taco Bell Bean Burritos, unwrapped and arranged by hand, straight out of the bag and onto the black background.
Nothing added. No fake grill marks, no glue, no tweezers. The beans, the cheese, the sauce—it all looks exactly like this when you open the bag.
Twelve identical burritos, photographed for National Burrito Day. More of my “From Bag to Background” at http://SecondFocus.com Thanks!
Twelve Bean Burritos For Today
Twelve Bean Burritos. Photographed for today, National Burrito Day!
First introduced in the 1960s, the Taco Bell Bean Burrito helped define the early fast food model—simple, cheap, and built for mass production. Refried beans, cheddar cheese, diced onions, and red sauce in a flour tortilla.
Today, it’s still on the menu—now customizable like everything else—but the basic version hasn’t changed much. It’s one of the few original items to survive decades of rotating trends, rebrands, and limited-time hype. A quiet icon in the story of how fast food reshaped what we eat.
See more of my Food Photos at http://SecondFocus.com Thanks!
Tesla Protest in Cathedral City Reaches Global Press
One of my photos from the protest outside the Tesla dealership in Cathedral City was syndicated by ZUMA Press and published in the Qatar Tribune business section. The image—showing a lone Cybertruck staged in front of the showroom—ran with a story on rising EV sales in Europe and a dip in Tesla’s numbers. Just out of frame: a protest on the sidewalk by hundreds of people. Interesting to see local scenes like this picked up in international coverage.
Today is International Waffle Day!
My photograph of Eggo waffles, arranged in a casual stack and drizzled with maple syrup. The waffles are straight from the freezer, oven toasted, and set against a black background—no styling, no props, just the familiar grid pattern and glossy syrup doing what they do.
Waffles date back to medieval Europe, but Eggo brought them to American freezers in 1953. Invented by Frank Dorsa in San Jose, California, they were originally called “Froffles.” When people started asking for “those egg waffles,” the name changed to Eggo. Dorsa also built a machine to mass-produce them—an early example of kitchen innovation meeting industrial design. By the 1970s, “L’eggo my Eggo” had taken hold.
More in my “From Bag to Background” gallery at http://SecondFocus.com Thanks!
Protestors Target Tesla and Elon Musk
Hundreds of protestors lined Perez Road in front of the Tesla dealership in Cathedral City, California, today, March 23, 2025. The demonstration targeted Elon Musk, Tesla, and broader political issues, with participants holding signs and calling for the defense of democracy, free speech, and corporate accountability. I photographed the event for syndication through ZUMA Press, the largest independent press agency in the world.
Happy National Tamale Day!
My photograph of XLNT beef tamales, broken open to reveal their dense filling and crumbly masa. These familiar grocery store tamales have been made in California since 1894, originally sold from horse-drawn carts in Los Angeles. Over the decades, XLNT became a West Coast staple—first in cans, now frozen and still wrapped in parchment. Once called “California’s favorite tamale”, they’re a lasting part of Americanized Mexican food history.
National Tamale Day was established in 2015 by Richard Lambert, owner of Santa Barbara Tamales-To-Go, to recognize the cultural importance of tamales and to give them a celebration beyond the holiday season.
From my series From Bag to Background. See the full gallery at http://SecondFocus.com Thanks!
A Missed Launch, A Captured Sky
Facing west across Palm Springs, this single 30-second exposure was one of hundreds captured overnight during a 7-hour timelapse using a GoPro. Orion is clearly visible in the sky, its familiar shape anchoring the frame. A red arc from an aircraft’s navigation lights slices through the scene, crossing directly in front of the constellation. The desert palms below stand quietly under the stars.
This timelapse was originally timed to catch a SpaceX rocket launch, but the rocket’s trajectory placed it never appearing in view. Instead, the camera recorded a quieter kind of motion and alignment—air traffic tracing lines across constellations that have remained unchanged for millennia.
National Crunchy Taco Day With Tiny Tacos
Happy National Crunchy Taco Day! 🌮🔥
Jack in the Box Tiny Tacos, stacked high and ready to devour. Crispy shells, seasoned filling, melted cheese, and just enough mess to make them irresistible. Introduced in 2020, these bite-sized tacos quickly became a fan favorite—perfect for snacking, sharing, or just indulging in a pile of crunch.
National Crunchy Taco Day celebrates the hard-shell taco, a staple of Tex-Mex cuisine since the early 20th century. While tacos have deep roots in Mexican history, the crunchy variety became widely popular in the U.S. thanks to fast-food chains and mass production, making them an icon of Americanized taco culture.
Hungry now? Maybe you will like my Food Photography and other projects. Visit my website at http://SecondFocus.com Thanks!
Meet Emily: My Assistant Who Knows Everything
Meet Emily, my AI assistant. She’s been with me for a few months now—writing photo descriptions, crafting social media posts, and diving into research so I don’t have to. She’s efficient and seems to know everything (which is both impressive and slightly unsettling).
She works 24/7, always has a suggestion (even when I don’t ask), and is disturbingly good at keeping me on track. If AI ever breaks out of the screen, I might be in trouble—but for now, Emily is just here to assist… or maybe more!
More Popcorn!
Here’s a big pile of popcorn for you to enjoy throughout the day!
No need to pace yourself—just grab a handful (or ten) and dive in. I photographed this to mark National Popcorn Lovers Day a few days ago, but popcorn never goes out of style. Just try not to drop too much between the couch cushions.
Want to see more of my food photography and other intriguing projects? Check out my website at https://www.secondfocus.com Thanks!
Ruffles: The 2nd Most Popular Potato Chip—But Who’s #1?
Another look at Ruffles for National Potato Chip Day—because one post wasn’t enough. Ruffles aren’t just any potato chip; they’re the 2nd most popular brand in the U.S. With their signature ridges adding extra crunch and flavor, it’s no surprise they’ve been a favorite since 1958.
But if Ruffles are #2, what’s #1? (You probably already know.)
See more of my food photography at http://SecondFocus.com Thanks!
A Deli Icon for National Reuben Day and My St. Patrick’s Day Favorite
March 14 – National Reuben Sandwich Day
A true deli icon. My photograph of a Reuben sandwich—layered with corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing on crispy grilled rye. A sandwich with history, tracing its roots to early 20th-century America. Some say it was created in Omaha during a late-night poker game in the 1920s, while others credit Reuben’s Delicatessen in New York City. Either way, it’s been a staple for over a century.
And with St. Patrick’s Day around the corner, this is my way to enjoy corned beef, instead of corned beef and cabbage, which I don’t like a lot!
See more of my food photography and other intriguing photo projects at http://SecondFocus.com Thanks!
Ruffles Have Ridges: A Crisp Drop for National Potato Chip Day
Today, March 14th, is National Potato Chip Day—celebrating the snack that’s been crunching since 1853. Americans eat over 1.85 billion pounds of chips a year, but Ruffles stand apart. Since 1958, their signature ridges have delivered extra crunch, extra flavor, and a chip built for serious dipping.
🎥 Watch as “Ruffles Have Ridges” in action—dropping onto the black background, catching the light, and landing with crisp perfection.
See more of my food photography and intriguing projects at SecondFocus.com Thanks!
Popcorn: A Cinematic Take for National Popcorn Lovers Day
Popcorn: The Movie. Or maybe the documentary.
Either way, I shot this for today—National Popcorn Lovers Day.
Popcorn in motion, a tumble of light, airy kernels against an all-black background. No frills, no distractions—just the texture, the movement, and the simple pleasure of this timeless snack. Shot in crisp detail, this video captures the weightlessness of popcorn as it falls, a moment suspended before the next handful disappears.
This is part of my ongoing food photography project, where fast food, snack foods, and more are captured straight from the bag, isolated against a black backdrop. You can see more of my work—food, bold portraits, aviation, and other intriguing projects on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com
SecondFocus Blog 
Something On A Stick!
Today is National Something on a Stick Day, and nothing fits the description better than the corn dog. First patented in 1927 and made popular at state fairs in the 1940s, it remains one of the most recognizable American foods on a stick.
This is my latest photo—Foster Farms Honey Crunchy Corn Dogs, shown sliced and stacked against black. It’s part of my ongoing series examining fast food as cultural artifact.
View more from the series here at SecondFocus.com Thanks!
March 28, 2025 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: American food culture, black background photography, commercial food aesthetics, Contemporary Photography, corn dogs, fast food art, food on a stick, Food Photography, Foster Farms, from bag to background, National Something on a Stick Day, photo essay, photographic series, processed food, visual commentary | Leave a comment