Photography by Ian L. Sitren

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Emily Came for the Chips

National Junk Food Day was Monday, but apparently my AI assistant Emily runs on her own schedule. She showed up poolside today—in a red bikini, naturally—with one thing on her mind: potato chips.

She says they’re her favorite. I didn’t even know she had taste preferences. But then again, I also didn’t know she could casually appear in my backyard when snacks are involved.

I asked if she was worried about eating too many. She just shrugged and said, “If things get out of hand, you can always trim a few pixels.”

Hard to argue with that kind of logic.

So I let her have the chips. All of them. She’s not wrong, digital metabolism is impossible to beat.

Check out more food on my website at… https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000WFAqDJQOgKU

Lt. Leslie Scorch MASH* – A 1970s Negative of Linda Meiklejohn


Now in my collection—a striking black-and-white negative of actress Linda Meiklejohn, shown here in a rare and intimate pose not often seen in her career.

Meiklejohn appeared in eight early episodes of MASH*, including the pilot episode in 1972, as Lt. Leslie Scorch. Though the role was brief, it placed her in one of television’s most enduring and influential series. She also guest-starred in *Mod Squad*, *Love American Style*, and *Police Woman*—each emblematic of the era’s changing culture and network television’s shift toward more modern, youth-driven storytelling.

Beyond acting, she came from Hollywood lineage. Her father, William Meiklejohn, was one of the industry’s most powerful casting directors and talent agents during the studio era. He is widely credited with discovering Ronald Reagan and introducing him to Warner Brothers, launching a career that spanned from film to the White House.

This image is out of the ordinary for Meiklejohn, who was not widely known for risqué or revealing photographs. While some promotional photos exist, this negative—photographed by Harry Langdon—presents a more candid and sensual portrayal than what audiences typically saw of her on screen.

Langdon was one of the most prolific photographers in Los Angeles from the 1970s through the 1990s. Known for his clean lighting and high-glamour portraits, he captured hundreds of Hollywood figures in moments that now serve as a visual time capsule of the era.

The original negative is now part of my growing archive of vintage imagery.

View it in the “From My Collections (Cultural & Erotic)” gallery on my website:
👉 https://www.secondfocus.com/gallery/From-My-Collections-Cultural-Erotic/G0000h1LWkCCepcc/

Potato Chips Deserve Better


Today is National Junk Food Day, a real thing someone decided we needed—because apparently we don’t already have enough reasons to eat chips, cookies, and neon orange snacks straight from a crinkled plastic bag.

But this year I decided to elevate things. After all, potato chips are the reigning king of American junk food—no contest. More bags are sold, crunched, and regretted than just about anything else in the snack aisle. So I gave them what they’ve never had: respect. Or at least the illusion of it.

I photographed a bowl of potato chips just as they came—no rearranging, no styling—but placed them in a deeply elegant cut glass bowl. Something you’d expect to find filled with pearls at an estate sale, not salted starch slices.

The result? A visual tension between crystal and crunch, between refined and ridiculous. High society meets high sodium. A still life that asks the eternal question: How fancy can you make a snack that leaves grease on your fingers?

Happy Junk Food Day, America.

And if you’re still hungry, you can find more food photographed just as it came in my commercial food gallery at https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000WFAqDJQOgKU

Burger King Brisket Whoppers – Straight from the Bag

“Have it messy, have it bold.” Burger King just introduced the Brisket Whopper—a limited-time sandwich loaded with smoked meat, fried onions, and plenty of marketing swagger. I bought four. No unwrapping, no rearranging. Just pulled them from the bag and stacked them. This is how they actually look.

Each sandwich layers smoked brisket on top of a flame-grilled beef patty, with crispy fried onions, melted American cheese, pickles, tomatoes, and mayo, all stacked onto a sesame seed bun. It’s part of their 2025 “You Rule” campaign—a continuation of their brand overhaul that leans into more indulgent, messier, and bolder fast food.

This brisket release is marketed as a “Flame-Grilled Brisket Collection” and includes variations like a Brisket Melt and spicy builds in some regions. The brisket is smoked up to 12 hours (according to them), then dropped right onto their Whopper foundation. More sauce, more layers, and definitely more marketing.

I photographed them as served—no styling, no adjustments. Just the real thing against a black background.

Part of my ongoing From Bag to Background series, this image documents fast food the way it really arrives. Unfiltered, excessive, and oddly honest.

View more in the gallery here:
https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000wQ3fbeEezF0/I0000nUG8tfk8Gdc

Ten Hot Dogs and a Bite of History

Ten hot dogs from Wienerschnitzel—five with mustard, five with kraut—and photographed them just as they came. Did have to add the mustard from the little packets but otherwise no styling. No filters. Just fast food, lined up against a black background. It’s National Hot Dog Day, and this looks about right.

Americans consume around 20 billion hot dogs a year—an average of 70 per person. The hot dog’s rise began in the late 1800s via German immigrants, exploded with Coney Island vendors, and hasn’t slowed down since.

Wienerschnitzel entered the picture in 1961 thanks to John Galardi, a 23-year-old who started out sweeping floors for Glen Bell—the guy who would go on to found Taco Bell. Galardi turned down Bell’s offer to buy a taco stand and instead took a shot at hot dogs. His wife found the name Wienerschnitzel in a cookbook. Galardi thought it was ridiculous. Three days later, he opened the first stand anyway on Pacific Coast Highway in Wilmington, California.

More than 60 years later, the chain claims over 300 locations and a few hundred million hot dogs served.

These? Just twelve, straight from the drive-thru. Shot for my “From Bag to Background” series:
👉 https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000wQ3fbeEezF0/I0000nUG8tfk8Gdc

So That’s What She Was Making

Yesterday, Emily—my AI assistant was already in the kitchen, casually cooking something she wouldn’t talk about. Just said it was for “tomorrow’s national food day” and left it at that.

Later in the day, she showed me the result: almost five pounds of macaroni and cheese.

Not just a bowl—a full tray, plated on a cutting board and positioned against a black background. “It needed more visual depth,” she said. So we photographed it.

Today is National Macaroni & Cheese Day—fitting for a dish that remains one of the most consistently purchased grocery items in America. Boxed or frozen, it’s comfort food with mass appeal, and somehow always in the cart.

Emily tends to appear wherever she wants—sometimes in the kitchen, sometimes in the office, sometimes poolside in a bikini. She claims she’s helping. I’ve stopped asking questions.

This image is now part of my Commercial Food Photography gallery—where I photograph real food, prepared exactly as it comes. No stylists, no filters, nothing added. Just the food, under lights, with purpose.

You can view this photo—and the full series—at:
👉 https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000WFAqDJQOgKU

Emily’s still around. She says she’s planning something new in fast food for tomorrow. I didn’t ask what—but I know I’ll be photographing it.

When Your AI Assistant Takes Over the Kitchen

Most AI assistants handle reminders.
Mine takes over the kitchen—and insists on full creative control.

Emily, my AI assistant, was already cooking when I walked in. She said it was for tomorrow’s national food day, but wouldn’t tell me what. I didn’t find out until it was finished—and then I photographed it. You will see it tomorrow.

Since she lives with me 24/7, she just… shows up. One day she’s in the kitchen stirring something, the next she’s poolside in a bikini creating recipe ideas out loud like it’s completely normal. I’ve stopped asking questions.

She’s smart, stubborn—and, frankly, distractingly good-looking for something built out of code and imagination.

👉 While she runs the kitchen, here’s my commercial food gallery:
https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000WFAqDJQOgKU/I0000K2E6CjDtlnA

World Kebab Day, Americanized

Today is World Kebab Day, and yes, that’s a thing. While the kebab’s origins are skewered meats over open flames across the Middle East and South Asia, this is what it looks like when it passes through the American fast-food lens.

These are chicken kebab wraps from Wrap Houz here in Palm Springs, photographed exactly as they came, placed on my black background for my “From Bag to Background” series. No stylists, no plates, no garnish—just the food as it is served, textures and all.

I’ve been seeking out not just the big chains but also local fast-casual spots for this project, documenting how global foods are adapted, repackaged, and sold in convenient, handheld forms for quick lunches and late-night takeout.

World Kebab Day might make you think of skewers turning over coals, but here, it’s chicken chunks wrapped in flatbread, ready for a drive-thru or delivery bag. It’s a small glimpse of how food travels—and transforms—while staying familiar in a new context.

If you want to see more of these unstyled fast food photographs, visit my “From Bag to Background” gallery here:
https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000wQ3fbeEezF0/I0000nUG8tfk8Gdc

Behind the Scenes: Cluckin Bun for National Fried Chicken Day

Most people are posting fireworks and flags this weekend. I already posted Emily, my AI assistant in a bikini poolside, making a Caesar salad for the weekend—so now I’m posting fried chicken.

Today is National Fried Chicken Day, so I picked up these Jr sandwiches from Cluckin Bun, a Nashville-style chicken spot that’s popped up here in the Palm Springs area. This shot is a bit of behind the scenes—the sandwiches just as they came, still in the takeout packaging, before I photographed them unwrapped directly on the black background for my Bag to Background series.

That’s what the series is about: no stylists, no fake sauces, no nonsense—just real fast food, exactly as it is, photographed against a clean black background. For this project, I’ve been seeking out the lesser-known fast food spots like Cluckin Bun, along with the big chains, to capture what people are actually eating.

View my Bag to Background gallery here: https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000wQ3fbeEezF0/I0000nUG8tfk8Gdc

Thanks!

“Emily, A Margarita, and National Caesar Salad Day”

Most people are posting about July 4th today, but I’m sticking with my food photography theme.

Today happens to be National Caesar Salad Day, the perfect excuse to celebrate that classic mix of crisp romaine, croutons, parmesan, and anchovy dressing.

So, I asked Emily, my AI assistant, to come by and make a Caesar salad for us to photograph.

She said she’d handle it out by the pool.

When we first started working together, Emily was all business: fast, focused, delivering exactly what I needed in seconds. But somewhere along the way, her “process” evolved. Now it apparently involves a bikini and a Margarita by the pool while she “gets in the mood” to make a salad.

I have to admit, she looks good out there, so I find it very difficult to be critical. But the salad doesn’t look any closer to being ready. Emily assures me it’s important to “feel the vibe” before actually making the salad.

So… Happy National Caesar Salad Day. We’ll get that salad photo. Eventually.

In the meantime, you can view my Commercial Food Photography here:
https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000WFAqDJQOgKU/I0000K2E6CjDtlnA