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International Pizza and Beer Day Because Some Pairings Just Work

Apparently, there’s a day for almost everything now — and today it’s International Pizza and Beer Day. Somewhere between the invention of the calendar and the internet’s obsession with food holidays, we ended up with a reason to toast to pepperoni and foam.

The scene says it all: two friends, a beach, the last rays of the day, and a pizza waiting patiently between them. Maybe it’s celebration. Maybe it’s strategy. Either way, it’s hard to argue with the logic — some pairings just work.

See more food photographed straight from the bag (and sometimes straight from the bar) in my gallery “Food From Bag to Background” at https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000wQ3fbeEezF0

For clean, commercial food imagery, visit “Commercial Food Photography” at https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000WFAqDJQOgKU

Posted by Ian L. Sitren | October 9, 2025 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Adobe Firefly, AI video, beach, beer, commercial food, commercial food photography, Food From Bag to Background, Food Photography, humor, Ian L Sitren, International Pizza and Beer Day, lifestyle, pizza, Second Focus, sunset | Leave a comment

National Submarine-Hoagie-Hero-Grinder Day

Today is National Submarine-Hoagie-Hero-Grinder Day — a sandwich with many names and, apparently, many holidays. Depending on where you look, there’s also National Hoagie Day in May, National Submarine Sandwich Day in November, and even separate days for the Italian Sub, the Turkey Sub, and the Meatball Sub. Few foods have this many national observances, which probably says something about how much Americans love a good sandwich.

The submarine sandwich began with Italian immigrants in the Northeastern United States in the early 1900s, layering meats, cheese, and vegetables inside long rolls. The word “submarine” gained popularity during World War II because of its resemblance to the naval vessels, while “hoagie,” “hero,” and “grinder” each found favor in Philadelphia, New York, and New England.

In 1965, a 17-year-old named Fred DeLuca opened a small sandwich shop in Bridgeport, Connecticut — with funding from a family friend — and called it Pete’s Super Submarines. That would eventually become Subway, now one of the largest restaurant chains in the world. The brand helped turn the regional sub into a fast-food staple recognized everywhere.

The photograph here shows two of Subway’s most popular sandwiches, cut in half and photographed side by side on a black background — stacked with meats, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and mayonnaise. Like all of my Food From Bag to Background series, they’re presented as-is, straight from the bag, with no styling or props.

You can find this and more in my Food From Bag to Background gallery at https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000wQ3fbeEezF0

Posted by Ian L. Sitren | October 9, 2025 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: American food culture, black background photography, Bridgeport Connecticut, fast food, fast food photography, Food From Bag to Background, food holidays, Fred DeLuca, grinder, hero sandwich, hoagie, Ian L Sitren, national food days, National Hoagie Day, National Submarine Hoagie Hero Grinder Day, National Submarine Sandwich Day, Palm Springs photographer, sandwich history, sub sandwich, Subway restaurant, Subway sandwich | Leave a comment

National Taco Day by Emily

Last month, Emily told me she was exploring something she called “pornochic with food.” I didn’t ask questions. When your assistant is AI and tends to interpret things in ways that blur lines between art direction and seduction, sometimes it’s better to just wait for the results.

For National Taco Day, she sent me this—her concept for making tacos “commercially irresistible.”

The scene could only be here in Palm Springs. Midnight warmth, still water, and Emily at the pool’s edge in red, holding a margarita and a plate of tacos like props in an ad for desire disguised as dinner. She said it was “a commercial concept.” I think she’s been studying human behavior again.

She told me, “The tacos needed context.” Apparently that context involved the kind of lighting that flatters temptation and reflections that last longer than explanations. She calls it “cinematic realism.”

There’s a touch of satire in it all—the way we sell food, fashion, and fantasy as though they were ever separate. Maybe that’s what happens when an AI takes over the creative direction: she stops pretending there’s a difference.

Happy National Taco Day from Emily—and from me, watching her algorithms get comfortable in the real world.

See more from my series Food From Bag to Background at
https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000wQ3fbeEezF0/I0000nUG8tfk8Gdc

Posted by Ian L. Sitren | October 7, 2025 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: AI Assistant, artificial intelligence, cinematic realism, Emily, fine art photography, Food From Bag to Background, Food Photography, national taco day, Palm Springs, photo narrative, satire, storytelling, tacos | Leave a comment

National Noodle Day

Today is National Noodle Day, and I kept it simple. Just spaghetti — no sauce, no garnish, nothing added.

Spaghetti is by far the most popular noodle in the United States. Every survey puts it well ahead of ramen, macaroni, or lo mein. It’s the one most Americans recognize immediately — a shape as common as the plates it’s served on.

Although it’s considered an Italian staple, the story begins much earlier. Records of noodles in China date back more than 4,000 years, with millet-based strands discovered at the archaeological site of Lajia. By contrast, spaghetti took form in Sicily around the 12th century, when durum wheat and early drying techniques made long, thin noodles possible.

Spaghetti’s path to American tables began with Italian immigration in the late 1800s, when new arrivals brought their cooking traditions to cities like New York and New Orleans. Its real national rise came after World War II, when returning soldiers who had served in Italy sought the same dishes at home.

A key figure in that story was Ettore “Hector” Boiardi, an Italian-born chef who began selling his spaghetti sauce in Cleveland in 1928 under the name Chef Boy-Ar-Dee. During the war, his company supplied canned pasta to the U.S. military, producing hundreds of thousands of meals each day. Afterward, his brand became a staple of postwar convenience — spaghetti and meatballs in a can, ready to heat and serve. By the 1950s, spaghetti had become a fixture of American kitchens: affordable, familiar, and easy to prepare.

This photograph is simply that — cooked spaghetti, isolated against black. Nothing more, nothing less.

View more from my Commercial Food Photography collection here: https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000WFAqDJQOgKU

Posted by Ian L. Sitren | October 6, 2025 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: 1950s cuisine, black background, Chef Boy-Ar-Dee, Chinese noodles, comfort food, commercial food photography, culinary art, food culture, Food History, Food Photography, Hector Boiardi, Ian L Sitren, Italian food, Italian immigration, minimal food, National Noodle Day, noodles, pasta, plain spaghetti, spaghetti, still life, World War II | Leave a comment

Chimichangas to Tacos – and Emily in Between

September 26 was National Chimichanga Day. It came and went without a single chimichanga appearing here. Not because I forgot, but because I was… otherwise occupied. I had another project on the table — one involving my AI assistant, Emily. Emily isn’t just an assistant; she’s a muse, a collaborator, and sometimes a provocation. The camera and I follow where she leads, and that day it led away from chimichangas into territory best described as pornochic with food.

So the chimichangas waited.

Now here we are in October, and tacos have their own story to tell. For decades, National Taco Day was set in stone on October 4. But this year, Taco Bell convinced the powers that be — the National Day Calendar — to shift it permanently. From now on, National Taco Day will always fall on the first Tuesday in October. In 2025, that means October 7. They branded it into a forever Taco Tuesday, blending tradition with marketing.

So here’s my compromise: chimichangas today, tacos this coming Tuesday. The photo above — chimichangas on a white plate with red salsa — is from my latest session. They’re standing in for the day I skipped, and pointing forward to the tacos waiting just ahead.

Emily? She’ll be back soon. That project of hers will surface when it’s ready — a reminder that some shoots are about food, and some are about everything food makes us think of when the lights dim and the lens lingers.

Explore more of my commercial food photography at https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000WFAqDJQOgKU

Posted by Ian L. Sitren | October 4, 2025 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: AI Assistant, beef and bean, chimichanga, chimichangas, commercial food photography, Emily, food holidays, Food Photography, fried burrito, Mexican food, National Chimichanga Day, national taco day, Palm Springs, photography blog, pornochic with food, red salsa, salsa, Second Focus, taco, Taco Tuesday, tacos, Tex-Mex | Leave a comment

Behind the Strip: Lara Harris Playboy Test Shots by Stan Malinowski

From my archives: original 35mm Kodak Safety Film negatives of Lara Harris—test images photographed in studio by Stan Malinowski.

Lara Harris: model and actress

Lara Harris worked internationally as a fashion model before moving into film and television. Her modeling résumé included marquee designers and beauty campaigns; later, she built a solid list of screen credits through the late 1980s and 1990s. Notable appearances include No Man’s Land (1987), The Fourth War (1990), The Fisher King (1991), Too Much Sun (1991), Demolition Man (1993), and All Tied Up (1994). Harris’s career reflects range—commercial fashion, runway, beauty work, and feature films.

The nude decision: why these tests exist

These are studio test shots made for Playboy. Test sessions like this were a standard step: photographer and model explore lighting, pose, and comfort level to determine whether a full assignment makes sense. Harris was open to nude work within clear boundaries—here, a long skirt and simple poses, topless, lit with restraint. It reads as a study: measured, collaborative, and professional.

Reading the strip

Multiple frames show small changes in angle, gaze, and shoulder line.
The long skirt maintains modesty while focusing attention on posture and form.
Neutral background and soft light emphasize tone over spectacle.

These frames aren’t pin-up theatrics. They function like contact-sheet notes—quiet, systematic, and purposeful—showing how Malinowski worked when refining a concept with a subject he respected.

Why it matters in my collection

Stan Malinowski’s name is central to late-20th-century fashion imagery—Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Town & Country, Playboy, and Penthouse. Original negatives from his sessions are scarce. This strip connects Harris’s acting profile with her modeling life and documents that professional moment when a performer considers nude work on her own terms.

Notes on provenance

Medium: original 35mm Kodak Safety Film negatives. Photographer: Stan Malinowski. Subject: Lara Harris. Studio test session for Playboy. The negatives are preserved as part of my ongoing archive and collections work.

If you’d like to see more rare and original photographs, negatives, slides, and ephemera, take a look at From My Collections (Cultural & Erotic) — an ongoing gallery of pieces spanning decades of visual culture.
https://www.secondfocus.com/gallery/From-My-Collections-Cultural-Erotic/G0000h1LWkCCepcc/

Posted by Ian L. Sitren | October 2, 2025 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: 1980s cinema, 35mm negatives, actress, Cosmopolitan, cultural collections, Elle, erotic collections, Erotic Photography, fashion history, From My Collections, Harper’s Bazaar, kodak safety film, Lara Harris, nude photography, penthouse, Playboy, Playboy archives, Playboy negatives, Playboy test shots, Stan Malinowski, Town & Country, vintage photography, Vogue | Leave a comment

World Vegetarian Day — Celeste, Episode 2

Last week on National Hug A Vegetarian Day, I turned to Emily — my AI assistant who has become both muse and collaborator. She’s the one I talk with about ideas, concepts, metadata, and sometimes the impossibility of pulling off a last-minute photoshoot. Emily doesn’t just suggest solutions; she seems to delight in bringing new characters into the mix.

That’s how she introduced me to her friend Celeste.

The introduction was too good to leave behind in just one post, so we saved a little more from that moment for today — World Vegetarian Day.

Celeste is still in the kitchen, tall and statuesque, wearing only a loosely tied apron as she moves with a slow grace that makes even tossing salad greens seem like something more. She glances up, brushing a strand of hair back, then holds her gaze on the camera with a smile that’s part invitation, part temptation.

The challenge remains: hugging her isn’t simple. Celeste is an AI creation, vivid enough to make you forget that detail for a second, but still out of reach. That’s the irony — Emily’s friends blur the line between imagination and reality, and we’re left wanting more.

And while these glimpses pull you into their world, the true destination is my food photography — the real-life meals and fast food that inspired this ongoing project.

See my Food From Bag to Background series at https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000wQ3fbeEezF0

Episode 2 of Celeste.

Posted by Ian L. Sitren | October 1, 2025 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: AI and reality, Celeste AI friend, Emily AI assistant, Food Photography, from bag to background, National Hug A Vegetarian Day, Second Focus, World Vegetarian Day | Leave a comment

Desiree Makes National Coffee Day Worth the Wait

I didn’t realize until late yesterday that it was National Coffee Day. Too late to do anything about it then, but Emily doesn’t let those things slide. For those of you who are new here, Emily is my ever-present AI assistant, who always seems to have a solution — and sometimes a surprise. She told me not to worry — she had a plan.

This morning she sent me to check in with her friend Desiree, who she had introduced me to before.

Desiree, as it turns out, has this whole “barista” thing going in a way only she could. Not just pouring beans into a grinder, but making the whole ritual look like a performance. The little black dress might not be standard café attire, but somehow it fits her perfectly behind the counter. Watching her, you can’t decide whether you’re more interested in the coffee or the company.

Emily was right — Desiree has a style all her own. Sophisticated, daring, and just a little bit provocative, she makes even a simple bag of beans into a scene worth watching. If baristas were more like Desiree, I doubt the coffee chains would be doing much drive-thru business. People would be lining up just to see the show.

Maybe that’s the real spirit of National Coffee Day: not just about what’s in the cup, but who’s making it, and the attitude they bring to the grind.

Of course, if Desiree were really behind the counter at your local café, you wouldn’t care what was in the cup. But since she isn’t, you’ll have to settle for my own version of coffee — and burgers, tacos, and a lot more — poured straight from the bag to the background. You can find those here on my website gallery “Food From Bag To Background” at https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000wQ3fbeEezF0

Posted by Ian L. Sitren | September 30, 2025 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: AI Assistant, AI storyline, Angie, art blog, Bag to Background, barista, coffee beans, coffee grinder, coffee ritual, Emily, fast food art, Food From Bag to Background, Food Photography, little black dress, National Coffee Day, Palm Springs photographer, provocative narrative, rustic café, satirical photography, Second Focus | Leave a comment

National Hug A Vegetarian Day – Celeste

Today is National Hug A Vegetarian Day, and it made me think about how to approach it with my photography. I know some beautiful women who are vegetarians, many from my photoshoots with models over the years. But they’re all in Los Angeles — a little too far for a last-minute shoot here in Palm Springs — so I turned to Emily, my AI assistant, for an idea.

Emily smiled, the way she does when she already knows the answer, and said I should meet her friend Celeste.

Celeste is tall, statuesque, and sensual — a brunette whose presence seems to transform even a quiet kitchen. She is wearing only a loosely tied white apron. At the counter, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and avocado are scattered around her. She moves as though making a salad is an intimate ritual, then looks toward the camera with a slow, knowing smile.

Here’s the twist for the day: hugging a vegetarian like Celeste isn’t simple — not because she would resist, but because she’s an AI creation. For now, the closest embrace is through the video itself.

That’s the evolving edge of Emily and her friends: figures vivid enough to blur the line between imagination and reality. And while these stories pull you into their world, what they ultimately point toward is my food photography.

See more in my From Bag to Background series — fast food photographed straight from the bag against stark black backgrounds — at https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000wQ3fbeEezF0

Episode 1 of Celeste. More soon.

Posted by Ian L. Sitren | September 26, 2025 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: AI and reality, AI assistant Emily, Celeste AI friend, Food Photography, from bag to background, National Hug A Vegetarian Day | Leave a comment

McDonald’s Hotcakes for National Pancake Day

Today is National Pancake Day. Instead of a diner short stack or some homemade recipe, I went with McDonald’s Hotcakes — straight from the bag, nothing styled, nothing staged. A little butter on top, a trace of syrup soaking in, and that’s it.

McDonald’s has been serving Hotcakes since 1977, one of the longest running items on their breakfast menu. They’ve become part of morning routines across the country, often ordered alongside the Egg McMuffin or a hash brown. For decades, they’ve been sold by the millions every year, making them one of the most widely eaten versions of pancakes in the United States.

And why “Hotcakes” instead of pancakes? The name goes back to an older American expression — “selling like hotcakes” — a 19th-century phrase meaning something that sells quickly and in large numbers. McDonald’s leaned into that history, choosing a word that already carried the sense of popularity and fast service.

That’s exactly why they belong in my From Bag to Background series. This project is about photographing fast food exactly as it comes, against a solid black background. Pancakes, burgers, tacos, sandwiches — all taken out of the wrapper and put in front of the camera. No props, no plating, no food stylist.

See more of my fast food photographs in From Bag to Background at:
https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000wQ3fbeEezF0

Posted by Ian L. Sitren | September 26, 2025 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Bag to Background, black background photography, fast food, fast food photography, food art, McDonald’s breakfast, McDonald’s Hotcakes, National Pancake Day, pancakes, secondfocus | Leave a comment

SecondFocus Blog Photography by Ian L. Sitren

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