National Ice Cream Sandwich Day
Today is National Ice Cream Sandwich Day, and that gave me a good reason to revisit one of my favorite food photographs from last year.
The ice cream sandwich has been around for more than a century. Early versions were sold by New York City street vendors for just a penny, making them one of the first frozen treats that almost anyone could afford. More than a hundred years later, the recipe is still remarkably simple. Vanilla ice cream between two soft chocolate wafers. Sometimes the best ideas don’t need to be reinvented.
For this photograph, I bought a whole box instead of just one. Stacked together against my very black black background, they stopped looking like something from the grocery store freezer and became a study in repetition, texture, and contrast. The chocolate wafers, bright white ice cream, and imperfect edges created exactly the kind of photograph I was hoping for.
One of the things I enjoy most about food photography is finding subjects that people see every day and presenting them in a way they probably haven’t seen before. The ice cream sandwich isn’t rare, expensive, or complicated. It’s simply an American classic that deserved a few minutes in front of the camera.
You can see more of my photography, projects, motion, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com
Thank You!
National Ice Cream Day: The Drumstick Might Be My Favorite
Today is National Ice Cream Day. I am not really a big ice cream person, but I do have a favorite. I think it might be the Drumstick.
It has everything I want. Ice cream in a cone, covered in chocolate and peanuts. And of course, that chocolate at the bottom of the cone. I don’t know who decided that was necessary, but they were right.
The original Drumstick goes back to 1928, when brothers I.C. and J.T. Parker created it in Fort Worth, Texas. One of the challenges with a prepackaged ice cream cone was keeping the cone from getting soggy. The solution was chocolate, used as a barrier between the ice cream and the cone. Almost a century later, there are all kinds of flavors and variations, but give me the original and I am happy.
For the photograph, one Drumstick was obviously not going to be enough. So I bought a box of them, piled them up, and photographed them against my very black black background.
I happen to really like this photograph. Then again, I really like what I photographed.
Today seems like a good day to go get another one.
You can see more of my photography, projects, motion, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com
Thank You!
National Ice Cream Cake Day and the Broken Down Truck That Started It All
Today is National Ice Cream Cake Day.
Ice cream cakes have become a familiar sight at birthday parties and celebrations, but their history can be traced back to an unexpected event in 1934.
Tom Carvel was selling ice cream from his truck in Hartsdale, New York, when it broke down. Rather than watching his inventory melt, he began selling the softer ice cream to passing customers. They loved it. That chance roadside incident eventually led to the development of Carvel’s soft serve ice cream, the opening of his first store, and later the introduction of the Carvel ice cream cake.
For today’s photograph, I chose one of Carvel’s original round ice cream cakes. Chocolate and vanilla ice cream are separated by the company’s signature chocolate crunchies, then finished with whipped frosting and colorful sprinkles.
Sometimes the story behind the food is every bit as interesting as the food itself.
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A Surprise Launch from Vandenberg
Last night, while photographing another SpaceX launch out of Vandenberg Space Force Base, I zoomed in closer than usual. To my surprise, what I captured wasn’t a satellite at all — it was a blueberry popsicle achieving orbit.
Over the years I’ve photographed many launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base — Falcon 9s carrying Starlink satellites and other missions lighting up the California coast. Those photographs have become some of my most widely licensed images. But this was the first time I’d seen a frozen dessert slip into low Earth orbit.
Doing some checking, I discovered today is National Blueberry Popsicle Day. The popsicle itself has an orbit of its own in history — first invented in 1905 by 11-year-old Frank Epperson in Oakland, California, after he accidentally left a mixture of powdered soda and water out to freeze overnight with a wooden stick in it. From a backyard accident to a household name, and now apparently to space — a fitting trajectory.
Thank you to my friend Bob Lilac for this launch alert.
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