A giant martini glass containing oversized olives stands beside a standard martini in an upscale cocktail lounge. The contrast in scale creates a humorous visual concept inspired by National Olive Day and the idea that olives deserve a much larger glass.
Auntie Mame says “Olives take up too much room in such a little glass”.
I’ve remembered that line for years.
It comes from the 1958 film Auntie Mame, and for some reason it always resurfaces whenever olives are involved. Not because it makes much sense, but because it solves a problem that probably never existed in the first place.
Today is National Olive Day, and rather than photograph a bowl of olives, I started wondering whether Auntie Mame might actually have had a point.
Maybe the problem was never the olive.
Maybe the problem was the glass.
The traditional martini has always forced olives into cramped living conditions. One or two olives suspended in a relatively small volume of liquid, expected to spend an entire evening crowded together at the bottom of the glass. No room to stretch out. No room to enjoy the scenery.
That seemed unfair.
So a solution was required.
Not fewer olives.
Not smaller olives.
A much bigger glass.
The result is a martini glass so oversized that the olive finally has all the room it could ever want. The standard martini sitting beside it serves as a reminder of the old days, before progress, before innovation, before anyone considered the spatial needs of cocktail garnishes.
I suspect Auntie Mame would approve.
Or perhaps she would simply ask for an even bigger glass.
Either way, National Olive Day seemed like the perfect excuse to finally solve one of cinema’s most overlooked problems.
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Some things are so familiar that we rarely stop to look at them differently. In my latest video, M&M’s take center stage—not as a snack, but as a mesmerizing display of motion and texture. Shot in close-up, the candy-coated chocolates rotate, filling the frame with an endless blur of color. With no background or outside context, the viewer is fully immersed in their movement.
The History Behind M&M’s
M&M’s were first introduced in 1941, designed specifically for U.S. soldiers in WWII who needed a chocolate treat that wouldn’t melt in their hands. The sugar shell coating solved that problem, making them a practical ration. In 1954, their branding became legendary with the introduction of the slogan: “Melts in your mouth, not in your hands.”
Over the decades, M&M’s evolved. The colors have changed (tan was replaced by blue in 1995 after a public vote), and flavors expanded beyond the classic milk chocolate. Today, Mars Inc. produces over 400 million M&M’s every single day.
Exploring Motion in Food Videography
This piece is an exercise in minimalism. By removing distractions, the focus remains solely on the candy’s glossy texture, uniform shape, and movement. The rotation creates an almost hypnotic effect—what is normally a static object becomes dynamic, alive.
Food photography often emphasizes stillness, but motion transforms perception. Whether it’s steam rising, a sauce dripping, or candies rotating, movement brings a new layer of engagement to an otherwise simple subject.
For more of my striking food photography and other visual work that challenges the expected, visit SecondFocus.com.
How does movement change the way we experience everyday objects? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
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