National Hot Dog Day: Emily Found the View
Today Emily insisted she knew the perfect place to celebrate National Hot Dog Day.
I assumed she meant the hot dogs.
Instead, she led me to a little beachside stand where the sunset competed with the menu. The hot dogs were excellent, but I have to admit I spent almost as much time looking at the ocean.
One of the things I enjoy about working with AI is that it lets me create places that don’t exist quite the way I imagine them. Sometimes it’s about the food. Sometimes it’s about the atmosphere. Sometimes it’s simply about seeing whether an idea in my head can become a moving image.
This one turned into a summer evening with good company, a classic hot dog, and a view worth staying for.
You can see more of my photography, projects, motion, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com
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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:
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