“Burger Ascension” captures the chaos and indulgence of two stacked In-N-Out 4×4 burgers, their messy layers of juicy beef patties, melted cheese oozing from the edges, fresh lettuce, tomato, onion, and signature spread spilling out from toasted buns. Photographed against a jet-black background, the towering composition highlights the raw, un-styled nature of the burgers—taken straight from the bag and placed directly into the spotlight. It’s a testament to the irresistible appeal of fast food culture.
Yesterday was National Eat What You Want Day.
I actually spent some time going through all of the food photographs on my website trying to decide what I would use. First realization was just how much is there now. Second was that there were many choices.
That slowed me down enough that the day passed without a post.
So this is late, but the choice is clear.
If it’s really about eating what you want, then for me it comes down to a cheeseburger. Not a small one. Something stacked, excessive, and a little out of proportion.
No explanation needed.
Just the object, isolated on a black background, exactly as it is.
More of my food photography, from fast food to everything in between, is on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com
A stack of frosted chocolate snack cakes with cream filling, photographed against a black background. The iconic icing swirl and visible interior make this image ideal for commercial food photography, packaging design, or editorial use related to nostalgic snacks and processed desserts.
Today is National Hostess CupCake Day.
Which means we’re supposed to pause and appreciate one of the most engineered snack foods ever made.
The Hostess CupCake goes back to 1919, but the version most people recognize chocolate cake, white cream center, and that signature squiggle showed up in 1947. The swirl itself didn’t arrive until the 1950s, when a baker figured out he could pipe it on in one continuous motion.
Simple idea. Instantly recognizable.
At one point, hundreds of millions of these were being produced every year. Same shape, same filling, same swirl. Consistency as a business model.
And that’s really the point.
This isn’t about a chef, or a kitchen, or even baking. It’s about repetition. A product designed to look exactly the same every single time, whether you’re buying one or a million.
So naturally, I stacked a dozen of them on a black background.
No packaging. No branding. No context.
Just the object itself.
Which is probably not how Hostess intended you to look at it.
More of my food photography, from fast food to everything in between, is on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com
Which got me thinking, what exactly is a “foodie” now?
There was a time when people argued over whether they were gourmets or gourmands. People who chased flavors, studied food, cared about where it came from.
Now it mostly means you took a photo of what you ordered.
So here’s my contribution to the conversation.
A stack of McDonald’s McRib sandwiches, straight out of the bag and onto a black background. No styling, no plating, no attempt to make it something it isn’t.
I photograph food, but not in the way that fits neatly into any of those categories. No chef, no restaurant, no experience attached to it. Just the object itself.
So does that make me a foodie?
Or something else entirely.
More of my food photography, from fast food to everything in between, is on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com
Was just talking with a buddy about the airplanes from the EAA. It brought this back.
This is from a couple of years ago when I had the opportunity to fly right seat in one of their original Ford Tri-Motors. Not a replica, not something newly built, but one of the actual aircraft still flying.
The Ford Tri-Motor first flew in 1926 and became one of the earliest successful passenger airliners in the United States. Built by the Ford Motor Company, it was designed to bring some level of reliability and scale to commercial aviation. All-metal construction, corrugated aluminum skin, and three radial engines for redundancy at a time when engine failures were not uncommon. It typically carried around 8 to 12 passengers and was used by early airlines like Transcontinental Air Transport, which later became part of TWA.
The Experimental Aircraft Association keeps a couple of these flying as part of their touring program, bringing them around the country so people can experience early commercial aviation the way it actually was. No attempt to modernize the experience. You feel the vibration, hear the engines, and see exactly what passengers in the late 1920s and 30s would have experienced.
From the right seat, it’s a different perspective. You’re not just along for the ride, you’re watching how it all works, how it feels in the air, how much of it is still hands-on compared to anything modern.
They call them the “Tin Goose,” and once you’re up there, you understand why. It’s not about speed or efficiency. It’s about being part of something that defined the beginning of airline travel.
My first gym experience goes back to 1959 when my father took me to a Vic Tanny gym where he was a member. Tanny built the first real gym chain in the country, and his first location was near the original Muscle Beach in Santa Monica.
That’s where this starts.
In my 30s, I began training seriously. For decades, I pushed it harder than most around me, heavier, more focused. Curling 100-pound dumbbells, repping 405 on the bench, and at one point pulling a 765-pound deadlift. It was just what I did, it was fun!
At the same time, I was reading the bodybuilding magazines, studying the imagery as much as the physiques. It became obvious that my photography belonged in that world.
That led me to Muscle Beach Venice, where I eventually became the official photographer. From there, it moved into shooting for Bodybuilding.com, the major magazines, and brands across the industry. At one point, my work was appearing in hundreds of publications around the world each month, reaching millions online.
When people think of bodybuilding, they think of Muscle Beach. I remember standing on the boardwalk when I was young, watching the biggest bodybuilders in the world lifting in the Pit.
Years later, back in that same place with Ava Cowan, someone I’ve worked with since and having become good friends.
With Ava in town from Florida, it was obvious we would shoot there.
In the Pit, this photograph represents something special. Coming full circle. The same place I once watched from the outside, now part of my own history, with my camera, photographing one of the most recognized figures in the fitness world under that same Venice Beach sky.
Of course, that takes me in a different direction than what was intended. It started in the early 1980s at the University of Texas at Austin as a campus stunt. People walking around in public in their underwear, acting like nothing is unusual. It spread, became organized, and now sits on the calendar as a planned bit of public absurdity. That’s the idea behind it.
I shoot in the space between fashion, pornochic, and nude because it doesn’t hide what it is. The sexuality is not implied, and it’s not softened. It’s part of the structure of the photograph.
Sévérine brought that directly into my shoot. Her presence is openly sexual, controlled, and fully aware of itself. Nothing tentative about it. The makeup and styling by Blanche LeBeau push it further, not decorative, not secondary, but part of the same intent, shaping how that sexuality is presented and held in place.
SecondFocus Blog 
National Foodies Day
Today is National Foodies Day.
Which got me thinking, what exactly is a “foodie” now?
There was a time when people argued over whether they were gourmets or gourmands. People who chased flavors, studied food, cared about where it came from.
Now it mostly means you took a photo of what you ordered.
So here’s my contribution to the conversation.
A stack of McDonald’s McRib sandwiches, straight out of the bag and onto a black background. No styling, no plating, no attempt to make it something it isn’t.
I photograph food, but not in the way that fits neatly into any of those categories. No chef, no restaurant, no experience attached to it. Just the object itself.
So does that make me a foodie?
Or something else entirely.
More of my food photography, from fast food to everything in between, is on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com
May 9, 2026 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: black background food, commercial food imagery, conceptual food photography, fast food photography, food art, food culture commentary, Food Photography, food styling vs reality, food trends, foodie definition, from bag to background, gourmet vs foodie, isolated food photography, McDonalds McRib, McRib, minimalist food photography, modern food culture, National Foodies Day, provocative food imagery, secondfocus photography, what is a foodie | Leave a comment