Photography by Ian L. Sitren

Posts tagged “spam

SPAM Meets the Big Mac

Three McDonald’s Big Mac hamburgers enhanced with two slices of pan-fried SPAM each, arranged on a black background. A creative fast food concept photographed in a commercial studio style for editorial, food, restaurant, and advertising use as part of the Food From Bag To Background photography project.

Last week gave us National SPAM Day. Then, just a couple of days later, came National Big Mac Day.

While thinking about National Big Mac Day, I remembered something that people on the mainland may not know.

SPAM is a huge part of the food culture in Hawaii, and McDonald’s restaurants throughout the Islands have embraced it for years. You’ll find SPAM on breakfast platters with eggs and rice, and at many locations it can also be substituted on selected breakfast sandwiches. So while McDonald’s has never offered a SPAM Big Mac, SPAM has had a place on the McDonald’s menu in Hawaii for many years.

Flying to Hawaii just to pick up breakfast from McDonald’s didn’t seem especially practical.

So I decided to bring a little Hawaii into my own kitchen.

Instead of changing the Big Mac, I wondered what would happen if I simply added SPAM to it. Not replacing the famous beef patties. Just adding two slices of pan-fried SPAM to each burger.

I started with three regular Big Macs. Then I pan-fried six slices of SPAM and added two slices to each burger, leaving the original Big Mac exactly as McDonald’s intended while adding a little Hawaiian inspiration.

Then it was time for the part I know best.

The three burgers moved in front of my camera and became the latest addition to my Food From Bag To Backgroundfast food photography project. Against my very black black background, the sesame seed buns, melted cheese, lettuce, beef patties, and SPAM came together exactly as I had envisioned.

The SPAM story isn’t over yet. There is one more stop on this journey through Hawaii’s favorite canned meat.

Next… SPAM Musubi.

You can see more of my photography, projects, motion, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com

Thank You!


National Big Mac Day and a Hawaiian Question

A McDonald’s Big Mac photographed for the Food From Bag To Background project in recognition of National Big Mac Day. The top bun is opened to reveal the burger’s signature three-piece bun, two all-beef patties, shredded lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, and the famous Big Mac Sauce. Photographed directly from the restaurant against a deep black background, the image highlights one of the world’s most recognizable fast food hamburgers while remaining true to my project’s concept of presenting fast food.

Today is National Big Mac Day, a celebration of one of the most recognizable hamburgers ever created. Introduced by McDonald’s in 1968, the Big Mac has become far more than just another menu item. With its two all-beef patties, three-piece sesame seed bun, shredded lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, and signature Big Mac Sauce, it has become an icon of American fast food.

For this photograph, I wanted to show what makes a Big Mac unique. Opening the top bun reveals the middle layer of bread and the familiar ingredients that have made the sandwich instantly recognizable for generations. Against my very black black background, the attention stays exactly where I wanted it, on one of the world’s most famous hamburgers.

While researching today’s post, I stumbled onto something I hadn’t expected. Hawaii has one of the highest rates of SPAM consumption in the world, and McDonald’s restaurants there even serve SPAM on their breakfast menu. That led me to an obvious question. If McDonald’s Hawaii serves SPAM, why has there never been an official SPAM Big Mac?

Tomorrow I’m going to find out what that might look like. I’ll be creating and photographing my own SPAM Big Mac. It won’t be an official McDonald’s product, but rather my own photographic interpretation inspired by Hawaii’s unique food culture. Then, a few days later, we’ll continue the journey with National SPAM Musubi Day.

You can see more of my photography, projects, motion, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com

Thank You!


Naked Selfie From The Diocese

This one is just funny. On Facebook there has been huge increase of these fake profiles doing friend requests. All cute young girls with flirtatious photos. Of course they are designed to lure you in so they can flood your Facebook profile with spam or even hijack it. I get as many as 10 per day and lately they have been given more of a look of legitimacy with listings of mainstream employment and schools. However the group that created this fake profile made a very funny mistake. Along with the naked selfie, they gave this profile a history of being with the “Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento”. Perfect!