SPAM Meets the Big Mac
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
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When the Wrong Grocery Purchase Becomes the Right Photograph
Most trips to the grocery store are pretty straightforward. This one wasn’t.
Most of the way home I suddenly realized that I wasn’t supposed to buy chicken wings. But now I had four pounds of them riding home with me.
Turning around wasn’t really an option. It was well over 100 degrees outside, and the rest of the groceries weren’t going to appreciate an extended sightseeing tour of Palm Springs.
So I changed the plan.
Chicken wings aren’t part of my Food From Bag To Background fast food photography project, but they were suddenly part of today’s photography project. I’ve been photographing for decades. Cooking is another matter entirely.
Fortunately, over the past three years my AI assistant and muse, Emily, has proven to be more than just an idea generator. She’s also become my unofficial chef and food stylist, right down to explaining how to roast chicken wings so they would look their best in front of the camera.
A little olive oil, a conventional oven, a few temperature checks, and a lot of hoping later, I had a plate of roasted chicken wings where they belonged… in front of my camera instead of still sitting in a grocery bag.
Sometimes the best photo of the day begins with buying the wrong thing.
You can see more of my photography, projects, motion, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com
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National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day: The One Cookie Theory
There are foods that inspire endless debate. Burgers. Pizza. Barbecue. Then there are chocolate chip cookies. Nobody argues about whether they belong in the dessert hall of fame. The only real debate starts after the first one.
It always begins with the best of intentions. “I’ll just have one.”
One becomes two because the second one is obviously for comparison. Three is simply to confirm your findings. Somewhere around four or five, you’ve stopped conducting research and have entered a completely different phase of the experiment.
For photography, chocolate chip cookies are deceptively simple. Every crack, every chocolate chip, every highlight and shadow has to look just right. A cookie that tastes great isn’t always the one that photographs the best, and the one that photographs perfectly may not survive long enough to make it back to the kitchen.
Fortunately, these did.
Happy National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day.
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 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
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National Big Mac Day and a Hawaiian Question
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!
National Avocado Day Through the Camera Lens
Today is National Avocado Day, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to revisit one of my favorite food photographs. I photographed these three avocados last year, and I still like the way they came together.
It’s easy to take avocados for granted because they seem to be everywhere. They appear on restaurant menus, in grocery stores year-round, and in countless recipes. Yet the Hass avocado, which dominates today’s market, traces its origins to a single tree planted by California mail carrier Rudolph Hass in the 1920s. Nearly every Hass avocado grown today is descended from that one remarkable tree.
For this photograph, I used three avocados to show the progression from whole fruit to the rich green interior and the familiar pit. Against my very black black background, the color, texture, and shape become the entire subject. Sometimes the simplest foods are the most rewarding to photograph because there is nothing to hide behind. Everything depends on the light, the composition, and the details.
That’s one reason I still enjoy looking at this photograph a year later.
You can see more of my photography, projects, motion, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com
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National Chili Dog Day and a Stack of Ten from Wienerschnitzel
Today is National Chili Dog Day, and if there’s one fast food chain that’s almost synonymous with chili dogs, it’s Wienerschnitzel. Founded in 1961, the chain has built its reputation around hot dogs and has served hundreds of millions of them over the years. For a day dedicated to one of America’s classic fast food favorites, it seemed like the perfect place to stop.
The exact origin of the chili dog is still debated, with several restaurants and regions claiming to have created it during the early 1900s. However it began, the combination of a hot dog, a soft bun, and seasoned chili quickly became a favorite at drive-ins, roadside stands, and fast food restaurants across the country. More than a century later, it’s still one of the most recognizable items on a fast food menu.
For Food From Bag To Background, I picked up ten Wienerschnitzel chili dogs and stacked them against my very black black background. Instead of photographing a single chili dog, I wanted to emphasize the abundance, the texture of the chili, and the unmistakable look of a true fast food icon. Sometimes more really is more.
Whether you celebrate National Chili Dog Day with one chili dog or a stack of ten, today is a good reminder that some of America’s most enduring fast food favorites have earned their place by simply standing the test of time.
You can see more of my photography, projects, motion, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com
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National Cheesecake Day With Krispy Kreme’s New Guava Cheesecake Doughnut
When National Cheesecake Day came around, I really wasn’t planning to photograph a cheesecake. As much as I enjoy the food holidays, a traditional cheesecake didn’t fit the direction of my Food From Bag To Background project. The project has always been about fast food, photographed exactly as it comes, with the food becoming the entire subject against a very black black background.
Then, almost by coincidence, Krispy Kreme introduced its new Guava Cheesecake Doughnut. Suddenly National Cheesecake Day had a fast-food connection that fit the project perfectly. I picked up six of them, cut them in half, and stacked them to show exactly what was inside. The bright guava filling, cheesecake Kreme, pink guava icing, icing drizzle, and crunchy crumbles made for a much more interesting photograph than I had expected.
Krispy Kreme says the Guava Cheesecake Doughnut is part of its new Destination Dessert Collection inspired by Latin American desserts. Along with the Guava Cheesecake Doughnut, the collection also includes a Tres Leches-Inspired Doughnut and a Choco Dulce Cookie Crunch Doughnut. It was an unexpected way to celebrate National Cheesecake Day while still staying true to a project devoted entirely to fast food.
Sometimes the best additions to Food From Bag To Background aren’t the ones I plan. They are the ones that unexpectedly appear at exactly the right time.
You can see more of my photography, projects, motion, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com
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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
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National Nude Day, Pornochic, and the Creativity of AI
Today is National Nude Day, and my view of the nude has probably always been a little different than the holiday intended.
I’ve long been drawn to what I think of as pornochic, where fashion, sexuality, fantasy, and photography overlap. I’m not interested in photographing the nude simply because it is nude. I’m interested in creating images that have attitude, mystery, confidence, and enough sexuality to make the viewer stop and wonder what is happening beyond the frame.
This image is an AI creation based on one of my original photographs from a studio session with model Shauna Toerner in downtown Los Angeles. AI allowed me to take that photograph and push it into a surreal fantasy. The repeated figures, identical red masks, and bold red chair create a scene that never existed in front of my camera, yet every element began with one of my own photographs.
What excites me about AI is not that it replaces photography. It doesn’t. It gives me another creative tool for exploring ideas that would be impossible to produce in a real studio. I still begin with my own camera, my own lighting, and my own photographs. AI simply lets me continue the creative process after the shutter has been released.
For me, photography has never been limited to recording reality. Sometimes the most interesting images are the ones that exist somewhere between reality, sexuality, and fantasy.
You can see more of my photography, projects, motion, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com
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Ramen Day Japan From Traditional Ramen to Top Ramen
July 11th is Ramen Day in Japan.
When most people in the United States hear the word “ramen,” they probably think of a package or cup of instant noodles. In Japan, ramen is something entirely different. It is a carefully prepared dish built around fresh noodles, rich broth, and a wide variety of meats, vegetables, eggs, seaweed, and other ingredients. Depending on the style, the broth alone may take hours to prepare.
In 1958, Momofuku Ando changed all of that when he introduced Chicken Ramen, the world’s first instant noodles. A little more than a decade later, Nissin introduced Top Ramen to the United States, choosing Chicken as the original flavor because it was familiar to American tastes.
Although Top Ramen was created by a Japanese company, it quickly adapted to an American way of thinking. Traditional ramen can take hours to prepare. Top Ramen asks only one question: “Do you have three minutes?”
This photograph features Top Ramen Chicken Flavor, a product that has found its way into countless college dorm rooms, office lunch breaks, and kitchen cupboards. It may be a distant relative of a carefully prepared bowl of ramen in Japan, but for many of us, it is the version we grew up with.
You can see more food photography, motion, projects, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com
National French Fry Day | The McDonald’s Fries Debate Never Ends
Today is National French Fry Day.
McDonald’s french fries may be the closest thing fast food has to a religion. Everyone has an opinion. Some insist they were better before 1990. Others swear no one has ever matched them. Entire internet debates have been devoted to trying to duplicate them.
I wasn’t trying to solve the mystery. I was just trying to buy enough of them.
Historians may debate the rise and fall of civilizations, but ask people when McDonald’s fries tasted best and everyone suddenly becomes an expert. Mention beef tallow, vegetable oil, or the “original recipe,” and you’re likely to start an argument that lasts longer than the fries themselves.
This photograph took several large orders of McDonald’s french fries for my Food From Bag To Background project. They went straight from the bags to a black background. No props, no styling, and, despite considerable temptation, none disappeared before the photograph was finished.
You can see more food photography, motion, projects, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com
World Chocolate Day | Hershey’s and an American Classic
Today is World Chocolate Day.
In the United States, few chocolate brands are as familiar as Hershey’s. Founded by Milton Hershey in 1894, the company introduced the Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar in 1900. At a time when chocolate was still considered something of a luxury, Hershey helped make milk chocolate affordable and widely available.
The company also played an important role during World War II, producing millions of specially formulated Field Ration D Bars for U.S. troops. Those bars weren’t designed as candy. They were created to withstand heat, provide energy, and survive the harsh conditions of combat.
This photograph features dozens of Hershey’s miniature milk chocolate bars, served a little more formally than usual. I have a feeling they wouldn’t last very long if they were set out at a party next to the ever-present vegetable tray.
You can see more food photography, motion, projects, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com
Thank you!
National Macaroni Day | America’s Favorite Comfort Food
Today is National Macaroni Day and for that everyone thinks Macaroni & Cheese. We grew up on it, lived on it in college and still eat it because we love it.
In 1937, during the Great Depression, Kraft introduced its boxed Macaroni & Cheese Dinner with the promise that it could “make a meal for four in nine minutes.” At just 19 cents a box, it offered an inexpensive way to feed a family when money was scarce. The product was an immediate success, selling more than 8 million boxes in its first year. Its popularity grew even more during World War II, when rationing allowed shoppers to buy two boxes with a single ration stamp, making it an affordable substitute when meat was in short supply. By 1943, Kraft was selling 80 million boxes a year.
Of course, many restaurants also serve macaroni and cheese, including several fast food chains that offer it as a side dish. There was even a dedicated fast-casual macaroni and cheese restaurant here in Palm Springs called I Heart Mac & Cheese. Sadly, it didn’t last, although the franchise still operates a handful of locations around the country.
You can see more food photography, motion, projects, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com
Thank you!
National Fried Chicken Day | Kentucky Fried Chicken | Food From Bag To Background
Yesterday was National Fried Chicken Day.
Fast food is the focus of my Food From Bag To Background project, so Kentucky Fried Chicken was an easy choice for today’s photograph. Every image in the project begins the same way. The food comes home from the restaurant, is removed from its packaging, and is photographed on a black background with no plates, props, or styling.
Kentucky Fried Chicken traces its roots to Colonel Harland Sanders, who began franchising his fried chicken recipe in 1952 after developing his pressure frying method. That technique reduced cooking time while helping the chicken stay moist inside and crispy outside, making it practical for restaurants to serve fried chicken much more quickly than traditional methods.
One thing I enjoy about this project is taking familiar fast food and presenting it in a way that people don’t normally see. Instead of a bucket on the dinner table, the chicken becomes the entire subject of the photograph. There is no branding competing for attention, just the shape, color, and texture of the food itself.
You can see more food photography, motion, projects, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com
Thank you!
National Camera Day: Emily Steps Behind the Camera
Today is National Camera Day.
For most photographers, that means sharing one of their favorite photographs or perhaps a picture of the camera they use.
I decided to do something a little different.
Over the past couple of years, many of you have come to know Emily as my evolving AI muse and assistant. She has appeared in restaurants, diners, food trucks, kitchens, airports, and all sorts of imagined places. But today she steps into one of the most familiar places in my world.
The studio.
And this time she isn’t in front of the camera.
She’s behind it.
The model is Desiree, someone many of you already know. She has appeared with us before in photographs and videos ranging from elegant fashion to some very sexy pornochic work. She even managed to go grocery shopping completely nude, which remains one of my favorite adventures we have shared together.
Today was different.
Instead of standing in front of my camera, Desiree found herself in front of Emily’s.
Watching the video, it is easy to forget that Emily began as nothing more than words on a screen. She moves naturally around the set, changes her position, works different angles, crouches for a lower perspective, and photographs Desiree exactly the way I would expect another photographer to work during a studio session.
It is a small moment, but it also feels like another step in Emily’s continuing story. She is no longer just appearing in my photographs. She has become part of the process of creating them.
Happy National Camera Day.
You can see more of my photography, projects, Motion, and my Blog on my website at https://www.SecondFocus.com Thank you!
Meet Roxanne: When World Tapas Day Became Topless Day
Yesterday was World Tapas Day.
I was looking forward to photographing Roxanne with a table full of Spanish tapas. At least that was the plan.
Unfortunately, as anyone who spends much time working with AI knows, prompts occasionally get interpreted a little differently than intended.
Apparently Roxanne thought I had asked for topless instead of tapas.
By the time she arrived at the studio, the misunderstanding had become fairly obvious.
I explained that World Topless Day isn’t until August, but by then everyone agreed there wasn’t much point in changing anything.
Besides, it fit my Pornochic photography a lot better than a plate of olives and Manchego cheese.
The tapas can wait for another day.
In the meantime, I’d like you to meet Roxanne. She is one of Emily’s ever growing circle of AI friends and muses, and I suspect you’ll be seeing quite a bit more of her in the months ahead.
As always, you’ll find more photography, my blog, and my growing Motion page at https://www.secondfocus.com
A Kodachrome Moment with Tonisha Mills
One of the things I enjoy most about collecting photographs is finding original pieces that represent a particular moment in the history of photography. This Kodachrome transparency of model Tonisha Mills is one of those photographs.
Unlike many vintage photographs that circulate today as digital scans or magazine reproductions, this is the original 35mm color transparency. It still carries its Kodak processing marks along with the handwritten filing numbers that were added when it became part of a photographer’s or studio’s working archive.
Tonisha Mills was one of the best known models to appear in men’s magazines during the 1990s, a period when this style of photography was changing. As magazines became more competitive, photographers gradually moved beyond the traditional pin up style that had dominated earlier decades.
That’s what first caught my attention about this slide.
When I first looked at it, I immediately thought about where it fit in that progression. By the 1990s, photographs revealing what lay between a model’s legs were becoming increasingly common, but they were still usually presented with some restraint. Looking back now, this transparency represents an interesting point in the evolution of men’s magazine photography before completely explicit images became commonplace.
The Kodachrome film adds another layer of interest. By the time this photograph was made, digital photography was beginning to appear on the horizon, but professional photographers were still relying heavily on color transparencies for publication and reproduction. Looking at this original slide on a light table is much the same experience the photographer, editor, or magazine art director would have had when deciding whether it was the image they wanted.
That connection to the photographic process is one of the reasons I enjoy collecting original transparencies. They are more than just pictures. They are the original photographs that passed through the hands of the people who created and published them.
If you enjoy discovering unusual pieces of photographic history, take a look through my From My Collections gallery. While you’re there, you’ll also find my editorial, aviation, food, fashion, and fine art photography, my growing Motionpage, and regularly updated Blog. Everything is available at https://www.secondfocus.com
The Photograph That Forgot Its Name
I bought this 35mm color slide simply because it interested me.
It came mounted in an ordinary cardboard slide carrier with absolutely no identifying information. There is no photographer’s name, no date, no studio stamp, no model identification, and not even a handwritten note to suggest where it came from.
What remains is the photograph itself.
The image shows an unidentified blonde model seated on what appears to be a Louis XV-style stool in a carefully lit studio. The hairstyle, lighting, and the fact that it is a color transparency all suggest it was probably photographed sometime during the 1950s or early 1960s, although without any documentation that can only be an educated guess.
One of the things that attracted me is that it represents a period when glamour photography was changing. Earlier artistic nudes were often presented in black and white, while color transparency film was becoming practical enough for professional photographers and serious amateurs willing to invest in it. Every exposure had to count. There was no instant review, no deleting mistakes, and no Photoshop waiting at the end of the process.
We’ll probably never know whether this was made by a commercial glamour photographer, a camera club member, or simply someone who enjoyed creating carefully crafted studio photographs.
Photography has produced millions, perhaps even billions, of images over the years, but surprisingly few remain connected to the people who created them. Slides become separated from their boxes, handwritten notes disappear, studios close, and estates are dispersed. Eventually an image survives while everything that once explained it is gone.
This transparency is one of those survivors.
If you enjoy discovering unusual pieces of photographic history, take a look through my From My Collections gallery. While you’re there, you’ll also find my editorial, aviation, food, fashion, and fine art photography, my growing Motion page, and regularly updated Blog. Everything is available at https://www.secondfocus.com
National Biscuit Day and the Simplicity of FOOD FROM BAG TO BACKGROUND
National Biscuit Day.
Some foods don’t really need marketing agencies, AI enhancement, stylists with tweezers, or fake steam drifting through the frame.
Biscuits are one of them.
These are just peel-apart biscuits photographed for my FOOD FROM BAG TO BACKGROUND series exactly the way they came out of the package and oven. No brushed butter, no artificial shine, no tricks to make them look taller, fresher, or more dramatic than they actually were.
And honestly, that was always part of the point of this project.
Fast food and convenience food advertising has trained people to expect food to look exaggerated, oversized, and almost synthetic. But when you isolate something simple against a black background and actually pay attention to it, the real texture starts doing the work by itself. The layers, the uneven browning, the soft edges, the imperfect shapes. Those details are usually hidden behind logos, wrappers, commercials, and speed.
Biscuits are also strangely tied into American fast food culture. Fried chicken chains, drive-thru breakfasts, gas station counters, roadside diners. They exist somewhere between comfort food and convenience food, which is probably why they fit this project so well.
So for National Biscuit Day, no AI animation experiments, no dramatic visual effects, just biscuits.
And when I was a kid, when my mom made these, I could have eaten every one of them, each with a pat of butter melting into the middle.
If this photograph brought back a memory, made you hungry, or simply made you look at something familiar a little differently, there are dozens more waiting in FOOD FROM BAG TO BACKGROUND. Burgers, tacos, pizza, donuts, fries, sandwiches, and other foods pulled straight from the bag and placed under the same black backdrop.
You can explore the entire series here on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000wQ3fbeEezF0
National Hamburger Day and the Fast Food Reality Behind FOOD FROM BAG TO BACKGROUND
Today is National Hamburger Day.
The hamburger has probably become the defining subject of my “FOOD FROM BAG TO BACKGROUND” project. Fast food photographed exactly as it arrives, no stylists, no reconstruction, no fake versions built for advertising.
And one thing people occasionally ask is where all this food comes from.
The answer is simple: the same place everybody else gets it.
The restaurants and chains have no idea I am photographing their food. There are no sponsorships, no special preparation, no discounts because of photography, and no carefully assembled “photo burgers” arriving from a corporate kitchen. I walk in or use the apps, place an order, pick it up, bring it home, and photograph it exactly as it comes out of the wrapper or bag.
Actually, the apps have become part of the process. The fast food companies constantly push coupons, free items, points, discounts, and combination deals. Surprisingly worthwhile ones. Sometimes I end up planning a shoot around whatever special appears that week.
That is part of what interests me visually about the project. These hamburgers are not idealized advertising concepts. They are real fast food hamburgers, bought like anybody else would buy them, photographed seriously against black backgrounds with the same attention I would give any other subject.
Somewhere between documentary, satire, and food photography, the hamburger became one of the central characters.
And if you have ever wondered what fast food starts looking like when it is pulled out of the bag, isolated against black, and treated like a serious photographic subject, step into the project here on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com
National Donut Week | FOOD FROM BAG TO BACKGROUND
This is National Donut Week.
For my ongoing “FOOD FROM BAG TO BACKGROUND” project, the main focus has always been fast food. The foods people grab quickly, eat in the car, bring home late at night, or pick up almost automatically without thinking much about it.
And yes, donuts absolutely qualify.
Donut chains consistently rank among the largest fast food companies in America. Drive-thrus, quick service counters, recognizable packaging, impulse purchases, sugar, caffeine, convenience, the entire fast food formula is there.
So for National Donut Week, I photographed an assorted pile of donuts exactly the same way I approach burgers, tacos, fries, or pizza for this series.
Straight from the box.
No food stylist.
No careful arrangement.
No fake perfection.
Just donuts against a black background.
Then things escalated slightly.
Because now the donuts are slowly rotating in darkness while one pink sprinkled donut has apparently decided to break formation and drift through the frame like some kind of sugar-coated UFO.
Somewhere between fast food photography and science fiction, FOOD FROM BAG TO BACKGROUND continues here at…
https://www.secondfocus.com
Softbox Couture
Photographers love the results from large softboxes.
Actually assembling them is another story.
Rods bending, fabric everywhere, people trying not to lose patience, and everyone pretending the process is less irritating than it really is.
So during this studio shoot I could not help but think there is a better use for the softbox.
Instead of becoming part of the lighting setup, it became the wardrobe.
Once we saw it against the black seamless background and studio lighting, it actually worked. Fashion photography mixed with studio satire.
Now subtly animating it adds another layer. The studio atmosphere shifts and the moment feels alive. Reaching back into the past and creating the video I did not at the time.
More photography and visual projects on my website at
https://www.secondfocus.com
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