Zach Petschek Photography Blog

Ben Franklin once said “We will only know the worth of water when the well is dry”. You don’t know what you have until it’s gone. As humans we are bombarded all day by advertisements, conversations, sensations, and emotions. It would be overwhelming to pay attention to each and every one and nothing would ever get done. Therefore we take some things for granted and move on the next perceived importance. Sometimes the things we choose to ignore prove their worth retroactively. Reassess your values often to make sure you do not overlook an important detail. Otherwise the well will just be a deep chasm echoing life.

Drinking from a fountain flowing from the ocean

Mushroom cap in a cold wet forest floor

In its own world the mushroom grows out of the decay of life. We view them as disgusting but they are beautiful in their own way. The essential side to every form of life, the mushroom breaks down life matter for another flower to grow. The mushroom is the negative flower.

michelle oleary holding her skateboard graphic "dead chef"
michelle oleary holding her skateboard graphic "dead chef"

The process is part of the outcome. Michelle Oleary is a skateboarder, one of the most dedicated that I know. But she is also a painter. She paints amazing graphics on skateboards that leave everyone asking, “did you really do this?” I am not a painter but I was inspired by her work to at least create something of my own. Here is a time lapse of the whole thing. 3 hours compressed into just over 2 minutes.
Enjoy.

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Above Ground

Everyday that we are alive is one more day we’re not dead. Life is uncomfortable, disturbing, painful and unusual. The range of human emotions is enormous, but that is what makes us human. That is why we are who we are. Life can get unbearable, as it has for me many times, but I can always rely on one thought. At least I am still breathing and walking. At least the grass roots are still below my feet.

Walking into the kitchen after a long day. Kick his shoes off as the blood runs down his elbow. Adding color to the stark clean tile of the kitchen he lets it drip onto the floor. What once was perfect is now natural and alive. The fresh blood adds a highlight to the black and whites. Now it is the only thing to look at on the cold polished floor.

After a long day walking into the stark clean kitchen. Blood on the floor of the kitchen

Telephone pole from the grass's point of view

Always look at an object from the objects point of view. Try to look at a sunset from the sun’s point of view. At 2 inches tall a tree will reach the stars. A few photographs of alternate points of view.

Close skateboard grind on a rail

Band from the front row's point of view

Punk rock girl with an attitude.

Punk girl with attitude

Oceanside pier at sunset. I took this shot while photographing a portrait on the beach. Good times.

Oceanside Pier at sunset

torrey pines beach seaweed on the beach

Although this is not normally what I photograph, I like it. My friend Jayne Jeffrey and I took our cameras down to Torrey Pines Beach in La Jolla. The cliffs at this beach are awesome. I photographed Kate Moody down here for her pregnancy photos. Jayne and I pulled up around 330. Sunset was, I thought, at 530. So we have plenty of time to get set up and take some cool shots.

Rock at base of cliff on torrey pines beach

Jayne wanted to make it down about a quarter mile to a rock at the end of the cliff. We slowly made our way down taking photos as we went. I put a ND4 filter on my lens and a polarizing filter in front of that. This took 4 stops of light out of my camera. With the sun still up I was shooting at 3 seconds, f/22, iso 100. It was fantastic. I wanted to create a calm and soothing bunch of photos. The long shutter speed smoothed down the water.

Beach sunset with wave crashing on the beach

The sun raced down to the horizon while we raced to the rock. Somehow it all worked out. The sun had just dropped behind the water but the sky was still bright. This rock was fantastic. It was about 7 feet tall and covered in tide pools. Plus this rock was right next to a cliff. I climbed up the cliff with this big rock in front of me. This made every single pool glow off of the black rocks. By this time I was shooting at 30 seconds at f/16. That means smooth water and colorful silhouettes. Check this out.

Rock at torrey pines beach at sunset alone

yoga pose on a calm beach at sunset.

Here is an old photo from the archives. I tried to play on the idea that the clothes you buy make you different than everybody else. It helps people express who they are as an individual. Every pair of jeans is different and unique like all of us are unique and different.

Horizontal version of the Jeans art show.

While searching for this file I came across an experiment I did. I don’t even remember why I did this but I created a vertical version of the same photo. This is the same file photoshopped to be a vertical. I had to cut the people out and move them in closer and make it believable. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

If clothing is art then it should be framed and displayed in a gallery.