Zach Petschek Photography Blog

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.

After exploring New York for a day the smog and noise began to get to me. I needed to escape. Coincidentally I was in the middle of Manhattan near Central Park. It was in itself an adventure. At eye level you cannot see or hear the city that surrounds you. It is like pure isolation from the metroplitan lifestyle that you are actually engulfed in. Grass everywhere, low key buildings you would find in a national park, trees towering overhead. But in this serene and isolated setting if you look towards the clouds you will see the city gazing back at you as if to remind you that it is all an illusion. So I hide underneath the canopy of the trees to breath the fresh air and turn my back on the concrete guardians.

Chess in the park

The hidden path

Innovative technology

For all of the photos from New York click here

Excited to go camping this weekend. I need the vacation. We’ll be heading east beyond the smokey confines of El Cajon and Lakeside. Expect pics next week. Lots and lots of pics.

Cheers!

East of El Cajon, east of Alpine, East of The Golden Acorn Casino, keep going keep going. All the way to the edge of the county. You reach a sign that says “Jacumba Next Exit.” Pull off and drive down a dirt road for a half mile. Find a place to park and grab your water. It’s a 7 mile hike along the train tracks. Straight up “Stand By Me” steez. Six tunnels, three of which are so long that you cannot see the ground in front of you although you can see the exit. One of those is a half a mile long. This is where Lucas and I decided to make our next adventure.

There are goats and hawks, and cactus and dirt and rocks. There is debris from excavations of yester-year. You pass by damaged train cars that collided with a rock or fell off the cliff to deteriorate into time. At the end of the road is the largest wooden trestle in the world. At its highest point it’s 180 tall. It curves from one peak to another, one tunnel to another. It was fun and exciting but next time I’m riding a bike instead.
More Goat Canyon Trestle photos

Abandoned train. Michelle Oleary climbing in.	A collapsed tunnel.	The trestle, underside.
One of several tunnels that we had to walk slowly, toes pointed upward to avoid damage.	View from a catwalk in the middle of the trestle. Michelle Oleary playing.	Trestle as it might have looked a long time ago since the world was black and white then.
A goose?	A zebra?	How many bars do you have? Arin Buresch.
It’s amazing how clear and bright the sun is outside of the city.	Stand by me…	Michelle Oleary teetering at the edge of a cliff

The fires of October 2007 were incredible. The damage done was catastrophic and also an amusing spectacle. My heart goes out to those that lost everything. I posted photos already of the aftermath. Here’s the duringmath. The sky was an eerie orangish red and shadows were a green of sorts. The air was dry and irritating. The smoke vied with the sun for control of the sky. The smoke usurped in most of the county. It was an amazing week. Photographs only spell out a small portion of the emotion that took place.

zachpetschek.com/071022

Lobster carcass

This is the last thing you would see if you were being eaten by a sea aenenome. Fortunately this is not a spelling b or I’d be f**ked

Hermit crab.

If I can’t see you then you can’t see me

Yes that’s right, this sea ane******me ate a lobster.

This one ate every last bit and he wouldn’t let it go for shit



Here are a few photos I snapped while at the beach beneath thousand steps. I didn’t want to bring my whole entourage or I might try too hard to get a cool shot. I used my little SD630 and played with the digital macro.

I went to see Shrek 3 a little while ago. I was waiting in the theater before the movie and the commercials were on. One of them was movie trivia. It would give a quote and asked who said it in what movie. The quote was “I’m a black Rambo.” So logically a guy yells out “Bruce Willis!”

I started thinking about the scenario that would incur.
Bruce Willis: I’m a black Rambo
Sidekick: You’re white
Bruce: I’m a white Rambo
Sidekick: Rambo is white
Bruce: I’m Rambo
: and then something blows up

On the Saturday after the fires I ventured down Del Dios highway to see the damage. I went with my roommate Randy Laybourne and Dustin Koop. The damage was incredible melted windshields and flattened fiberglass boats.

There was the footprint of a fallen tree burning on the forest ground and junk heeps that were once called home sweet home. Here are some of the photos. View more of the Witch Fire Damage photos. Any feeback will be well taken.

I went out at 130 in the morning to take photos of the eclipse in August. I had fun but I ended up taking more photos of the beach and city at night than the actual eclipse. I love photography. Here’s some photos

Jonathan Spooner skating Memorial skatepark in San Diego. He did a melon grab from the bowl to street course. After that he did an indy over the channel in the dog bowl.