Do what you love.
Love what you do.
Hi I’m Zack, or as friends call me: Banana Daddy. Born to a New Yorker and a Texan, I’ve been gifted the unique vision from a variety of perspectives having lived in Dallas, NYC, CT, New Zealand, Palm Springs, and extended time with family in Amsterdam. I have been blessed to travel the world chasing light in the pursuit of preservation of beauty & time.
But what do you do?
I am a Zack of all trades. (master of some)
I shoot, assist, digi tech, DIT, 1st AC, media manage, fly drones, teach, and build digital solutions and workflows for live content creation.
In reality, what I’m constantly doing is creative problem solving with an extensive background in the technical side.
A testament to my digital asset management skills: I still have my original 400+ songs from Napster after 22 yrs.
How did it all start?
My love of cars is what originally got me into photography.
A good friend on a message board sold me his old Canon G6 in 2005.
I began to capture everything I could experimenting with lighting and photoshop. (I think every creative has used Home Depot hot lights or Alien Bees in their past) Message boards were a great place to have your work ripped to shreds by the most kind individuals and “experts”, but it helped me grow so much in my artistic style.
I took all of my graduation money in 2006, bought my first Canon 30D SLR, and moved to New Zealand.
I was ready to see the world.
Is this what you always wanted to do?
In college I was a business major, because there is an opportunity everywhere if you’re creative and driven enough to seize it. I took a darkroom class and fell in love with the magic of watching chemical reactions bring memories into this world as something tangible.
The following semester I took an amazing class called “The Business of Photography” with Gary McCoy. He brought in industry professionals like photographers, producers, assistants, digital techs, wardrobe, and make up artists to tell us about working in the industry and answer questions. He drove home the importance of networking and we were required to attend ASMP meetings, build our brand, present business cards, and have a website by the end of the semester. I was so hungry for knowledge that he spent hours with me after class talking, critiquing, and advising me on the best moves to make.
I’ll never forget the best piece of advice he gave me: “It’s not what you know, but who you know so just get started right away”.
Gary McCoy is a monumental part of the reason I am where I am today. I hope to someday be able to teach, inspire, and make people believe in themselves just as he did for countless others.
Also a major shout out to Jeffrey Vogeding who picked up where Gary left off. He’s been my mentor, friend, and brother from another mother since I moved out West in 2012. There is no way I would be where I am without him and I’m eternally grateful to them both.
Why did it stick?
My defining moment was in 2008 when my grandmother had passed away. My whole family was there and my sister, Sammy, flew back from New Zealand to attend the funeral. She gave me her point and shoot Canon and instructed me to take pictures. I was pushed sooo far out of my comfort zone. Are you supposed to tell people grieving to smile in a group photo?!?
There was this moment when my grandfather leaned in to give my grandmother a kiss goodbye. My sister nudged me to capture it and I reluctantly did. It originally felt like I was doing something wrong.
When I looked at it later, I realized how powerful and important it was. Granddaddy rarely showed much compassion. Many of my uncles called him “bitter old raisin”. He was not kind to his caretakers and it was hard to connect. However, in this moment, I had the honor of preserving time and the ability to remember something redeemable: Love.
It was in this instance I realized how important photography is and felt morally obligated to dedicate my life to this medium.