J4 Photography

05/17/2026

Peony for your thoughts?

04/30/2026

“Potential in the Rain”

02/05/2026

I’m struggling. Photography which I love has become overwhelmed by AI. Everyone loves it and it’s cute. I want machines to make me coffee and take me places. I don’t want them thinking for me.
I can’t. I just…. can’t anymore.
I went through a period where I stopped taking pictures. I felt I had nothing original to say. I stopped trying to please myself and had to really think hard about my voice. Aligning with the “if a tree falls in the forest…” mentality, if I don’t post it on Instagram, is it a good photo? Like a dog chasing cars, we dangerously going chasing the approval of strangers to make us feel something, something like approval and love. I’m not about that anymore. I almost lost a hobby and I still might. The voice is still there speaking softly. I need to cut the chatter, cut the lines, cut the lies I’m telling myself about my worth. I haven’t posted in a while and probably won’t be checking in. Severely limiting my Meta experience. Goodbye friends. Good luck.

01/01/2026

12/25/2025

I fought hard with ChatGPT to create this festive tree for you.

11/16/2025

Chihuly at Makers Mark. Absolutely incredible blending of the two artists. My favorite shots but hardly exhaustive of the entire collection.

11/16/2025

Day 16: First Frost
Hey Folks, I've never had this happen nor seen it happen before. While on the at , I saw this lone rickhouse up amongst beautiful fall foliage. The skies had parted just a little to allow some light to highlight a few of the trees and I thought it would make a nice shot. Apparently Kentucky weather is not unlike my own state's weather and the briskly "unseasonably" cold weather pushed some snow showers into the shot. I took a bunch of shots and when I returned to take a look at them, low and behold, the scene looks like an oil painting! Initially, I wanted to dehaze and denoise and get "my" shot back, but frankly I fell in love with the look.

10/13/2025

Seascape
Do you feel the tension or is it calming?
When I saw the colors and textures in the wave, I knew I wanted to isolate it away from the landscape and setting sun.

10/11/2025

Yellow-headed Caracara. A bird that seemed to have decidedly different size male and female species as I saw the same species but both my wife and I looked at the second as almost a different species. I'd be interested in any experts weighing in.

10/11/2025

The Montezuma Orpendola is a curious bird. With its bright yellow tail, it is an easy identification, but sometimes a tough photograph. Very skittish and elusive, tending to take flight soon after it is seen, or hiding in tree branches. Word is that this species will hang upside down and catch hummingbirds.