Welcome to Rustic Beard Photography!

Hello friend my name is John, I’m the photographer behind all that you see here. Living in Eastern Tennessee within the Appalachian mountain ranges. You’re going to see most of the shots are taken from this area and surrounding regions in North Carolina & Virginia!

For 14 years I have been self taught in photography, I firmly believe that a real artist photographer uses their eyes through the lens to capture what calls to us. In a world going to ai and changing photos into fake captures, I want to ensure you I don’t use ai at all in shooting or editing. Everything I do is manually and through my eyes and hands, so that you are getting an authentic print & emotion every time! Turning my work into physical prints from acrylics to canvas has been a huge conversation starter in our home. Talks of adventure, healing, good shared advise all came from a question on the picture. The same will happen for you when someone asks where you got the print, you tell them & share what it means to you, let the conversation begin and don’t forget to have a good spirited drink!

Why photography? It has always been a hobby for me until 2026 when Rustic Beard came alive due to family & friends conversating me into sharing my work with the world. In my past I worked as an EMT, served in the military, and began to suffer. Needing to find peace and healing I would often disappear into the wilderness, taking photos of the wild around me not realizing how much it helped to clear my mind and bring healing. I believe they can help bring you peace and joy to, or simply add a beautiful touch of nature into your personal spaces. If your like me maybe sometimes you find yourself sitting next to a river, hearing the flow of water over the rocks, or the crackling glow of a bon fire or the might and powerful sound of a waterfall, its mesmerizing right? Well that’s how I feel about great photos, you can hear them, and you can smell them, makes you wonder, makes you want to travel, and there’s always a story to go with them. A great photo is not one taken by a state of the art camera, or a super high end lens, its a photo that captures you the same way a physical moment does, it helps get your mind off the bad things in our lives by replacing it with a mesmerizing view.

I take a great deal of time and patience to go though my captures and only the best ones make it through to this site or in person with me at an event. If it doesn’t mesmerize me I don’t believe it’ll do it for you. So thank you for entrusting my eye’s to capture the beauty in this world and bring it to you. God bless you and yours truly!

To those before us and to those like us, forever forward, cheers.

In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth

Genesis 1