JBees Film

Published & award winning nature photography, focusing on the natural landscapes and wildlife of Appalachia.

Fine art prints available for purchase at any budget. If you have a coffee shop, restaurant, or boutique to decorate, shoot me a message 🙂

08/29/2026

Some of the more special bird moments I caught this year. Didn't have to work very hard for these, as all but one were taken from the backyard!

1. Ruby Throated hummingbird (male)
2. Barred Owl under a full moon
3. Double Crested Cormorant gang activity on Lake Barkley
4. Wild Turkey displaying for his wives this spring

Nikon Z8 + 150-500 f/5-6.7

08/27/2026

Familiar summer sights from around my Tennessee travels this year ☀️

1. Tufted Titmouse
2. Great Egret
3. Tribe Syrphini
4. Pond Slider
5. Eastern Cottontail

08/23/2026

A Summer in the Blue Ridge - full 10 minute documentary now up on YouTube! See my YouTube link in bio.

A short documentary from a handful of trips to various places in the Blue Ridge Mountains in summer of 2025. I wanted to take some time during my normal photography to shoot some immersive video scenes, highlighting some of the best parts of being in Appalachian wilderness in the summertime.

All video is my own, with zero use of AI or major processing.

Locations include Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Blue Ridge Parkway, Pisgah National Forest, Cherokee National Forest, and Shining Rock Wilderness.

Shot with Nikon Z8 and D750, processed with Final Cut Pro on Mac OS.

All music by Doc Watson, one of the greatest artists and storytellers ever to come out of these very mountains.

08/22/2026

The Elk of the Great Smokies... its wifey season for these bulls 🦌

Oconoluftee - August 2026

Nikon Z8 + 150-500mm f/5-6.7

07/03/2026

Fun Fact: these photos were all taken within one hour of each other

Fun Fact 2: we did indeed catch the storm

Nothing quite like experiencing a fast storm front in the high country. We packed up camp as thunder rolled in the distance, with every boom sounding closer and closer. The smart move would have been to stay held up in the tent where there was plenty of tree cover, but the uncertainty of the forecast made me want to get the hell of this mountain in a hurry. Unbeknownst to me it would be 40mph winds, flash flood conditions, heavy lightning, and the entire storm would pass within 30 minutes. Every article of clothing down to my insoles in my boots was soaked, and the wind was so strong that we were dry again by the time we made it to the car. The suffering did pay off, as you can see here by these incredible scenes as we straddled the state lines on the Appalachian Trail. 10/10 would do again

06/21/2026

The setup + the photo

A brief moment in fog at 6200ft, between two storms where I happened to find one of the last blooming bushes standing out amongst the Helene damaged forest. Usually fog and dead trees everywhere at sunset combine to create a very uneasy/spooky feeling, but with the bright bursts of pink along the trail there was none of that. Absolutely calming to the soul and lead to my favorite flower portrait of the year.

First photo by Britt Reid

NikonUSA Z8

06/18/2026

A quickly processed sample of what’s to come from last week. We may have just missed the peak Rhododendron blooms but some drastic weather changes, storm clouds, and a few popping bushes here and there made for a VERY successful and zen inducing trip. Stay tuned for the magic I have cooking. Get outside and sniff some flowers! Embrace rain and tune into the bird songs…

Nikon Z8: 24-120mm + 70-200mm

05/25/2026

Calm before the storm in Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock wilderness- home to one of the largest old growth forests in the eastern US, some of the most difficult hiking trails in the whole country, and some of the best views I’ve ever seen. Enjoy these four from a stormy sunrise in April, where I scrambled to capture as much as I could before we broke camp and high tailed off the mountain as distant thunder roared the storm front came right at us. You certainly do not want to be caught on this ridge line during a spring thunderstorm.

05/20/2026

Hello friends, I could use your support! My image “The One I’ve Been Hunting” made the cut of finalists for WNC magazine for the second consecutive year, and public voting has begun. Every vote matters, and with such a fantastic selection of images and photographers it will be a tough one. Since it is a public vote, those with a large following have the advantage. If you like my photo, it would be extremely helpful if you can take the 30 seconds (can vote once a day) for the next couple of weeks to cast your vote. All you have to do is click the link in my bio, input your email and choice of photo, and it’s done! You also don’t have to check the box to subscribe to the magazine’s email list if you don’t want to.

There’s some images on the list that I genuinely want to vote for over my own, but the exposure and prize for the winning photo would be a huge boost to my work as an artist.

The photo itself was from a blue blaze peak off of the AT in July 2025. I had captured thisWNC magazinemany times before, but the lighting and timing just never worked out the way I wanted. That afternoon, the fog was rolling in and i decided to make the short trek from my campsite out to this spot to see if I could capture something special. After about An hour of taking various photos of the surrounding mountains, the fog hit the peak I was camping on and it was just thin enough to allow a colorful rainbow around the sun to peek through and high enough to see the surrounding forest in the foreground. Said something to myself like ‘this is definitely going to be the photo I’ve been hunting for 3 years’… hence the title in chose for this one.

Congratulations to everyone in the finals and thank you to for selecting my photo again! Good luck to everyone and i can only hope the winner is an image that truly brings emotion rather than just going to the person with the highest social media following.

I’ll share some reminders on my stories for the coming weeks and if you enjoy the mountains of Western North Carolina do yourself a favor and subscribe to the magazine or pick it up locally at a store 😊

Address

Portland, TN

Website

https://linktr.ee/Jacobblackmusic

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