The best camera is the one that you have with you, which is usually the one you have in your pocket. I'll come back to this thought...

In 2023, I bought a portion of our family farm in Carter County from my cousin because part of his land connected with mine, that my mother gave me years earlier. But the main reason that I wanted to buy it was to preserve an old tobacco barn that my great grandfather built in 1937. Initially, I just wanted to clean it up and nail a few boards back down. But. Me being me, I wasn't satisfied with that. I now have a state-of-the-art barndominimum, and it has become my little slice of paradise here in God's Country. 

The photojournalist in me has documented each step along the way in building the barn and developing the farm over the past three years. And while I have taken a few photos with my 35mm Nikon, most of them have been with my iPhone. It usually serves as both a camera and a Tyler Childers and Zach Bryan concert in my back pocket. Childers and Bryan go hand-in-hand with the vibe at the farm.

I wish the iPhone photos had a little more resolution to them, but I guess you can't have it all. Smart phones really are a miracle when you think about all the things that they can do from the palm of our hands, like a camera, a computer, a compass, a tape recorder, a calendar, a bank, the weather, a deck of cards, the world's greatest library, a TV, a notebook, a video camera, a photo album, an alarm clock, a rolodex, a Bible, and oh yeah, it's also a telephone. 

Unlike some professional photographers, I have never been opposed to using the camera on my phone. I've had fun with an app called Hipstamatic for years, because it allows me to just be free and creative, not worrying about the equipment. Plus, I shoot with big boy cameras and big boy light systems everyday for my job, so it's okay to just have fun with a phone camera. Camera equipment will change from year to year, but the key to photography lies in the ability to see.

As I have put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into the farm, I have stopped so many times and captured some pretty pictures, as well as documented some fairly mundane scenes. But in doing so, I have created a visual story of my journey. Honestly, most of these photos would have been a missed opportunity if I had relied solely on my Nikons, because it's hard to lug a camera bag and drive a tractor or use post hole diggers at the same time. But during all the work or all the time hunting in the woods, Tyler and Zach have been in my back pocket, waiting to take pictures. 

I recently put the visual story of my barn into a self-published book called, fittingly enough, The Barn. Here is a glimpse at the book, along with some of my favorite images. Enjoy!

-30-

  This is what the barn and surrounding farm looked like when I bought it. It definitely needed some TLC.

My son Cameron came in and cleaned it up and built a road into it. It's nice having a son with a certain skill-set, HA! 

I hired an Amish crew out of Greenup County to come in and do the initial build. They gutted the barn and built back around it, keeping as much of the original barn as they could. 

This is the farm where my Mom grew up. She was right there with me as we continued the work after the initial build. I eventually turned the tobacco loft into four bedrooms. 

Installing the electric.

Deer season of 2023 was a little rough because it was still under construction, but we got it insulated and got a heater just in time for opening weekend. 

You're more likely to hear an airplane fly over than to hear a car because we're several miles off the main road. 

We have water there, just no running water. I figured out early on that if you want girls there, i.e. your wife, your daughter, and your daughter-in-law, you need to have a nice clean outhouse. I also built an outdoor shower. 

Life was pretty rough for my Mom and her mother and her siblings, living with an abusive father. Mom has told me this quote several times, so I eventually turned it into a sign and hung it on the wall. 

Part of the barn still looks like and smells like your papaw's old tobacco barn, while the other 1,700 square feet of living space is like a Gatlinburg cabin with tongue and groove on the walls and galvalume on the ceilings. With the exception of running water, we have every other utility that we need, including wifi. I'm not much of an Elon Musk fan, but I do enjoy his Star Link!

I spent most of Spring Break 2026 hauling 21 tractor loads of limestone rock from one of my fields to line the foundation of the barn.

Here a couple of my Hipstamatic phone shots. I LOVE that app!

My brother-in-law Brent loves to hang out with me at the fire pit!

Another advantage of phone cameras are impromptu selfies...like when you need to weed eat and ain't got time to deal with the rain!!!

I knew that building the barn was meant to be when I found this "W" stamped into one of the beams. Although my great grandfather had the barn built, and probably paid for it, it was his son, my great uncle Willie McGlone who actually did the building. And he put his stamp of approval on it!