Rising Stars: Meet Jeni Johnson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeni Johnson. 

Hi Jeni, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Loving Photography started after learning photography in my high school yearbook class. 4 short years later, I was married, and had my first baby. I wanted to capture everything about him and our little family. Our family quickly grew to a family of 4. And then my husband joined the Army. I had to find a job I could take “on the road” as our homes would be changing every few years. A little over a year later, our 3rd baby was born. Caralynn was born with a heart defect. At 6 days old, something went wrong during her open-heart surgery in an attempt to fix it. For the next 3 months, we would sit at her bedside, in hospitals, while she had a dozen more surgeries. But nothing helped… as quickly as she got on the heart transplant list, she was taken off after being disqualified due to ECMO damaging her lungs too much. She passed away at 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days old.

I couldn’t find a photographer we could afford to take end-of-life pictures. The nurses were so kind and loving and they did the best they could. After she passed, I made a business decision that I would not charge more than I could myself pay for a session. I don’t see photography as a luxury item like many people and even other photographers do.

It’s been 12 years now since I started my business, 10 since Caralynns passed away. We’re onto our 3rd duty station, added 2 more children, and I am proud to say I’ve kept my goal of being affordable. I am an award-winning photographer that anyone can come to for that picture perfect family, self, newborn, and more session.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Moving with my husband’s Army career has been a challenge. Restarting a business every few years is not easy. It takes time and patience to get my business back to the volume I love. I am a very community-involved person though, and getting out there always helps business. We’ve lived in Clarksville for just over 2 years now and I took a quick love into coaching cheerleading for Clarksville Jr Pro.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My award-winning images are portraits. My very favorite is being able to connect to someone and capturing their true personality. I will laugh as loud and hard as I can just to get someone to bust out their true laughing smile. Back and white images are my ultimate favorite. I call myself the Family Story Photographer – any session that involves family, I’m your girl! I’ll capture your story from maternity, newborn, milestones, school-aged, senior, and extended family sessions.

What do you think about happiness?
Specifically, belly laughs. I love my own kids the most… but even out in public, hearing a child laugh, makes me so happy and gives me that infectious smile. I love family time. Having a large family – there’s always someone to spend time with. We love playing games – cards, dominos, dice – you name it, we play it!

Pricing:

• Portraits $40 sitting fee includes 1 digital image
• Full sessions $200 includes 16 digital images. Best for maternity (gowns available for free use!) or full family sessions
• Newborn sessions $275 includes 16 digital images and up to 3 hours in my home studio with use of all props
• Mini/Milestone sessions $125 includes 10 digital images
• Business branding $500 includes 30 images (enough for a month!) and 3 hours of time

Contact Info:

• Email: jenijohnson.jjp@gmail.com
• Website: www.jenijohnsonphotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenijohnsonphotography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JeniJPhotography
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JeniJohnsonJJP

Image Credits
Jeni Johnson Photography