Recent Shoots

She took her breath away. Columbus Birth Photography

The Birth of Baby G.

They came into the hospital not knowing what they were having.  Boy or Girl. How big is this baby?  Will baby have hair?  Will baby look like mommy or daddy?  They left in love.  With a beautiful little girl.

Eden Elizabeth.  Born July 7th, 2011.  Weighing 7 pounds, 11 ounces.  Born on 7/7/11 and weighing 7.11.  SUH-WHEETNESS!

I had the extreme honor of being there to photograph this beautiful little miracle.  It was INSANELY awesome.  Very emotional for everyone, including myself.  It brought back soooo many memories of just six months ago when I was meeting my little angel.  I really love this little family.  I met them a few years ago when they first asked me to photograph another HUGE day for them, their wedding.  One became two.  Now, two becomes three.  Amazing, really.

The labor and delivery room had AN AWESOME view of the stadium.  A great way to bring in a child, huh?  Our newest little Buckeye!

We’ll call this “Labor Scrabble”.  I totally kicked James’ bootie.I LOVE this.  Such a good husband and now daddy.It’s a GIRL!  Eden Elizabeth’s first breath.  Took her mommy’s away.
She’s a strong little booger.  She did not wanna let go of this cord.  It was hilarious.  Work those biceps Eden!  James said this is a moment that will be etched in his memory forever.

Welcome to the world, Eden Elizabeth.  We love you so much!

To view the video slideshow, click HERE.  Thank you, Garcia’s, for letting me be apart of your special family.  I will remember this intimate, AWESOME day forever.   Big, BIG HUGS!

Big accomplishments. Beautiful Family. Columbus Family Photography

The Hunter Family.

Seriously, they are THE sweetest family.  We had a great time.  Such a great time, at the end of the session I didn’t want to say goodbye.  They live up North in Aurora.  Far away.  🙁

This session was a college graduation gift for Tracy and a special gift for mother, Ellen.  She retired from 30 years of teaching.  Big accomplishments for this beautiful family.   
Just missing the pitchfork.
I’d love to have a family portrait like this.
Sweetest family EVER!
I love this.
They have a funny photographer.  And Ryan can sing the greek alphabet.

Tracy, the graduate, and her handsome brother. Oh, AND the graduate monkey. This family collects monkeys. All kinds of them. They brought a bag full of them to the session. That makes me smile.

Thanks for a fun, memorable day, Hunters! Oh, and thanks for the tips on how to make meatloaf. My husband will be SUPER surprised. 🙂

ring: 614.397.0352
write: crystal@crystaljofoto.com
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Freshly Squeezed Lemonade. Columbus Children Photography

Lemonade Stand Mini Sessions.

SO. MUCH. FUN.

Our first date was rained out. Booooo.

Little Adriana came all the way from Indianapolis for her mini session. She was rain or shine. So we had a back up plan in place because the weather was looking pretty messy. (Can pretty and messy be in the same sentence? It is now.) It turned out to be a BEAUTIFUL afternoon. And I was kicking myself for rescheduling all of the other littles. Darn weather.

Here’s Adriana. Remember how adorable her 6 month shoot was?!

Now she’s a big girl. And she has big, funny expressions.  Sour lemonade!

She’s a mischievous little booger.
And oh-so CUTE!

Day Two.  Here’s Sydney and McKenzie.  Cute as can be.

I LOVEEEE THIS!  This should be a HUGE framed portrait, mommy!Hehehehehheh.
Sydney (on left) is one of my gymnasts.  I love her to pieces.
Sisters forever.  Forever, they’ll be.
Jason brought Pixie for Syd to hold.  Can you tell he just woke her up?  She’s dreaming of milk.
And then have her own little mini, mini session.  (That was SUPER mini, like 4 shots, mini….I’m sure I’ll make it up to you with more sessions, sweetie.)
I love her little tongue sticking out.  My girl.
Hi, pretty birdie.  Mommy loves you.  (She begged Grammia to paint her piggies.  She wins.)
Then Pixie’s boyfriend showed up.  She musta called him right after her nap.

I love this photo.  It looks like she is saying, “Hey, excuse ME Blazee, WHERE IS MY glass of lemonade.  Huh HUM?”
Blazee says, “Oh, how silly of me dear.  Let me make you a freshly squeezed glass.”

He cracks me up!  His momma was laughing so hard at him with this cup.  He did this over and over again.  Big boy.

LOVE.

Hey everyone.  Come buy some lemonade!

“b” is for Blaze.  And “d” is for Delaney!

She’s as sweet as they come.

Hi Mom and Dad.

Oh my gooooooodness.  LOVE her sitting on top of the stand.  SOOOO adorable!


A special thank you to all my lemonade stand comers. You made my day extra sweet!

There were a couple of children that could not make the scheduled rain date so we may be having another sweet session soon.  Please email me at crystal@crystaljofoto.com if you are interested in getting in on the fun!

ring: 614.397.0352
write: crystal@crystaljofoto.com
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Thomas the Tank Engine. Columbus Family Photography

The Thomas Family.

Also known as my sister and her four adorable kids.

Logan.  He’s SOOOOOO cute!And these two….double trouble!

Boys will be boys.The Thomas Family.  Thomas the Tank Engine.  Get it?  Blue train, Thomas Family.  Yeah, that’s COOL!  (I was trying to think of a blog title and this magically popped into my head.  GENIUS, I TELL YOU!)I love this.  Anthony is laughing!  Getting a teenager to have fun taking pictures is quite a challenge.  My corny jokes paid off on this one. 
I may just be the worst Aunt ever. I still can’t tell these girls apart. Gracie and Ashley. And I THINK that is Ashley on the right (I think). She’s blowing me kisses.

Cutest family EVER.They love their mommy.  I do, too.


Group picture…love it!Ana and I noticed the pretty sky.  Let’s play!  Once a gymnast, always a gymnast.  🙂  I was on a picnic table.

Here’s Ana.  I love this.  She looks so free.  Weeeeeeee.She’s got skilllllllllzzzz.  (Don’t worry Light Girl, I won’t tell everyone it took us 800 attempts to pull this off.  Love you!)

ring: 614.397.0352
write: crystal@crystaljofoto.com
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Blaze, the Buccaneer. Columbus Baby Photography

Happy 1st Birthday, Blaze!

Ahoy, Matey!  I’m Cap’n Blazee.

Full circle.  I’ve really gotten to know The Walkers over the last few years.  Engagement, wedding, maternity and now photographing all of Blaze’s first year (newborn, 3,6,9,12 months and a mini session!).  They are like family.  I love you, Walkers!

And they love my girl.  So much so that they always want her at their sessions.

Pixie + Blazee.  Young love.

He’s a fast little booger.


b is for blaze.


Look at all of that hair.
His two grams love him so!
From this…

…to this.  In one year.  Amazing.
YAY!  I’m a big boy!

I can’t believe Blaze is a year old! I can’t believe we have our own little families now. It really is amazing. I adore you guys. Big, big hugs (and kisses for Blazee!).

ring: 614.397.0352
write: crystal@crystaljofoto.com
see: http://crystaljofoto.com
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Giving away Daddy’s Girl. Columbus Wedding Photography

Elise and Dennis.  Married.

The ceremony and reception was at the Franklin Park Conservatory. There are beautiful butterflies everywhere. AWESOME! These little colorful boogers make everyone smile.

I LOVE the lighting here.

Elise.  You are BEAUTIFUL.  SO BEAUTIFUL.  Inside and out.  Xoxo.

Dennis…you’re so handsome! Look, all of these guys think it’s so funny how handsome you are.


There’s just something about this that I love.

Beautiful bouquets made by Elise’s Aunt from Chicago.  She’s about to open her own flower shop.  I’m thinkin’ it’s gonna be a hit!
This is priceless.  A million years from now, she’ll know, they’ll be loving her still.
Pretty in pink.
About a month ago, Elise and I got up at sunrise to shoot her bridal session.  Her plan…to gift her father this very photo before she walked down the aisle.  It has words from their father/daughter song.  I’m sure it was a moment he’ll never forget.

This may just be THE best giving away I’ve ever witnessed.  Elise’s dad said some very emotional, kind words to Dennis.  It was so heartfelt and endearing.
Which, of course, resulted in happy tears.
Priceless moments.  Why I love my “job”.

The way he looks at her…SO much love.

And she looks back at him the same way.If you want pretty pictures for your outdoor ceremony…get married in the evening.  It was so perfect.  The lighting, the temperature, EVERYTHING.

Elise, you are so adorable!


The wind picked up Elise’s veil at the exact moment of their first kiss. MEANT. TO. BE.
I love his shy squinty smile.

Here it is again.

This bridal party was SO well behaved. I’m used to the rowdy ones. They followed directions and were very quick to get into “position”. Thanks guys..wanna be my bridal party role models?



Oh, oh, oh. Be still, my heart.


Love. Love. Love.






Ohhhh la la.

Mr. & Mrs. Sullivan!

A slow dance with dad suddenly turned into a funny choreographed get down. Hilarious!


Fun times had by all.
Photo booths = FUN

Some behind the scenes fun.

Light girl’s first wedding.  Isn’t she cute?!  She was so giddy and excited.  Love it.
The incognito ladies in black chatting about the MASTER PLAN to tackle and achieve the BEST wedding photographs EVER.  Success, I must say.
The sniper.
We’re hot.  Even when we walk.
What can I say?!?  I’ll do anything to make you laugh!
Roberta’s shot is now the groom’s profile image on Facebook.  Blah.  She wins.
Sameday wedding slideshow played on my 27 inch iMac at the reception.  SO AWESOME.  Everyone LOVED it.  And the bride and groom went home with a flash drive of the pictures.  How cool is that?!
Oh, just hangin’ with my girl.

Light Girl (Ana), you rocked out your first wedding.  GREAT JOB girlie.  Love you bunches!

Dude, photobooths are awesome. Fun bride and grooms…more AWESOME.  Fun photographers….QUADRUPLE AWESOME!


Thank you so much for trusting us with your wedding photography.  It was a true honor being there.  We wish you both the HAPPIEST life ever.  Congrats Mr. & Mrs. Sullivan!

Fabulous Vendors…

Reception and Ceremony Site- Franklin Park Conservatory Bride’s Garden and Veridian
Caterer- Creative Cuisine
Cake- Sauer Cakes
Flowers- The brides wonderful aunt- Shelia Wiens with her new business Livvy’s Lillies
DJ/Band- Paragon Music
Ceremony Music- Dennis’ friends, the Rensink triplets Jake, Nate, and Alex
Hair and Make up- Aveda Salon and Merle Norman
Rehearsal dinner- At the bride’s parents house- Melvin’s BBQ and skyline

Fabulous Music….

Processional – Wagner Bridal Chorus
Recessional – Mendelssohn Midsummer Night’s Dream
Grand Entrance- Forever by Chris Brown
First Dance- The Way You Look Tonight by Frank Sinatra
Father/Daughter- I Loved Her First by Heartland/The Time Warp!
Cake Cutting – Cut the Cake by the Average White Band
Last Dance- New York, New York

Fun Questions…

What was the most memorable part of your day?
Bride- When my two favorite men, my dad and my groom, hugged and cried
when he gave me away- tears of joy!
Groom- Watching my beautiful wife walk down the aisle.

What was your favorite detail?
Bride- The flowers. I loved them, they were beautiful, and am so
happy to say my wonderful aunt did it all!
Groom- The fact that nothing fell apart. We thought at least some
minor disaster/situation would pop up, but everything went so
smoothly!

If you could do it all over, would you change anything?
Bride- Nothing! Almost everything went the way we planned, and even
the little mistakes are something we can laugh about.
Groom- No.

Any advice for future bride and grooms?
Bride- Don’t stress. It’s an amazing day if you just relax and enjoy it!
Groom- A year and a half long engagement is great – if you want to
stress about wedding planning details for a year and a half.

Where did you go on your honeymoon?
Bride- Puerto Vallarta. Too bad we didn’t know it was rainy season 🙁
Groom- Seattle … I mean, Puerto Vallarta. It rained EVERY day but
we still had a lot of fun.

Wrapped up in some temptation yarn. Columbus Engagement Photography

The coolest waterfall ever.  Okay, it may not be the coolest.  But we had to climb down a mountain to see this thing.  So it’s SUPER cool to us.  And there’s not many waterfalls in the middle of Columbus, so yes, it’s cool.Scary. But worth it.

Meet Caleb and Holly.  They’re cute.
And so am I.


SO cute.

See.  Told ya.

Bow chicka wow wow.  Stand like this and you will look HOT!

Mmmmhmmm.
LOVE.  We totally stumbled upon this field.  I was in HEAVEN.

Fave from the session.  On the right.

If you choose me as your photographer…

1. We’re going to have FUN.

2.  You ARE guaranteed a good LAUGH.

3.  I might touch your rear.  I just might.  It happens.

Great choice, Caleb!

This picture just screams BABY, I LOVE YOU.

Street cars were honking at Holly. As they should. She was diggin’ it. As she SHOULD!

Hello, very fitting sign in the background.  Thanks for being there.

It’s getting dark.  What to do?  Well…go stand in the middle of the street!

…. and then…
…we almost died.

I like how you can see Light Girl’s hand on the left side.  She was waving traffic by so that we could get the light trails from the cars.  Everyone kept stopping because we were in the middle of the street.  Duh, most people would.  Unless you are an ANGRY woman driving a green slug bug.  Hey, lady, drink a tall glass of milk and get over yourself…we have cool photos to make.  BOOOO-YAH.

I’m looking forward to your September wedding, friends. See ya soon!

A bump that is not covered with leaves. Columbus Maternity Photography

Kelly and Houston. Pregnant.

Due in August. With baby Houston.

They are cute. And funny. You’ll see…

Houston the 3rd is in tow. I love that name. Houston.
Light Girl working her magical magic.

We walked like a mile to find this fountain.  Um, the fountain is no longer a fountain.  It’s a dried up grassy mess.  That makes for beautiful photos…And photographers who jump in the swampy mess to get the shot.  Well, because you don’t walk a mile for nuttin’.


I REALLY REALLY wanted to use this BUMP sign.  I just couldn’t reach it with the stick.  Eeeeeek. It was covered by a bunch of leaves.

You know you have SUPER cool clients if they hoist you up on their shoulders!

Um, are we silly or what..
Duh…turn around, fools.  There is a perfectly visible BUMP sign with NO leaves hiding it’s fabulous BUMP message on the opposite side of the street! DUH. Crazy photographer!

Oh well, makes for a funny story!
Only cool pregnant chicks lay in the middle of the street.  And ignore the traffic.
Hello light.
So little.
Um, Houston, your belly is just as big as your wifey’s.  HILARIOUS!  He did this more than once during our shoot.  Funny guy.  Your son is going to be laughing all the time.

Before every shoot, I try to look through photos to get some inspiration for my upcoming session.  Well I ran into this really cute photo of the momma-to-be with a coffee mug on her belly.  I thought, hmmm…I could find a cute mug.  Rummaging through our cabinets, I found these adorable ice cream cups my step momma gave me for Christmas about five years ago.  (She actually put together a basket full of goodies ice cream related…spoons, sprinkles, bowls, a scoop, chocolate chips, caramel, a dessert cookbook, an apron, those flavored morsels you’d never buy on your own…  A super cool gift.)

So, a fun couple and ice cream goodies = these FAN-TABULOUS photos…

This was all Houston’s idea. How creative!

Kelly, you are glowing. So pretty. A natural, momma glow. Love it.  Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy.  Rock it out girl!

If you drive the same car as the JO FOTO mobile, well let’s just say it, YOU ARE FAN-TABULOUS! So let’s get our group shot with our jazzy Jeeps. MMmmmkkkk.

We took this first shot and Light Girl says, “Hey, I wanna do a handstand, let’s take it again!”  MMMMMmmmmmkkkkkk.
Take two.  Nice handstand Light Girl.  I bet that pavement felt REALLY soft on your pretty head.
Take three.  Light Girl is still laughing so hard she can’t get up.  We may need to work on your gymnastics skills, Light Girl.  Next shoot we’ll get it!

I’ll be seeing and meeting your little one soon. Can’t wait!

ring: 614.397.0352
write: crystal@crystaljofoto.com
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Radiant roses and a radiant momma-to-be. Columbus Maternity Photographer

Tiffany, James and Baby G in belly.

They do not know if it’s a boy or girl.  I love the thought of this GRAND surprise.  I could never wait to find out so I give them both big high fives for waiting it out.

Tiffany is due July 8th.  They are hoping for a fourth of July baby.  Talk about fireworks.  How cool would that be?!

Guess who has the honor of  shooting the birth?  Yep, yours truly.   I can’t wait!

She’s glowing!

Tiffany’s friend made this for her baby shower.  I saw pictures of the nursery on facebook and this was hanging in Baby G’s room.  What a cute prop!



Tiffany, you are SO beautiful.  Inside and out!
Love this.
Look how big her bump looks in the shadow.  Hehehehe.  And James at the top of the tree.  Love.
Okay, bad idea.
BEST maternity picture ever?  YES!  This was at the end of our session.  Right after I snapped this, I told Tiffany and James I accidentally deleted the whole memory card and this was the only photograph we have from their maternity session.  Her face was pretty priceless.

O-H-I-blah.  Dude, WE are awesome. Light girl (Gator fan). Well, she is NOT.

Sending hugs and kisses and healthy wishes your way, Tiff.  Xoxo.

ring: 614.397.0352
write: crystal@crystaljofoto.com
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A rehearsal in the dress. Columbus Wedding Photography

Elise. Bridal.

I love bridal sessions. The bride puts on her dress and gets to play dress up before the BIG day. She’s relaxed and ready to have fun in her beautiful gown.

Elise did this session for her father. She plans to gift him with a portrait and poem on her wedding day. I couldn’t post these until after her day. You know, she doesn’t want to ruin the big reveal of this gorgeous gown!


I’ve always wanted to photograph near some colorful newspaper stands. It kinda goes with a wedding dress, right?! Sure!

Pixie’s fave.



Love, love, love!  My fave.

She’s so happy. So pretty.

Um, pink heels. Yes, please.

ring: 614.397.0352
write: crystal@crystaljofoto.com
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