Exclusive: Carrie Underwood’s photographer shares insight into working relationship and what makes her so ‘awesome’

Carrie Underwood has been making music for over 20 years and now her longtime photographer Jeff Johnson has shared what makes working with the singer so special.

“She’s just so easy to shoot,” he told HELLO! at the 2024 Country Music Association awards, where he was nominated for Music Video of the Year for Megan Moroney’s “I’m Not Pretty”.

“Carrie knows her angles, and the way she moves on stage is fun.”

Fans of the singer know Carrie knows her angles; the mother-of-two is known for her gorgeous photoshoots and Jeff’s shots from the tour are always stunning, such as this shot from the Country Bay Festival show in Miami earlier in November.

Jeff began working with Carrie 17 years ago, shooting photography and behind-the-scenes video while on tour, but in 2025 he says he will be celebrating his “10th year working with her consistently”.

“Carrie and I work really well together and it’s almost like a dream team in a way and she’s just awesome, she’s so great,” he said.

“I’ve done the Storyteller tour with her, Cry Pretty tour, Denim and Rhinestones, I’ve shot every single Vegas residency show that she’s done.”

Jeff’s work on the Vegas residency, titled Reflection, will come to small screens in January 2025 on Hulu.

“See what we’ve been up to in Las Vegas the past few years!” he captioned a post on social media, sharing the details with fans.

The TV special will be coming exclusively to Hulu and “captures the one-of-a-kind production conceived by Underwood specifically for Vegas to celebrate highlights of her career… utilizing spectacular special effects, pyrotechnics and state-of-the-art visual and audio technology with extravagant set pieces that couldn’t be packed up and moved from city to city on tour, including a show-stopping elevating waterfall feature to close the show”.

The residency will come to a conclusion on April 12 2025 after making her mark as the first and longest-running headliner at Resorts World in Las Vegas; it began in December 2021.

© Kevin Mazur

Jeff has also been working with the likes of Thomas Rhett and Miranda Lambert, including shooting the behind-the-scenes of Miranda’s latest album Postcards From Texas.

“Being a ‘fly on the wall’ with a camera is one of my most favorite things to do,” he said at the time.

“To be able to capture genius musical minds crafting an album is always fun to film and photograph. Emotions always run high on a scale from joy to frustration. Making music is hard work and requires emotional dedication at the highest levels. Miranda and Jon created something special here. Thank you Miranda and team for trusting in me to capture it all for you.”