Modern dining room with wood table, white chairs, striped area rug, and gallery wall of family portraits above

Transform your house into a home

A photo on your phone is nice. Seeing it every day on your wall — in a frame your guests stop to look at — that changes how a home feels.

The $300 session fee reserves your date, covers your planning call, the session and your theater reveal — and applies in full toward your artwork; most clients invest $1,500 or more.

We design everything: handcrafted albums and wall art from Graphi Studio and Dreambooks Pro. Built to be seen, felt, and lived with for decades.

Your portraits don’t belong in an app. They belong on your walls.



About J.L. Wiswell Photography

Jeff Wiswell has been recognized as a Top 10 Photographer in the World for three consecutive years and specializes in luxury senior, family, couples, and headshot portraits in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Sessions are photographed with his wife, Alisha, whose role ensures every client feels at ease from the first frame to the last through lighting, laughter, and creative direction. She deserves 90% of the credit for everything we do, both at a session and otherwise.

Photo of Jeff & Alisha Wiswell taken in Florence, Italy by Fabio Mirulla.

Smiling family of five posing together on stone steps outdoors, dappled sunlight, casual styled clothing in blues and earth tones
Young girl in maroon shirt exploring tall grasses in sunny garden setting during family portrait session

the experience


Want portraits like these? We photograph families throughout the La Crosse and Onalaska area and even travel worldwide.


we’re Here to Help You

Frequently Asked Questions

La Crosse offers a wide range of family portrait locations depending on the mood and energy you want. Grandad’s Bluff provides dramatic elevated views and golden hour sky. The Hixon Forest Human Powered Trails offer a natural, active setting that works especially well for families with young kids. J.L. Wiswell Photography customizes every session to match the family.

Yes — and it’s one of our strengths. Alisha, our posing director and comfort builder, specializes in keeping young kids engaged and at ease during sessions. Family sessions with toddlers through elementary-age children are planned to work with their energy, not against it.

Grandad’s Bluff is a prominent bluff overlooking the city of La Crosse and the Mississippi River valley in western Wisconsin. It is one of the most recognizable natural landmarks in the region and a popular location for outdoor portrait sessions, particularly at sunset.

Aside from photographing worldwide, we do sessions in La Crosse, Onalaska, Holmen, West Salem Sparta, Tomah, Winona, Caledonia, & La Crescent and the surrounding areas

This Is Where It Starts
The $300 session fee reserves your date, covers your planning call, the session and your theater reveal — and applies in full toward your artwork; most clients invest $1,500 or more.
You’ll hear from Jeff personally — within one business hour, not one business day.

Granddad’s Bluff

Family Photos

Family Photos

Ellinger family sunset session Grandad's Bluff La Crosse Wisconsin — J.L. Wiswell Photography
The Ellingers

Family Portraits at Grandad’s Bluff & Hixon Forest Human Powered Trails, La Crosse, WI

Some sessions give you everything. Four kids, golden hour, a view that stops you mid-sentence — and a family that showed up ready to have fun.

Lauren and Aaron Ellinger came to us with four kids ranging from toddler to elementary age, which in portrait terms means you have about a thirty-second window before someone is upside down, running in the wrong direction, or making a face that will appear in exactly zero wall art decisions. We planned for that. And it made the session better.

The Locations — Granadad’s Bluff & Hixon Forest Human Powered Trails

We started at Grandad’s Bluff, which sits above La Crosse with a view of the Mississippi River valley that gets better the closer you get to sunset. The elevation gives you open sky in every direction — the kind of light that doesn’t require much explanation. It just works.

From there we moved down to the Hixon Forest Human Powered Trails, which is essentially a BMX-style bike course winding through the forest. It’s one of our favorite spots in La Crosse for family sessions — not because it looks like a portrait location, but because it doesn’t. Kids move through it naturally. They climb, they run, they forget there’s a camera. That’s exactly what you want when you’re photographing four children who are running on adrenaline and sunset energy.

Two locations. Completely different moods. One session that felt like a Saturday night should — active, easy, and a little bit wild.

Family photography golden hour La Crosse Wisconsin Grandad's Bluff
Ellinger family portrait at Grandad's Bluff La Crosse Wisconsin — J.L. Wiswell Photography

Top 10 Photographer in the World · Three consecutive years.

By This Is Reportage, Fearless Family Photographers, and Flash Masters.

2023 #1 Photographer USA award badge from This is Reportage Family
SLR Lounge logo in outlined letterforms with camera icon detail
J.L. Wiswell Photography Fearless Award badge, circular seal design in light gray outline
Fstoppers logo with circular FS icon and italic lettering in light gray outline style
Flashmasters white logo

What Happens When You Stop Trying to Control It

Family portraits with young kids aren’t about getting everyone to look at the camera at the same time. That’s not what makes a portrait worth hanging. What makes it worth hanging is the moment right before the chaos — or right in the middle of it — when you can see exactly who these people are together.

Lauren and Aaron have four kids who clearly love each other. That’s not something you manufacture in a session. But it is something you can photograph when you’re in the right place at the right time with the right light. Grandad’s Bluff at sunset, with the trails below — that was the right place.


Styled flat lay with vintage camera, coffee cup, magazine, and stationery on neutral background

“Working with Jeff AND Alisha was the best life decision I’ve ever made. FULL STOP.”

LEILA
Modern dining room with wood table, white chairs, striped area rug, and gallery wall of family portraits above

Transform your house into a home

A photo on your phone is nice. Seeing it every day on your wall — in a frame your guests stop to look at — that changes how a home feels.

The $300 session fee reserves your date, covers your planning call, the session and your theater reveal — and applies in full toward your artwork; most clients invest $1,500 or more.

We design everything: handcrafted albums and wall art from Graphi Studio and Dreambooks Pro. Built to be seen, felt, and lived with for decades.

Your portraits don’t belong in an app. They belong on your walls.

Stacked green and tan books with ”Camila” handwritten on the top cover, displayed on white surface


About J.L. Wiswell Photography

Jeff Wiswell has been recognized as a Top 10 Photographer in the World for three consecutive years and specializes in luxury senior, family, couples, and headshot portraits in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Sessions are photographed with his wife, Alisha, whose role ensures every client feels at ease from the first frame to the last through lighting, laughter, and creative direction. She deserves 90% of the credit for everything we do, both at a session and otherwise.

Photo of Jeff & Alisha Wiswell taken in Florence, Italy by Fabio Mirulla.

Smiling family of five posing together on stone steps outdoors, dappled sunlight, casual styled clothing in blues and earth tones
Young girl in maroon shirt exploring tall grasses in sunny garden setting during family portrait session

the experience


Want portraits like these? We photograph families throughout the La Crosse and Onalaska area and even travel worldwide.


we’re Here to Help You

Frequently Asked Questions

La Crosse offers a wide range of family portrait locations depending on the mood and energy you want. Grandad’s Bluff provides dramatic elevated views and golden hour sky. The Hixon Forest Human Powered Trails offer a natural, active setting that works especially well for families with young kids. J.L. Wiswell Photography customizes every session to match the family.

Yes — and it’s one of our strengths. Alisha, our posing director and comfort builder, specializes in keeping young kids engaged and at ease during sessions. Family sessions with toddlers through elementary-age children are planned to work with their energy, not against it.

Grandad’s Bluff is a prominent bluff overlooking the city of La Crosse and the Mississippi River valley in western Wisconsin. It is one of the most recognizable natural landmarks in the region and a popular location for outdoor portrait sessions, particularly at sunset.

Aside from photographing worldwide, we do sessions in La Crosse, Onalaska, Holmen, West Salem Sparta, Tomah, Winona, Caledonia, & La Crescent and the surrounding areas

This Is Where It Starts
The $300 session fee reserves your date, covers your planning call, the session and your theater reveal — and applies in full toward your artwork; most clients invest $1,500 or more.