Planning guide
Top 5 senior photo regrets, and how to avoid them
Five habits worth skipping, and what to do instead.
Start here
Every one is easy to avoid. It just has to be planned for.
Five habits, each with a simple fix. Here’s what we do instead.
The five habits
What to skip.
01 · Timing
Book with time to plan
A planning call, a scouted route, a session timed to the light. That takes room on the calendar.
02 · Family
Put the family in a frame
One or two frames with the people who’ve been there the whole way. A few minutes, same pace.
03 · The prep
Prep for the camera
Retouching handles the details. Hair and makeup make the day easy.
04 · The pace
Room to try things
Two to three hours, both of us the whole time. We direct, we light, we pose.
05 · The files
Past the files
Our private theater, then artwork designed with you, with your home in mind.
The investment
One fee, credited in full.
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.
If you are not genuinely obsessed with your images, the session fee comes back.
“It felt like they actually saw me and pulled out a version of myself I didn’t even know existed.”
Kaitlyn K.
Start with the plan.
Tell us who they are. We answer you personally.
Top 5 senior photo regrets, and how to avoid them
Five habits that make a senior portrait ordinary, and the plan that skips every one.
Every one of these is easy to avoid. It just has to be planned for.
Parents ask us what to watch for before they book anyone. The answer is almost always one of five habits, and each one has a simple fix. Here they are, with what we do instead.
Booking with no time to plan
The portraits start with the plan. A call about who they are and what they love. Locations scouted. A route timed to the light. All of that takes room on the calendar.
Booking early isn’t about grabbing a date. It gets you the whole plan: time to think through what they’ll wear, the places that fit them, and the idea nobody has tried yet.
Book with enough room for a real planning call, a scouted route and a session that never watches the clock.
Leaving the family out of the frame
One or two frames with the people who’ve been there the whole way. It takes a few minutes, and it’s often the photograph a family reaches for first.
This isn’t a formal family portrait bolted onto the end. It’s a real frame, in the same light, at the same pace. Parents are always welcome, and we build it in when you want it.
Ask for a frame or two with family. The session stays theirs.
Skipping the prep for the camera
Retouching takes care of the small things: a blemish, stray hairs, shine on a warm evening. Every image you choose is professionally retouched, and their face stays their own.
Hair and makeup do something retouching can’t: they change how the day feels. Walking in already done, with an artist who works for the camera, makes the whole session easy and a little elevated. We’ll point you to artists we trust in La Crosse, or walk through prep at home on the planning call.
Let retouching handle the details. Book hair and makeup for how the day feels.
Booking a session that runs on the clock
Some sessions are built for volume: twenty minutes, one spot, then the next family. The poses repeat because the schedule needs them to, and the gallery looks like everyone else’s.
Ours run two to three hours, with both of us there the whole time. We direct, we light, we pose, and we move at their pace. There’s time to try the idea from the planning call, change locations, and follow the light as it drops.
Choose a session with room to try things. That’s where their portraits come from.
Stopping at the files
A file gets opened once. A photograph gets lived with. Four hundred files in a link is homework, and most of it stays on a phone.
Every session ends in our private theater: your portraits large, in person, together. Then we design the artwork with you in the room, with your home in mind. You still get your gallery. It just isn’t the finish line.
See them large, together, and decide what lives in the house.
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. If you are not genuinely obsessed with your images, the session fee comes back.
“It felt like they actually saw me and pulled out a version of myself I didn’t even know existed.”
Kaitlyn K.
Frequently asked questions
When should we book senior pictures in La Crosse?
Early enough for a real planning call, scouted locations and a route timed to the light. Reach out when you start picturing it and we’ll tell you what’s open.
Should family be in some of the senior portraits?
If you’d like. One or two frames with the people who’ve been there the whole way take a few minutes, and the pace of the session stays the same. We’ll talk it through on the planning call.
Do we need professional hair and makeup for senior pictures?
It isn’t required. Every image you choose is professionally retouched, so blemishes and stray hairs are handled. Hair and makeup are about the day itself: walking in ready makes the session easier and more elevated. We can refer you to artists we trust.
How much do senior pictures cost in La Crosse, WI?
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. If you are not genuinely obsessed with your images, the session fee comes back.
How long does a senior portrait session take?
Two to three hours. Nothing is rushed, and there’s room for the idea nobody planned.
Do we still get digital files?
Yes, you still get your gallery. Before that, we reveal your portraits in our private theater and design the artwork with you, so the photographs make it into the house.
Jeff & Alisha Wiswell
We photograph seniors, families, couples and headshots in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Two of us at every session: we direct, we light, we pose. Alisha deserves 90% of the credit for everything we do, both at a session and otherwise.
Top 10 Photographer in the World · Three consecutive years
View our portfolio
Start with the plan.
Tell us who they are and what you’re picturing. We answer you personally.
Top 10 Photographer in the World · Three consecutive years