Wisconsin Wedding Photographers, new Blog + Website!

You found our old photography blog! To view all the recent photos that we have created go to raymondsiler.com or blog.raymondsiler.com

See you there!
Ray + Kelly

Heidi and Dave :: La Crosse Wedding Photographer

I am pretty sure I have the best wedding clients! They are super hospitable, good-looking and fun to be around -- and Dave and Heidi were no exception. This was my first wedding in the La Crosse area since I moved back from Portland this spring and it was a great thing to take a break from all the traveling I had been doing lately, to photograph weddings. It was also great to have Jenah Hensel, a long-time friend of my wife and I, as a Second Shooter – she took some excellent shots.

Heidi and Dave were married at Heidi's moms house on a beautiful hilltop, just outside of La Cresent, MN. It was such a great spot for a wedding and they decorated the place beautifully. They were a wonderful couple and I felt like a long-time family friend by the end of the day (it's too bad they live all the way over in Southern California). Thanks guys for letting me photograph your day!


The photo above was taken by Jenah.

Matt and Nikki - Sneak Peek | La Crosse, WI, Wedding Photographers

Another quick sneak peek for you!

Matt and Nikki's wedding was a blast. It was a day filled with rain, a big wedding party, and conveniently -- a big party bus. It was really fun to hang out with them again and to meet their families and friends. And as always, there will be more story and pictures to come in a few weeks.

Nikki and Matt's Engagement Session :: La Crosse Photography

I don't do a lot of photography in the cold weather if I can help it. Even though I was born and raised in the northern part of the Midwest I'm pretty sure my heart lies somewhere a little south of here... in a climate that doesn't get quite so cold in the winter!

However, in order to fit Nikki and Matt's engagement session in before their wedding, warm weather wasn't really an option! And though there always is the option of going indoors, outdoors always has soo much more to offer. So we spent the afternoon outside in downtown La Crosse and by the river, fighting frostbit fingers and dying camera batteries and really had a good time doing so. Thank you guys, for braving the cold!

I can't wait to shoot their wedding in only a few short days!

Nicky and Matthew's Engagement Session :: Viroqua Photography

So this was a while ago now, but I'm still amazed and humbled that Nicky and Matthew drove all the way from Chicago to meet up with me for some pre-wedding talk and to do an engagement session. Thank you guys (again!) for taking the time and effort to come!

After an hour or so of chatting, we headed to a local park in Viroqua, WI -- it had a variety of backgrounds for us: the jail house, the court house, a beautiful park... add in the gorgeous fall colors and it really made for some picturesque backgrounds.

It was great great to meet these guys and am excited to kick off my 2010 wedding photography season with their wedding (on April 17). See you soon!

Kristen and Eric's Wedding :: Kenosha Wedding Photographer

In all honesty, there are weddings where the lighting (or lack therof) makes it very challenging to photograph and weddings where the lighting makes it very easy to photograph. Eric and Kristen's was wedding was definitely a case of the latter. Though they both live out in Seattle, WA, they're from Wisconsin, so they decided to get married on the beach in Kenosha, WI.

The wedding took place at the Southport Beach House on lake Michigan -- the sun was shining and it was a completely beautiful day. I absolutely love shooting outdoor weddings and I really had a great day with these guys. I was helped out by my long-time friend and excellent second shooter, Nicky Hacker. Oh, and if you didn't see their engagement pictures that I took in Washington state earlier this year, check them out because they were so fun to take, too!







The photo above was taken by Nicky.






Thanks for letting me be a part of your day, Kristen and Eric! And for your help shooting, Nicky!

Madison Club Wedding :: Brad + Emily

{So here's the start of my catch-up posts from my summer weddings. There will be many more to come!}

I had a blast photographing Emily & Brad's Wedding along with Brooke Collier, my second shooter. It was a very beautiful event and they are such a cute couple who were a lot of fun to be around, again (I shot their engagement session earlier in the year (down in Chicago)). From hearing their stories throughout the day as well as their guests talk about them it was evident that they were so in love with each other and I truly felt honored to be a part of their day.

Their ceremony took place at the Wisconsin State Capitol - Assembly Chamber and it was such a fun place to shoot at - great textures, arches, architecture... though I think I could shoot a dozen weddings or more there and STILL get lost in that building! It's so symmetrical and huge. Their reception was at the Madison Club which is, currently, one of my favorite places to shoot at. It's very classy and just a great venue for a wedding reception.




The ceremony took place in the Senate Chamber of the Capitol building. Its such a non-typical (but awesome) wedding spot and a beautiful room.


(The photo above was taken by Brooke.)






(The photo above was taken by Brooke.)

Nicky and Matthew - Sneak Peek | Wheaton, IL, Wedding Photographer

Wedding season has officially begun for me! My first Matt and Nicky of the month were married in Naperville/Wheaton, IL. (Two more Matt's to go!)

My good friend Dan Cumberland helped me out as Second Shooter, and we had a great time shooting together. Thanks so much, Matt and Nicky, for letting us be a part of your day!

More photos and story to follow in a few weeks.

My Baby Girl

On Tuesday, November 17th, my wife, Kelly, and I welcomed our baby girl, Willow Everleigh, into this world!
I'm so excited to have another little baby model available to me 24/7 and we're so enjoying having a newborn around again! However, the lack of sleep has made life a bit crazier, so I'm working frantically to keep up on all the editing and photos... =)

Emily and Aaron's Engagement Session (Readstown Photography)

I had such a fun afternoon hanging out with these guys around Emily's parents' house. We met up at the farm where their wedding is going to take place and there is some really great scenery there. We worked around some crazy weather! It was raining - yet sunny - at the same time. The leaves were close to their peak for the year, so they added some great splashes of color to the images.

Since Emily and Aaron are getting married in the same place, it was really fun to see what the land looks like - it's a beautiful location and I'm excited to see how they'll set it up for their wedding.