Locations
where we shoot
Where to take photos in Las Vegas
Five settings across the valley, each one suited to something different. Melyssa will suggest the right one based on the light, the season and what your family can comfortably do on the day.
01
Red Rock Canyon
This is the location most people picture when they imagine desert portraits in Las Vegas, and it earns the reputation. The sandstone holds color that no other landscape here does, and in the last hour of light the walls glow warm and amber while the light falls softly across faces. There are level, gravel paths close to the road, so nobody is hiking in a third trimester or carrying a toddler up a rock face.
- Getting there
- About 25 minutes west of the Strip
- Best light
- The hour before sunset, year-round
- Terrain
- Level gravel paths and open desert floor
- Best for
- Maternity, Family, Couples
02
The Dry Lake Bed
A landscape stripped back to two things: ground and sky. That emptiness is the whole point, because it leaves your family as the only subject in the frame. It is also the easiest terrain in the valley — dead flat, hard-packed, and open in every direction, so a toddler can run without there being anywhere to run off to.
- Getting there
- About 30 minutes northeast
- Best light
- Sunrise, or the last half hour before sunset
- Terrain
- Completely flat, hard-packed, stroller-friendly
- Best for
- Maternity, Family, Couples
03
Springs Preserve
The green counterpoint to everything else on this list. Botanical gardens, mature planting and shaded walkways make it the softest setting in the valley, and the paths are paved and level throughout — the most genuinely accessible option if you are bringing a stroller, a grandparent, or a child who has only just started walking.
- Getting there
- About 10 minutes from downtown
- Best light
- Late afternoon, filtered through the planting
- Terrain
- Paved, level, fully stroller-accessible
- Best for
- Family
04
Floyd Lamb Park
Old trees, wide lawns and water, which is about as far from the desert cliché as Las Vegas gets. Peacocks wander the grounds, the light comes through the canopy rather than straight across the ground, and there is real grass to sit on. It is the location to pick when you want the photographs to look like anywhere but the desert.
- Getting there
- About 20 minutes north
- Best light
- The hour before sunset in spring and fall
- Terrain
- Grass, shade and level paths
- Best for
- Maternity, Family
05
Your own home
The default for newborn sessions and, increasingly, the one people ask for by name. Nothing has to happen: you are not dressing a five-day-old and driving across the valley, the room is already warm, and if the session pauses for forty minutes because someone is hungry, it pauses. Photographs made in your own house also look like your actual life — your light, your bed, your hallway — which is exactly what you will want to see in fifteen years.
- Getting there
- Wherever you are in the valley
- Best light
- Whenever your largest window is brightest
- Terrain
- Your living room
- Best for
- Newborn, Maternity, Family
Ready when you are
Not sure which one suits your family?
Tell me who is coming, how old they are and roughly when — I will tell you which location will be kindest on the day.
Monday – Sunday, 9am – 7pm