Alissa Randall Photography

Alissa Randall Photography Headshot Photographer Who Captures Your Essence | Featured in the WSJ |
2 studios - NJ & NYC

Headshot and lifestyle brand photography that captures your essence.

๐€๐ซ๐ž ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐š๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ž๐ซ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐›๐ž ๐ฌ๐ž๐ž๐ง?"I'll book once I lose the weight." I hear this very often. Although, it's nev...
08/04/2026

๐€๐ซ๐ž ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐š๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ž๐ซ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐›๐ž ๐ฌ๐ž๐ž๐ง?

"I'll book once I lose the weight."
I hear this very often. Although, it's never really about the weight.

She says: I'll do it once my hair is done. Once I feel more like myself. Once things settle down.

I understand. I have said versions of this, too.

But after years of photographing women, I have learned the wait is never really about any of this.

When you avoid the camera, you are not avoiding a photograph. You are avoiding how you have learned to see yourself. And that picture in your head is almost always harsher than anything a lens has ever held.

So to the women waiting to be seen - to be photographed. You are worth it.

๐€๐ซ๐ž ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐š๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ž๐ซ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐›๐ž ๐ฌ๐ž๐ž๐ง, ๐š๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ? ๐’๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐  ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ฅ?

That is the work. Not the light. Not the pose. The moment you look at your own face and something in you goes quiet. That's you. And you don't look away.

You do not earn your way to being seen by changing first.
You change by letting yourself be seen.

If you have been waiting for a better version of yourself to arrive before you book, ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ž ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ž๐ญ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก: ๐ฌ๐ก๐ž ๐ข๐ฌ ๐š๐ฅ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐๐ฒ ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ž. ๐˜๐จ๐ฎ ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐š๐ฅ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐๐ฒ ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ž.

Let's have a chat.

I ask every client the same question before we ever pick up a camera.What do you want to do with the photos?It sounds pr...
07/30/2026

I ask every client the same question before we ever pick up a camera.

What do you want to do with the photos?

It sounds practical. And it is.

I need to know if we're building a LinkedIn presence, a website, a book cover, a speaking engagement.

But something else happens when people answer it.
They start talking about what they really want.

Not just where the photos will live. But where they are going. What they are stepping into. Who they are becoming.

And often, they pause.
Longer than they expected to.

Because most people spend so much time focused on who they are right now that they haven't given themselves permission to think about who they're stepping into.

That question changes a session.

Because once someone can articulate where they're headed, we're not just creating photographs anymore.

We're creating evidence.

Proof that this person already exists. Already shows up. Already belongs in the room they're walking toward.

The photograph becomes the confirmation of something they already knew but hadn't said out loud yet.

What do you want to do with your photos?

I'd love to know your answer.

When I first moved into my studio, I asked my husband to take my photo.I handed him the camera and sat down in the chair...
07/29/2026

When I first moved into my studio, I asked my husband to take my photo.

I handed him the camera and sat down in the chair where my clients sit.

I wanted to know what it felt like to be the one in front of the camera instead of behind it - in my studio.

Bill is not a photographer. But what he captured didn't matter nearly as much as what I felt.

The studio felt like a warm hug.
Like a safe place.
Like somewhere you could simply exhale without anyone asking anything of you.

And I thought, this.
This is exactly what I want for my clients.

To feel this safe.

I've never forgotten that feeling.

And I've never stopped trying to recreate it for every person who sits in that chair.

Because the best photographs don't begin with a camera.
They begin the moment someone feels safe enough to be themselves.

She told me something that made me smile."Rosie was scared at the beginning. And then by the end of the day she was like...
07/28/2026

She told me something that made me smile.

"Rosie was scared at the beginning. And then by the end of the day she was like, why aren't you including me in the pictures?"

That's the moment I work toward in every session.

Not the perfect pose. The moment a dog forgets to be nervous and just shows up.

Rosie showed up.

And her people saw it in every single frame.

"We'll keep them forever."

That's what a great photograph does.

It holds the moment. The personality. The joy of a dog who started out scared and ended up stealing the show.

For the people. For the dogs. Just them. Clearly. Without apology.

What would it mean to have a photograph of your dog that you'd keep forever?

She said something that stopped me."This is the first time I wasn't thinking about how I needed to look. It was truly me...
07/23/2026

She said something that stopped me.

"This is the first time I wasn't thinking about how I needed to look. It was truly me."

She'd just seen her portraits for the first time.

She relaxed somewhere between the laughing and moments she wasn't sure where I was going with it.

And she showed up in every single frame.

"It was nice not to have to think about what others would think. It's more about what I want for me."

For you. Where you are. And, that is perfect.

Not a better version of you. Just you. Clearly. Without apology.

Then she said something I'll never forget.

"I can't wait to show my mom. She's my biggest cheerleader. She has taught me whatever the heaviness in life, don't forget the joy."

I had to stop.

Because that's exactly what a great photograph does.

It holds the joy. Even when life is heavy. Especially when life is heavy.

It says: this was real. You were here. You were enough.

"I see myself in that. And I think that's just the amazing thing."

That's the only compliment that matters.

When was the last time you looked at a photo and thought that's actually me?

The greatest compliment I receive has nothing to do with the photograph.Clients don't usually say "that's a beautiful im...
07/22/2026

The greatest compliment I receive has nothing to do with the photograph.

Clients don't usually say "that's a beautiful image."

They say something else.

"You really got me."

Those four words mean more to me than any technical compliment ever could.

Because what they're saying isn't that the lighting was perfect or the composition was right.

They're saying they felt seen.

Not performed or posed.
Not polished into someone they don't recognize.

Seen.

Most people come to a session carrying more than they realize.
Years of bad photos.
A complicated relationship with how they look on camera.
A quiet fear that who they really are won't be enough.

My job isn't to override any of that.

My job is to create enough safety that it can set itself down for a little while.

When that happens, something shifts.

And the photograph shows it.

"You really got me" is the moment I know we got there together.

When did someone last make you feel truly seen in a photograph?

A great dog portrait isn't just about getting a good shot.I am an animal communicator and energy healer.That changes eve...
07/21/2026

A great dog portrait isn't just about getting a good shot.

I am an animal communicator and energy healer.

That changes everything about how I work with animals.

I don't start a session by thinking about lighting or composition.

I start by asking different questions.
What are they feeling?
What do they need to feel safe enough to be themselves?
Every dog communicates something the moment you walk in the room.

Nervousness. Trust. Joy. Grief. Pure unbridled love.

The best dog portraits don't capture a dog performing for the camera.

They capture who the dog actually is when they finally feel seen.

What does your dog look like when they're completely, utterly themselves?

A year ago someone told me I had a gift I hadn't fully claimed yet.I was having a reading done for my dog Maisie. The an...
07/16/2026

A year ago someone told me I had a gift I hadn't fully claimed yet.

I was having a reading done for my dog Maisie. The animal communicator looked at me and said: you would be great at this.

I didn't know what to do with that. So I just kept thinking about it.

And then I signed up for training. And then another. And then another. ๐Ÿ˜Š

What I discovered is that I had been doing this my whole life without a name for it.

The way I slow a session down.
The way animals settle when I talk to them.
The way I seem to know what a dog needs before they show me.
The way clients say I got them in a way they didn't expect.

That's not camera technique. That's something else entirely.

Animal communication is the practice of connecting with animals beyond words. Reading what they're carrying. What they need. What they want their person to know.

Energy healing is working with that in a way that helps them release it.
Together they change everything about how I work.

Not because I do something unusual in a session. But because I arrive already listening.

And animals always know the difference.

๐Ÿฉถ

A funeral taught me something I already knew, but needed to feel again.A few days ago I sat under a tent full of people ...
07/15/2026

A funeral taught me something I already knew, but needed to feel again.

A few days ago I sat under a tent full of people who loved the same woman.

She was the mother of a dear friend, and she was gone. And in the hours that followed, something quietly shifted in me.

Her husband, daughter, and grandchildren spoke about her and the love they have for her. Story after story came forward.

The way she made everyone feel seen. The kindnesses nobody had ever forgotten. Person after person stood up and said some version of the same thing: she mattered, and I am better for having known her.

I've been to funerals before. But this one made me stop.

Maybe it was the sheer number of people who came, family and friends and neighbors and people she had touched in ways she probably never knew.

Maybe it was the quality of the love in that room.

Whatever it was, I drove home differently than I arrived.

What gets said about us at the end is really just a record of how we loved while we were here.

I kept thinking about the dinners. The conversations. The moments spent together. Those moments don't feel significant when they're happening. They are everything.

This is exactly why I photograph families.

Not because every session needs to be a grand occasion. Not because I'm chasing perfect light and perfect outfits and perfectly behaved children (though I'll take all of those when they arrive).

I photograph families because of the everyday moments of love and connection. The ones that feel so ordinary you'd never think to document them are the ones people reach for when someone is gone.

Photographs are the stories we get to keep. They surface at exactly the right moment, years later, and they say: this was real. You were here.

You loved each other.

I left that service feeling grateful.

For my friend, for her mother's life, and for the reminder of why this work matters.

I get to help families hold onto something. I get to be in the room when love is just doing its quiet, everyday thing, and I get to hand that moment back to them.

If you've been putting off a session because life is too busy, or the kids won't cooperate, or it doesn't feel like the right time, I want to gently say: there is no perfect time.

There is only now, and the people you love, and the ordinary moment that becomes extraordinary later.

Book the session. Make the time. Let someone hold a camera while you love each other.

(Sending my friend so much love.)

The truth is, I outgrew my own name.Iโ€™ve been All About Headshots for a long time. I loved it. I still do. But my work h...
07/14/2026

The truth is, I outgrew my own name.

Iโ€™ve been All About Headshots for a long time. I loved it. I still do. But my work has grown into something bigger than that name could hold.

So, Iโ€™m doing the thing.
New name.
New site.
Same intuition and obsession.

Welcome to alissarandall.com

Hereโ€™s what isn't changing: I still believe a great photograph isnโ€™t about the perfect lighting or the right angles. Itโ€™s about the person (or the dog) in front of the lens.

A photograph shouldn't just be a deliverable. It should be a turning point.

- The headshot that helps you walk into an interview differently.
- The branding session that gives a founder a new language.
- The portrait that makes you cry, in the best way possible.

Iโ€™m here to capture the magic that makes you who you are. I canโ€™t wait to show you whatโ€™s next. ๐Ÿ’›

๐ด๐‘™๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘ ๐‘Ž

Address

330 West 38th Street, Suite 407
New York, NY
10018

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 6pm
Tuesday 9am - 6pm
Wednesday 9am - 6pm
Thursday 9am - 6pm
Friday 9am - 6pm
Saturday 9am - 12pm
Sunday 9am - 12pm

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