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.

A woman and one backpack.August and September are my months for pushing outside my comfort zone.Not a resolution. Not a ...
09/03/2026

A woman and one backpack.

August and September are my months for pushing outside my comfort zone.

Not a resolution. Not a plan I made in January. Just a decision I made this summer that when something scared me a little, I was going to say yes to it anyway.

Which is how I ended up packing ONE BACKPACK and going camping with a group of women I didn't know very well, at a place I'd never been.

For context: I normally take multiple bags for a weekend getaway. I like a lot of options. And apparently I like bringing all of those options with me.

So the backpack was the smallest part of what was uncomfortable here.

No plan I controlled. No easy exit. I didn't drive (on purpose) so I couldn't leave if I got uncomfortable.

I almost said no. There was a version of this weekend where I stayed home, got a lot done, and felt perfectly fine about it. But, I am so glad I went!

Sometimes we wait until something feels comfortable before we say yes.

I said yes while it still felt uncomfortable. And then I kept saying yes all weekend.

It was absolutely fabulous. These women are incredible. I'm so happy I got to know them better! And, can't wait for the next outing.

Have you said yes to something that made you uncomfortable, and it turned out to be the best decision you could have made?

I’ve spent time studying energy work, not as something I do to people in a session, but because it’s deepened how I unde...
09/01/2026

I’ve spent time studying energy work, not as something I do to people in a session, but because it’s deepened how I understand what’s happening beneath the surface.

And that changes how I guide someone in front of the camera.

My studio has always been a place where people feel at ease quickly.

This work has given me a deeper understanding of what creates that
and how to hold it consistently.

Because when someone feels that way it shows in the image.

Curious? Let's chat.

What Your Face Is Doing While You're Not in the Room?Try something. Open LinkedIn, go to your own profile, and look at y...
08/24/2026

What Your Face Is Doing While You're Not in the Room?

Try something. Open LinkedIn, go to your own profile, and look at your photo. How old is that picture?

I've heard four years. Seven years. Cropped from a wedding photo? I've even heard 30 years.

Here is what I want you to think about.

That photo has been in more rooms this year than you have.

Most people treat a headshot as a task. Something you get done in a hotel ballroom at a conference, in whatever shirt you happened to be wearing.

Check the box, upload it, move on.
It is doing far more work than that.

Before a board member meets you, they look you up. Before a search committee calls, before a funder decides you are worth backing, they look you up. And in that moment, your face is having a conversation without you. It is answering a question nobody says out loud. Can this person be trusted?

You are not in the room for that conversation. Your picture is.
The photo is not decoration. It has a job to do.

I photograph executives across a lot of industries. In every one, the currency is trust. And trust is not built by looking impressive. It is built by looking authentic. By looking like you.

𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧?"I'll book once I lose the weight." I hear this very often. Although, it's nev...
08/04/2026

𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧?

"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.

𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧, 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰? 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥?

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, 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡: 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.

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?

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

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Alissa Randall Photography posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Alissa Randall Photography:

Shortcuts

Share

Category