Background and Future Direction
I began Rose Dykstra Photography in January 2009 out of Smithers, BC and was fairly busy in my first year with a total of 7 weddings (3 of which were destination events), 1 Day After session, 1 vow renewal, 1 third shooter opportunity (another destination event), and a handful of family portaits. I’m not too sure how successful I was at finding that balance between my photography business, my full-time day job and my personal life, but I sure can say it was a full first year!

By mid-summer, I began planning a re-launch of my business under a new name and look to celebrate our planned move in the fall back to Vancouver. But, life happened, plans changed drastically and are still in flux. My grand ideas of a city launch have changed into something a little more scaled down for now. So it’s in the midst of building into our small but growing family that I hope my own business can begin to slowly grow over time. My goal is to rebrand and relaunch for a big, fresh start in Vancouver by 2011-2012, move into photography full-time and start focusing on a new aspect of my business which will include web design and other design elements (print design).

This website was designed by myself to provide a well-rounded glimpse of my business. In these pages you will find a wealth of information and I plan on adding more over time. I hope that you will find the information that you are looking for and enjoy what you see!

Approach to Photography
Photography has changed a lot, especially since the digital camera started showing up on the consumer market sometime in the mid 90’s. Wedding and portrait photography started to change and become less rigid. New ways of doing things pushed photographers into a new realm that included digital image post-production, affording creativity in different ways and flexibility with images that just wasn’t there with the film camera.

I got my first digital camera in 2001 and it revolutionized the way I thought about photography. I began using film and spent a great deal of time in the dark room, working on learning the finer details of the art of photography development. Digital photography became portable and accessible and most of all, exciting because of the possibilities of digital post-processing at home, on my own workstation.

My style has changed drastically over the years but the one thing that always stood out to me was how dynamic a photograph could be. How full of energy and movement it could be. Or even quiet and serene to evoke a feeling of peace, calm or on the other hand, loneliness. For me, photography is art. And it is people. The two coming together is timeless.

I approach photography very simply. I have a few main goals when I shoot:

• Try to create an environment of comfort or choose a location that allows you to be as natural as possible

• Look for the moments in-between the moments - my hero Jasmine Star calls it the “moments in the in-between”

• Run, jump, play, do cartwheels (you, not me, as I cannot do cartwheels any longer!) and generally have rippin’ good time!

My hope is that this translates into organic, beautiful, and dynamic images that will remind you of a time in your life for many years to come. Bring yourself, as who you are, and I will supply the rest!