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*DO NOT VIEW IN IE BROWSER UNTIL IE9 IS RELEASED* Hello, friends! Thanks for stopping by the Simply Rose blog and I hope that you stay a while to see my latest work and musings. I am a Wedding and Portrait Photographer based out of Vancouver and Smithers BC with my husband, baby boy and 2 cats. I'd love to hear about your upcoming wedding or any ideas you may have for a family session so please contact me to say hello! ~ Rose

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Heather and Richard // Part 2

Aaaaaand here is part 2 of Heather and Richard’s super sweet First Anniversary Creative.

If you’re a little out of the loop, you can catch part 1 here! Again, big thank you to Scarlett Ballantyne for the hair and makeup, which amazingly lasted the whole day. And it was a loooong day.

Reminisce over those summer days and enjoy!



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Heather and Richard // Part 1

Heather and I have known each other for a very long time. In fact, we were roommates with Cadi, whose family I took pictures of recently. And this was Heather and Richard’s first anniversary shoot.

I shot their wedding two summers ago now and you can see some of it here and here (this is my super old blog which I am in the process of dismantling). I don’t get to see them that often since they live fairly nomadic lifestyles due to their professions so when they came out to Vancouver for a month in the summer, I was really excited to put together this session for them.

This was the first stylized shoot I had done and it was a lot of work to pull together some of the smaller details (you’ll see in part 2!) but I had a lot of fun in the process. I really enjoyed considering who Heather and Richard were as a couple and how I could creatively harness that and do something a little different than a regular photo session. I used Heather’s look for her wedding day as a starting point for an idea that morphed and changed into what ended up happening. A few days before the session, these outfits came together and along with the magic that Scarlett Ballantyne did with the hair and makeup, I think the look fit them perfectly. To match the style, I thought an urban backdrop with an old-timey feel would be a fun idea and what better place than Gastown to accomplish that. And to complete it, I tried something new in post-production ~ adding a film grain for a bit of a vintage twist. Each element was thought through very carefully, right down to the simple red jewelry.

I had so much fun with this idea that I did another session (which is coming up in a posting) and decided to offer the concept in my repertoire. It could be for anything ~ an anniversary celebration, a fun maternity session or even with a family. I always have lot of ideas. What are yours? Let’s collaborate!

A big thank you to Heather and Richard for spending the whole day with me, running around the city taking pictures. If you are interested in what Heather and Richard are up to, you can check out their blog at Nomadic Samuels (what a fitting name….) ~ they do a lot of work with children in India as well as reconciliation work in Ireland and have a lot of interesting postings on what they are involved in. And another thank you is in order to Scarlett for doing such an awesome job in the hair and makeup department.

Enjoy and have a great Saturday!



  • Stephanie: I have know Heather all her life. These are the best pictures of her i have ever seen. Hebs you need to Model. Rose these are amazing photos. (November 14, 2023 4:22 am)
  • complete photo shoot ready for viewing « Nomadic Samuels: [...] Click here to see the photos from Rose Dykstra Photography. [...] (November 14, 2023 8:26 am)
  • admin: Thanks, Stephanie. I know, right? She's gorgeous! (November 14, 2023 8:44 am)
  • Charles Stobo: You both look Fantastic ! Very happy for you both ! (November 14, 2023 9:22 am)