Southeast Tech Alumna Represents ‘Team USA’ in World Photographic Cup

Meet Dana Rose. Entrepreneur. Award-winning photographer. Southeast Tech alumni.

Rose, a graduate of Southeast Tech’s graphic design program, recently took part in the 2021 Photographic World Cup. Her image, titled, “Just More Bad News” was chosen to represent the United States in the Illustrative category.

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“I started entering print competitions through the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) in 2016 as a way to challenge myself to learn more. Since then, I have been recognized on an international level for my work with storytelling images,” Rose said. “Print competitions are a great way to push yourself to learn and try new things. It's made me a better photographer and artist for my clients.”

Rose owns a portrait studio, Rose Designs Fine Art Portraiture, in her hometown of Alvord, Iowa, which is about 30 minutes from Sioux Falls. She opened her home-based business in 2011 and presents a unique storytelling style to her family, child and high school senior portraits.

“I have always loved art, but when I moved back to my hometown, I decided to open a studio, and started learning everything I could about the camera side of photography,” Rose said. “I already knew what to look for in the finished product and how to edit my photos since I worked for other photographers doing editing and designing work after graduation, but learning the camera settings, lighting and so on was new to me.”

But she certainly rose to the occasion.

“The first few years were tough since I didn’t quite understand the financial side of running a business and had to learn how to use new equipment,” Rose said. “At Southeast Tech, I learned the basics of the editing software I use in my business along with a good foundation for handling my marketing needs, but I wish I would have taken more business classes back then!”

But then, Rose says she found her tribe - a system of support - by joining a state branch of the PPA, entering competitions and gaining a ton of new knowledge.

In addition to “Just More Bad News,” the image chosen for the Photographic World Cup, Rose has had four additional images nominated for the Grand Imaging Awards, the top images entered into PPA’s International Print Competition. She received 1^st place in the artist category and 3^rd place in the Illustrative category.

From there, a committee selects the images that represent Team USA in the World Cup based on what they feel will be the best fit in each category.

Although Rose was not selected to attend the awards ceremony in Rome, Italy, in April, she says she is still “deeply honored” to be a part of Team USA and says that budding photographers and entrepreneurs should continue to push themselves and never stop learning.

“Often times, the thing that holds us back the most is ourselves. Never be afraid to just try. If you fail, try again,” Rose concluded.