Ryan Smith, owner of Rooted in Light Media
With more than 15 years of communications experience, Rooted in Light Media LLC owner Ryan Smith showcases his ability to strategize and collaborate with individuals and organizations alike in every project he works on. Always going above and beyond his client’s expectations, Ryan can seamlessly cross-pollinate his creative background across project mediums, from producing photography and video to clean, professionally written copy.
Clients
Photography Awards
Gold | Association Media and Publishing EXCEL Awards, "AMC's White Mountain Professional Trail Crew" Digital Media Video Education
Silver | Association Media and Publishing EXCEL Awards, Cover Photography 2016
Rooted in photography
Ryan’s passion for photography began nearly 20 years ago in his college’s darkroom where he became enamored with developing black-and-white film. Now spending most of his time photographing and processing digital photos, his ability to integrate imagery into his media projects strengthens his storytelling capabilities beyond others.
“Ryan is great to work with! He's always responsive and willing to get the shots we need. The quality of the images he's able to capture are incredible even though we're asking him to capture folks rock climbing or on a challenge course, both indoors and outdoors.”
— Aaron Laflamme, Program Director, On Belay Inc. (Promotional Photography)
“Ryan has a great eye, the patience of a saint, and was great with my daughter. He is a true master of his craft; really knows all the tricks to photographing children. I would recommend him wholeheartedly.”
— Lesley Rand (Family Photography)“Ryan’s photos were absolutely amazing and the compliments were nonstop. He knows how to choose the right location for every photo shoot he performs.”
— Diane Ladue (Lifestyle Photography)
Rooted in video
In 2022, Ryan partnered with Jerry Monkman of Ecophotography to found Reel Quest Films, a video production company based in Portsmouth, N.H. From writing scripts to filming and editing, Ryan and Jerry bring a wealth of video production knowledge and experience to every project they work on. Their ability to understand and implement the true scope of a story is evident throughout every stage of the production.
“Ryan is incredible to work with. He is thoughtful, thorough, and professional; he puts everyone he works with at ease; he captures amazing footage; he is willing to evolve with the story he is telling to share it in the best possible frame; and he delivers a great end product. Ryan is an old soul that connects easily with others and cares deeply for the environment. His work is excellent…I can’t recommend Rooted in Light Media highly enough and hope to work with them on future projects.”
– Jen King, Three Ponds Protective Association
“Ryan turned a daunting undertaking into a surprisingly easy experience! During the COVID-19 shelter in place, my organization was challenged with creating a video to replace our annual fundraising event. We had little footage to work with and an extremely rough outline of a vision for this video. Ryan took this raw content and created a beautiful piece that our students, supporters, and team members will take pride in! As a novice to video creation, I relied heavily on Ryan’s design and editing expertise. He offered invaluable guidance on sound, animation, and layout, resulting in an end product that far surpassed my expectations. I would highly recommend him for any video production work.”
— Mackenzie Betrone-Harpst, Director of Development, Genesys Works Bay Area
“At our organization’s recent fundraising event, both new friends and old were inspired to participate in our live auction after viewing [Ryan’s] video of our camp program. [He] captured the very essence of our mission by interviewing our girls and their counselors. The audience left with a heartfelt appreciation of the value of our work—and understood our commitment to change girls’ lives for the better. Best of all, the video helped us meet our $25,000 fundraising goal!”
— Kathleen Kearns, Executive Director, Circle Program
Rooted in graphic design
With a degree in graphic arts, Ryan obsesses over developing branding with a truly creative and powerful message. A lover of color theory, typography, and out-of-the-box thinking, Ryan has two decades’ worth of experience in creating logo identities and company branding, marketing and magazine design, and web design.
“Ryan brought our visions to reality by designing our company branding. He was receptive to feedback, responded quickly, and was very professional. We plan to continue to use him for our future projects.”
— Dr. Sean O’Reilly, Barnstable Physical Therapy (Brand Development)
Rooted in writing
Ryan lives for producing clean, well-written copy for magazines, books, and video productions. He goes beyond the call of duty to research and unearth compelling stories and has the demonstrated ability to deliver thought-provoking content at any scale.
“I'm a [Forest Society] member, and I saw the article on the film [you co-wrote]…and decided to teach the film as an example of local environmental storytelling.
I just wanted to let you know that I assigned your film to my Nature Writers class at Southern New Hampshire University this term, and students all found it enormously illuminating and engaging.
Thank you so much for making it available online: it meant that it was easy to include in my class, and now twenty more people know that much more about protecting our river and watershed.”
— Allison Cummings, SNHU Prof. of English