Shelley Lynch Photography

When my husband Roy passed away suddenly after just 5 years of marriage, I was devastated.  For my healing, I spent as much time as possible on my paddle board.  It was my quiet place to connect to myself, Mother Nature and grieve. I felt supported by the ocean and comforted by dolphins, turtles, fish, a few sharks, and to my surprise, even a whale.   

After  paddling for a year, Roy must have known I was in need of help.  I was alive, but I wasn’t really living. I was going through the motions of life but had no passion or zest for living.  He came to me in a dream one night, took me to a shopping mall and led me to the camera counter. He said, “I want you to have this Canon professional camera for Christmas.”  The dream was so vivid, I awoke knowing he visited me. I thought about buying a camera for a few weeks and I decided I didn’t want to wait until Christmas.  It was April 2017 when I had the dream, and I couldn’t wait.   

With my new camera in hand, while taking sunrise photos, a white egret started showing up, walking the beach with me and posing for photos.  He was named Francis by my Facebook friends. I credit him for introducing me to the personalities of birds.  Roy knew taking pictures of birds would breathe passion back into my life, giving me a renewed sense of excitement and joy. 

The following February, I had another dream where I was photographing orcas in the water. The next night, February 18, 2018, I was in the water snapping photos of dolphins at sunset which led to a wonderful journey with new flippered friends.

Just before COVID, Brent Eite with Focal Point Videography and I got together to make a few YouTube videos.  Those videos quickly turned into making a documentary. The short film shares my story, highlighting healing through nature and my relationship with dolphins.