t + c | london ontario intimate wedding at home

Oh, what a magical evening this was. T + C gathered their most special people at their beautiful home in Wortley Village and said ‘I do’ with a gorgeous summer’s sunset providing the perfect backdrop.

Every detail was heartfelt and flawless. The surroundings were high-style and impeccably curated. And the love was everywhere.

It was an honour to be welcomed into such an intimate event and feel like a treasured guest as much as the observer and photographer.

The warmth and the love from this exquisite night have a permanent place in my heart.

Wishing T + C joy and love, always.

Heather x { London Ontario Intimate Wedding Photographer }

so long, 2020

As I’m writing this, the winter sun is streaming through the windows, reflected off the crisp, white snow that magically appeared in time for Christmas morning. Simple perfection. It’s pretty easy in this moment to convince myself that this entire year has been this magical. But then… LOL.

Can a year without the usual markers of time passing (school, birthday parties, visits, travel) actually count as a year?? Haha. Perhaps more important is how in the absence of something we realize how much we count on it’s presence. That lesson has been reinforced for me so many times this year. Be grateful. Now. Change is inevitable.

2020 was a very hard year. A wild ride. Full of challenges, ups and a disproportionate number of downs, but it also brought opportunities to dig deeper, learn, find simple joys and show love to our communities. This year demanded creativity, patience and kindness…toward others and ourselves. All things I hope will be carried forward into 2021 and beyond.

Specifically from our little corner of the world: Parenting school-age children through a global pandemic is a crash course in examining every vulnerability, fear and worry you have ever held, no matter how small, when it comes to your family. In addition, we are a family of two small business owners. One, prohibited from working for months, the other, thankfully deemed essential. Ironically, I found myself mostly grateful for this. It was the permission I needed to focus on our kids and help them navigate ALL the things…so many thoughts and fears about the world, big emotions, finding joy…and online schooling. (%$!@#*!!) The result? The worry lines on my forehead have settled in for the long haul; so much so that they appear in every drawing created of me now :) Also, the small strips of grey that peeked through my dark hair - the ones that I always told my kids I was proud of because they helped tell my story - now tell far more than I’m comfortable with at times. In any case, I’m still proud.

In January, Heather Lynch Photography will be 15 years old. Something I’m incredibly proud of, but mostly quiet about. Somehow I have muddled my way through making a creative life and doing what I love. It’s in no small way due to the most astonishingly, wonderful people that I consistently get to work with. I feel gratitude in abundance for the connections and this work I get to do, especially during this year. A year when I had (almost) accepted that there might be no work - and everything that comes along with that. Every invitation to photograph, every gift certificate bought for a future session, every post like, every tag, every photograph shared, every loved experience talked about…for me it has all made the light to be found in this year that much brighter. Thank you.

Our stories are so important to tell and re-tell, and it’s forever my joy to be a storyteller. Technically speaking, it’s my job to search for the light :) So I feel like you can trust when I say, there is always light to be found in the darkness, somewhere, no matter how impossible that might seem. Telling your stories and creating photographs has been mine this year.

In the past, I’ve bid a fond farewell to the year, but this year gets a “so long” from me :) Please enjoy a quick little look back below (available in original post), packed full with some of your stories from this year. I hope it brings you some joy.

Wishing you health, happiness and everything good in 2021.

With love and heartfelt gratitude,

Heather x

baby m | london ontario newborn photography

Meeting baby M and her sweet family was a total joy.

The baby cuddles and sweet beginnings are truly heavenly, but one thing that continues to bring me back to newborn photography is…connection. It is the greatest compliment to be invited into those first, precious days at home. I never take the trust that is given for granted. To be able to visit the intimate moments of a family’s beginnings and to sit and listen and observe and capture those beautiful moments - it’s one of the greatest honours of the work I do. Photographs are the memories we can hold once those moments pass…sign posts back to the sweetness…and the realness…of your beautiful beginnings.

Welcome little one.

Heather x { London Ontario Newborn Lifestyle Photographer }

little L | london ontario child photography

Little’s L’s first birthday session was one of the first to be affected by the covid-19 lockdown early in 2020. When we were finally allowed to meet 6 months had passed since her first birthday, but it was perfect nonetheless.

I felt sad knowing I was missing so many precious moments for families, but as soon as we could we did our best to make up for all of them.

It was the most beautiful day and the best way I can think of to get back to work. I’ve photographed this family since their very beginning and it felt grounding and exciting and oh so wonderful to reconnect with them during this wild ride of a year.

I’m more thankful than ever to be able to tell such sweet stories.

Heather x { London Ontario Family Photographer }

black lives matter | london ontario documentary photography

On June 6th, armed with my N95 and my camera, I joined 10,000+ Londoners at the Black Lives Matter peaceful protest in downtown London. I’ve lived the majority of my life in London and it’s a challenge for me to think of another moment that has filled me with as much pride in my city.

It was a difficult decision to shift so drastically from 3 months of living in lockdown to attend a mass gathering (and not without it’s aftershocks), but the ways we show up are different for everyone. For me, being there felt necessary. I needed to feel jolted. Like so many of us (white people), as I continue to listen and learn, the realities of our privilege are becoming clearer than ever before and it isn’t an option to let myself settle back into the blind comfort of it. I can never understand, but I promise to stand. I promise to listen, learn and unlearn.

As a photographer, I felt compelled to document this moment in time; to capture a sense of what it felt like to be there. I want to remember that sunny, breezy day that more people than I have ever known to gather in London, Ontario (of all colours and cultures) came together in solidarity for the BLM movement. I want to remember what the beginning of this (hopeful) change feels like.

I have a lot of work to do. But here I am…back where I always end up. Photographs. They’re here to highlight a beautifully powerful (PEACEFUL and RESPECTFUL) protest and to remind myself of my commitment to doing the consistent work to begin shifting behaviours and systems that do NOT work for ALL lives.

Heather x { London Ontario Documentary Photographer }

All lives can’t matter until black lives matter. - unknown

empty streets | london ontario documentary photography

I’ve lost track of how many days into lockdown/quarantine/isolation we are. What I can say is these days feel strange, unsettling and repetitive, despite best efforts to make them feel otherwise. I recently took an isolated walk around downtown and the eery reality of this time was inescapable; main streets were empty, concert halls were silent, stores and restaurants were boarded up and there wasn’t a soul around…except for the paramedics that travelled past while I stood on a once-bustling Richmond Row.

It was a stark reminder of those that are still “out there”, while we stay home. I felt overwhelmingly and glaringly fortunate, and for those times when staying home feels almost difficult in it’s simplicity, it reminded me that I’m staying home for those that don’t have the option.

Thank-you front line workers for everything you’re doing…responding, healing, feeding, cleaning, fixing…a million times and more, thank-you.

Stay safe and take care of each other,

Heather x {London Ontario Photographer}

b + e first birthday | london ontario baby photography

An ordinary first birthday party is fun, but a first birthday for twins? Double the fun, double the ADORABLE.

B + E had their birthday party just before the world stopped in early 2020. It’s lucky and also a wonderful reminder (for me too!) of how special it is to gather with loved ones to celebrate…or just to be together.

These two couldn’t be sweeter…although I’ve been fortunate enough to photograph them many times and each time they seem to prove me wrong :)

Happy birthday sweet, sweet boys. You bring all the joy.

Heather x { London Ontario Twins Photography }