An impromptu trip to Paris and an on-the-fly shot landed one Victoria photographer a spot in the World Photographic Cup. 

The competition is known among photographers as the 鈥淥lympics of photography,鈥� and honours some of the best photography in the world, by bringing together teams to represent their respective nations. 

鈥淚t's an honour to represent Canada,鈥� said Lee Milliken, 44, who transitioned from a career in health care to photography full-time at 32.

His submission to the competition depicts the chaos throughout the Salle des Etats, the gallery within the Louvre housing Leonard DaVinci鈥檚: Mona Lisa. The photo is a composite of several images using a technique described as 鈥渄ragging the shutter,鈥� which helps create motion blur and movement within the frame. With limited gear, it's a style that's tough to pull off. 

鈥淚 didn't have a tripod, because tripods are never allowed in museums, so I had to just kind of stand on my tiptoes and hold my breath to be as still as possible,鈥� he said. 

The photo is a departure from Milliken鈥檚 usual work, which primarily focuses on architectural photography. The image was selected by a committee of Canadian photographers, and after three rigorous qualifying rounds, was ultimately chosen as one of the three images submitted in the World Photographic Cup commercial category, making Milliken a representative of Team Canada. 

Today, Milliken and his wife own Spartan Media, a studio they founded in 2018. Since that time Milliken says it's been 鈥渨ork, work, work鈥� and it had been years since he submitted work for award consideration. When he joined the Professional Photographers of Canada in 2024, he decided to get back into it.

鈥溾�嬧�婳ne of my goals was just to get out there and shoot more for myself of the stuff that I loved. And then I wanted to start entering competitions and submitting work.鈥�

While the decision to get back into competitions was intentional, the opportunity to shoot in the Louvre was not. 

鈥淚 had no plan in mind. Originally we didn't even plan to really go to Paris,鈥� Milliken said.

When a vacation to Greece in 2023 was derailed by flooding, Milliken and his wife decided to turn their layover into their new destination. 

鈥淲e flew to Paris five days early. So that was like a spur-of-the-moment trip,鈥� he said. 

The opportunity to get his photo was even more on the fly. When Milliken witnessed the chaos surrounding one of the world's most famous paintings he took inspiration. 

鈥淭he chaos that surrounds the Mona Lisa, it's unreal. It's just, it's non-stop. It's one of those things you have to see to believe,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 just tried to create that chaos motion, by blending the images and painting the people in.鈥� 

Milliken's photograph did not proceed to the Top 10 commercial images, but Canada was still represented by Louis-Philippe Provost's image of a fog-shrouded Empire State Building, in the commercial category. However, Milliken still plans to travel to Quito, Ecuador to meet with his peers, see the winners announced and to represent Canada.  

Winners of the World Photographic Cup will be announced in March. Milliken and the rest of Team Canada鈥檚 submissions can be found at .