Terri Perrin
Special to the Record
Courtenay photographer Lisa Graham, Seadance Photography, continues to make a splash both here in the Comox Valley and beyond.
Graham is earning a stellar international reputation for her underwater fine art and fashion photography, as evidenced by the fact that one of her underwater images was recently featured on the website 500px.com.
Her photograph of a young woman curled up in the waters under a local waterfall garnered more than 6,000 followers and 54,000 views in a matter of days. The tally continues to rise.
“It was such an honour to be featured on 500px.com,” says Graham. “Almost immediately after the photograph was published, I watched my in-box fill up with thousands of new follower notifications. I eventually had to shut off the notifications feature due to in-box overload!
“Some of the comments compared it to paintings by the Old Masters, like John William Waterhouse and Raphael... many people who view my prints think they are paintings.
“To borrow a phrase I once heard from a fellow photographic artist: ‘Underwater photography is my symphony, portraits are my jazz.’”
Graham recently earned the designation of ‘Master Photographer in Fine Art’ by the Master Photographers of Canada (MPOC). The MPOC is a new professional association that provides a Code of Ethics and Business Conduct for its members to adhere to.
“With the booming popularity of hobby photography, it can be difficult for the public to know what to look for when they are in need of custom photography services,” warns Graham. “When you Google ‘portrait photographer’ and you get 500 results how do you choose? How can you be sure if that person is truly a photographer or just knows how to manipulate Google’s search engine optimization?
“The MPOC has juried the portfolios of its members and designated them to one of five levels, from General to Grand Master. You can choose the designation level best suited to your photography needs and rest assured that the MPOC members have the skills and equipment to capture truly professional images for you.”