Hello Lenzr members!

As some of you are well aware, Lenzr was attracting some serious SPAM over the last couple months. It pained us to see the comments sections underneath your submissions bombarded with Canada Goose jacket ads coming from countries overseas. It started slowly at first, spam here, spam there, but it was minimal enough that the small team at Lenzr was able to keep it under control by deleting the posts manually.

Suddenly, though, heaps of these low-grade spam-bot posts started infiltrating the website like weeds overtaking a garden. We didn’t have the staff or the time anymore to take care of the problem ourselves, and knew the time had come to make changes to the site to prevent such eyesores from occurring in the future.

We’ve added a CAPTCHA now which anyone attempting to create a Lenzr account will have to bypass, which should work wonders to clear up all the unwanted advertorial fodder. Special thanks to all members who brought this issue to our attention; it’s so nice to know what a great community we’ve got here. Let’s keep Lenzr clean!

If that was the good news here’s the great news: Lenzr’s got some new photo contests lined up for March and we can’t wait to see your submissions on the recovered website. Don’t forget to cast your votes for the current contests in the meantime!

The announcement of our latest contest winners marks the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one for Lenzr.com. As such, we are pleased to feature two celebrity broadcasters in our Letters from the Judges video: meet Lauren H. and Mary Bratko, also known as WeddingGirl.ca. Please go ahead and watch the video to find out who won the latest photo contests on Lenzr!

Lenzr’s Old Beside New photo contest was looking to see submissions that juxtaposed an old invention, idea, person, place or thing with an updated version. Interestingly, the majority of entries submitted contained technological subject matter, but there were a few more organic ideas such as an infant being held by adult hands and a fresh, juicy tangerine pictured beside a rotting one. This contest was sponsored by Solarsoft’s continuous improvement and without any further ado, the winner is:

Musical Eras by Cody LeBlanc

Runner-up: Paper Trains Last Stop by kevyn2992

Here’s what some of the judges had to say about the winning photograph:

“Hmmm… Let’s see, seven songs versus 7000 in your pocket. We know who won this battle.”

“The description was short and to the point. The photo on the other hand was framed well and with good lighting.”

“A vinyl record compared to an iPod is a visually interesting contrast, and from a manufacturing standpoint–the leap is huge.”

Congratulations, CodyLeBlanc, you’ve won $250 and perhaps a publication.

Lenzr’s Bad Weather Hair photo contest asked for submissions that illustrated what the elements can, at any given moment, do to a carefully constructed hairstyle. This contest was sponsored by Aveda Institute Canada’s Vancouver hair school who is giving away $500 worth of their 99 % naturally derived hair and skincare products to the winner. Aveda Institute Canada is also running a hair school scholarship video contest which will reward five talented stylists-to-be a fully covered tuition to either Aveda Institutes Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria or Winnipeg.

The winner of Bad Weather Hair is:

Beach Hair by nabzisalamb

Runner-up: Walk in the Snow by chieflong

Here’s what some of the judges had to say about the winning shot:

“You just know she will be brushing more than a hundred strokes to get that mess sorted out.”

“Just wild and crazy and fun. I wonder how many takes it took to capture this one. I appreciate the effort involved in capturing this photo.”

Congratulations, nabzisalamb, you’ve won $500 in Aveda product!