Lenzr’s Toronto Christmas Market photo contest is our way of ringing in the holiday season. For those of you who didn’t already know, Lenzr’s headquarters are located in the Historic Distillery District in Toronto,  a charming and picturesque pedestrian village that features the largest collection of Victorian industrial architecture in North America. Luckily for us (and our insatiable need for beautiful imagery) Toronto’s annual Christmas Market takes place in our own neighbourhood from Dec. 2 – 18, so we won’t have to look very far for some holiday cheer. Apologies to Lenzr members who won’t be able to make it to Toronto for the festivities; we always try our best to create photo contests that Lenzr members from coast to coast can participate in, but Lenzr’ll be home for Christmas this year.

“Inspired by the Old World and influenced by the New, this free annual event captures all of the tradition, heritage and charm of a European Christmas Market, while showcasing hundreds of unique and local handcrafted products.” Capture the joy of the holiday season and the camaraderie of children and adults alike as they warm their bodies with cider or mulled wine, their hearts the magic of Santa Claus or the nostalgia of Christmas carols–on some of the coldest days of the year.

The winning photo will be used in the 2012 Toronto Christmas Market marketing campaign, and featured on the Toronto Christmas Market website, and will be published in Distilled Magazine with photo credits attributed. There are three prizes:
Winner will receive a $250.00 cash prize
2nd place will receive a $250.00 restaurant gift certificate
3rd place will receive a $100.00 restaurant gift certificate

This contest is sponsored by the Toronto Christmas Market and the Distillery District, and the sponsor is also the sole judge of the competition. Photos may be uploaded until December 25, 2011. Voting begins December 15 and closes at midnight on December 25. The winning photograph will be announced January 1, 2012.

When photo contest participants become photo contest winners, they write kind letters.

Hi Rob!

Wow and reWow! Fantastic news this morning! I’m so happy! This is sooooo cool!!!

What a great honor when we’re considering the always getting better quality of the submissions in contests. I’m starting my telescopic mast photo business right now and this prize will be more than welcome. The site is getting better day after day Rob. The one only photo by member in the Top Ten policy is a great improvement. You have so much nice contests right now. I really like to see prizes involving licensing. This is a great way to have visibility and expand the finality of the site.

You know that I’ve always been interested by your site concept and will continue to be an active member. I’d like to see it becoming more social and less competitive. But with nice prices like that it’s gonna be difficult I’ve met very nice people and good photographers in the LENZR environment. I think it‘s a great way to learn from each other and become better. I want to thank you personally to have always been so encouraging. I know your a man of word and I respect that.

I eventually like to invest myself in your project and maybe help to find a way to promote your idea in Quebec. I’m sure they’re a lot of sponsors who will be interested and photography is a big market here.

I’ve never forget your judge offer too. Let me know if I can do something for you, it will be my pleasure. I’m very very happy about what’s happening and want to thank everybody at Lenzr, I know you’ve always been behind me!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Martin

Lenzr’s September-October contest season was a great success, with over 75 photographs submitted in all three contests: Metal World, Landscaping and Lawn Care and Canadian Harvest.

Yesterday, the Gladiator of Lenzr, Rob, and Lenzr’s resident dead girl, Christine, took a moment out of their Halloween morning to read the judges picks for the camera. Important: Please watch to see the winner of Nora Camps’ Canadian Harvest photo contest and a very special message from Rob:

Metal World Photo Contest

Martin Savaria is a veteran Lenzr member who, despite submitting photographs of consistently high quality in many different contests, has not had a victory until now. Congratulations, Martin, from everyone at Lenzr (many of whom are admirers of your work)!  You have finally won a prize from Lenzr, a Sony laptop! And, without further ado, here is what some of the judges had to say about the winning photograph:

“Looks very Space Odyssey. Beautiful white on white.”

“This photo reminds me of a scene from Logan’s Run. Nicely composed.”

“I like the metallic futuristic feel to this photo, I could is it in a travel ad or a stock library.”

“I love the minimalism of this. It definitely evokes something from a sci-fi film in my books. I love the curves of this tunnel that gives it a sense of elegance in an all metallic environment. At first glance, it doesn’t even look too metallic, but as the description says, the aluminum cover makes it the perfect winner for this category.”

Landscaping and Lawn Care

Contrary to the last contest, this one featured flora and foliage. The winning shot was taken by talented Lenzr member tluvr and is titled ‘Lush Lombard Landscape’. Here’s what some of the Lenzr judges had to say about it:

Lenzr’s Electronic Engineering photo contest is looking for inside information–the electronic components of your favourite video gaming system, stereo, laptop or guitar. If you’ve never been the type to open up your handheld device and take it apart–then put it back together–perhaps you can get access to a studio control room.

It’s hard to imagine where we’d be without the tiny and intricate electronic components that make up so many of the instruments used in our daily lives. The way we share information would be completely different, as would be the way we’d write, play, perform or listen to music. Sometimes, to the majority of people who are not electrical engineers, the achievements of electronic engineering seem nothing short of magical. In this photo contest, try to dispel some of the myth–how do our mysterious technologies actually work? What little wires and circuits physically display the science behind our favourite devices?

Electronic components can be an interesting–complicating yet beautiful–addition to artwork, as seen here in the work of Toronto artist TorontoArtsGirl Ruth Wilgress. If you look closer at this piece entitled So Close Yet So Far you’ll see the tiny electronic components that make up the skyscrapers of Toronto’s skyline, a neat metaphor for ‘inner workings’.

Standex Electronics is a leading manufacturer of custom electronic components

For over 40 years, Standex Electronics has been a leading manufacturer of  reed switches and reed relays, transformers and inductors, proximity sensors and fluid-level sensors, antennas and coils, connectors, lighting products, as well as current sense and planar transformers.

The prize for this contest is, fittingly, an Apple iPad, courtesy of Standex Electronics. This contest started on November 1, 2001. Voting starts December 15, after which the top ten user-ranked photos advance to the Lenzr judges. The winning photograph will be announced January 1, 2012.

Lunchables aren’t going to win this contest. Those shrink wrapped plastic coated instant meals made of processed bread, soda biscuits, preserved meats and cheeses are hardly the proper sustenance for growing children.

Most ready-made lunches claim good nutrition, but carefully scrutiny often reveals penny pinching practices that reduce antioxidant or overall health impact.  Cranberry cocktail is mostly red apple juice for example.  In the U.S., the First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign (a movement to combat child obesity at a national level) has sparked controversy. Sarah Palin was quoted saying that Let’s Move is “…the government thinking that they need to take over and make decisions for us according to some politician or politician’s wife priorities. Just leave us alone, get off our back and allow us as individuals to exercise our own God-given rights to make our own decisions and then our country gets back on the right track.” She went on to say “[W]hat she is telling us is she cannot trust parents to make decisions for their own children, for their own families in what we should eat.”

Lenzr’s Lunch for Kids photo contest is looking for submissions depicting wholesome and well-rounded lunches suitable for growing minds and bodies. Never mind politics–what kind of lunch do you think is healthy enough to nourish children, while at the same time being enjoyable enough for them to eat? What lunchtime traditions are included? Is there a favourite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles lunchbox? Does Mom or Dad include an embarrassing (but secretly appreciated) note on a napkin with a line of ‘XOXOXO’s? Is there a lunchtime staple, like an apple?

Onyx makes non-plastic lunch containers

Located in Vancouver British Columbia, Onyx specializes in non-plastic food storage containers, including plenty of unique stainless steel kitchenware items, especially their ice cube trays and lunch containers. Their stainless steel catalogue is really quite impressive; if have a stainless steel kitchen then you’ve probably already been to their website.

The winner of this contest will receive $250 worth of stainless steel products from Onyx’s catalog –it’s your choice– with free shipping anywhere in Canada.

This is high-quality, long-lasting kitchenware that’s easier to clean, more hygienic, and won’t leak pollutants into your food – also this stuff holds its value while almost all other kitchenware loses value over time. Onyx even has stainless steel popsicle makers; they are a Canadian company who were inspired through their own children to create food and drink containers that were safe, resilient and healthy.

This contest began November 1, 2011. Voting starts December 15, after which the top ten user-ranked photos advance to judging on December 25. The winning photograph will be announced January 1, 2012.  Contest valid in both the United States and Canada.

Another well-timed challenge, Lenzr’s new House for Renovation photo contest is looking for submissions of worn out homes. With Halloween swiftly approaching, run-down manors are in great demand for hay ride and haunted house season–so seek out the shrieking shacks in your neighbourhoods and you could win a pad of your own, an iPad, that is. Show us broken windows, sagging eaves troughs, sliding shingles and peeling paint, caved in porches, outdated siding, and awnings held in place by lopsided supports. The house you photograph doesn’t necessarily need to be an abandoned home, but your photograph should definitely illustrate a need for fix-ups or improvements, if not a bulldozer.

This is a fun contest with a lot of great imagery potential. In Frank Capra’s classic 1946 film It’s a Wonderful Life, romantic leads George and Mary fall in love outside an old abandoned home where George talks about lassoing the moon for Mary, then throws a rock through the old house, making a wish as he does. Mary protests at first, saying “Don’t, I love that old house,” before throwing her rock and making a silent wish.  And, although George responds with “I wouldn’t live in it as a ghost,” that’s precisely what happens; on their wedding night Mary reveals that “This is what I wished for,” as rain pours through the roof into their new living room. Old houses often have a romantic, or creepy or just plain fascinating appeal to them. Try to capture the energy of the house in your photograph–what do you know about the house? Who used to live there? What do you imagine went on inside?

The Calum Ross Team Takes Your Financial Goals Seriously

The Calum Ross Team is a Toronto mortgage broker with a simple but powerful goal: to be the best in the business. They cover the market so customers don’t have to, providing immediate access to over 30 lenders including Scotia Bank, Bank of Montreal and President’s Choice Financial. The Calum Ross team works their hardest to accommodate the desires and needs of their clients; this, combined with expert knowledge of the Canadian financial markets, results in superior education (Calum Ross puts extra emphasis on explaining to clients all their different financial options) and of course, advice.

The prize is an Apple iPad 2, courtesy of our generous sponsor. This contest started October 1, 2011. Voting begins on November 15, after which the top ten user-ranked photos advance to the Lenzr judges. The winning photograph will be announced on December 1, 2011.

It’s difficult to overstate the importance of bread in our daily lives. Evidence of prehistoric bread from 30,000 years ago has been found in Europe.  Bread remains among the top ten foodstuffs consumed all over the world today. From Calabrese bread in Italy to Challah bread at Hanukkah to baguettes from a boulangerie in Paris to the rotis of India, nearly every culture on the planet celebrates bread, in their diet, and in their daily lives.

In ancient times it was sometimes difficult to get the bread to rise. The  most common method of leavening was to retain a piece of dough from the previous day to use as a form of sourdough starter.  Other procedures included leaving the bread dough uncovered on the table all week and hoping airborne yeasts would settle on the uncooked flour dough exposed to air for some time before cooking. Pliny the Elder reported that the Gauls and Iberians used the foam skimmed from beer to produce “a lighter kind of bread than other peoples.” That was how they introduced yeast. Parts of the ancient world that drank wine instead of beer used a paste composed of grape juice and flour that was allowed to begin fermenting, or wheat bran steeped in wine, as a source for yeast.

Lenzr’s Our Daily Bread photo contest celebrates the bread maker’s art. Submit wide shots or close-ups, interior or exterior pictures containing bread. Bread is one of the oldest prepared foods, and predates agriculture; that kind of longevity is no accident, perhaps there is a bit of the divine in bread, that most ancient player in the history of human sustenance. Try to capture the historical and cultural importance of bread in your photograph–it’s not just bread, it’s life, energy, health, hope for the future and a link to the past.

ShaSha Organic combines ancient techniques with innovative methods to produce nutritious and wholesome breads.

ShaSha Bread Co.’s organic sourdough breads are made with the finest organic ingredients. ShaSha is a trailblazer in the Canadian bread industry, and the only bakery in Canada awarded the National Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program grant. The breads, many of which contain grains sprouted in ShaSha’s eco-friendly facility, are 100% organic, easily digestible and delicious. Wheat-free options are included. ShaSha Bread Co. was also featured in a three part video series for The Globe and Mail.

The Prize is a breadmaking machine that comes courtesy of Shasha Bread Co. organic ingredients estore. Virtually every ingredient included in ShaSha’s products is also sold separately in this handy online destination, full of the best breadmaking foodstuffs to help people practice their own breadmaking arts at home.

RULES / TIMELINE The contest works like any other Lenzr match – it’s a sixty day challenge. Upload your pictures to the index now, and right up until November 25th, 2011. It’s recommended that you promote your pictures when voting begins Nov 15, 2011 to get into the Top Ten grouping. Judges pick from the Top Ten images that are locked down on the 25th of November at 12:01 am when voting ends–the winner is announced Dec 1, 2011. Must be 13 yrs of age or older to enter. Contest is valid anywhere in North America.

We’re hoping to see pillowcases full of submissions in Lenzr’s latest photo contest, Homemade Halloween Costume, set to run through the October-November session. Halloween is a great North American tradition for many reasons. It’s unpretentious, and pulls people out of their own shoes and into the shoes of…whoever you want to be for a day–suddenly, cities are full of Supermans milling around downtown with briefcases. It’s a chance to bond with people from work, get together with friends for a party or interact with the community through contributing a Jack-O-Lantern and candy for the kids in your neighbourhood. Halloween is also a chance to connect with the darker, more mysterious side of human nature–it’s literally the only day on the calendar on which witches, goblins, vampires and devils are free to roam in their ‘natural states’–and it’s important to acknowledge that darker side exists, if only for twenty four hours.

How many years have you, at the beginning of October, told yourself you’d put a lot of effort into your Halloween costume and then fallen short, Googling “creative Halloween costume ideas” at the last minute and lamenting throwing away that faux-fur jumpsuit you could have used for your Chewbacca costume? How many years have you ended up as just a guy in a mask or a girl in bunny ears or, worst of all, yourself? That’s facetious; no one has to participate in Halloween if they don’t want to, but if you do, and if you want to impress your friends and win ‘Best Costume’ at the shindig you’re going to, Lenzr’s Homemade Halloween Costume photo contest is here to help. Not only do we provide the incentive for making your own costume, we’re rewarding the best photograph with some serious party favours.

Jib.ca Connects Brands with Big Ideas that Sell

Jib.ca is a boutique marketing agency that develops Big Ideas for clients which are manifested through web sites, viral videos, online games, print advertising, direct mail, billboards, digital marketing and social media contests.

“Is your idea big enough?” Jib.ca asks clients. Jib is a team of artists, writers and designers who also happen to be marketing professionals. This formidable mashup of creativity and marketing prowess, along with an approach that combines traditional marketing with cutting-edge digital design makes Jib.ca an ideal choice when looking for help in directing your brand.

The prize for this contest is (trick) $250 in candy or (treat) $250 in cash–your choice. This contest started October 1, 2011. Voting begins on November 15, after which the top ten user-ranked photos advance to the Lenzr judges. The winning photograph will be announced November 1, 2011.

One month after winning the Haircuts and Hair Styles photo contest on Lenzr, the celebrated user Danielle-elise, who is Danielle Thompson in real life showed up at Donna Dolphy Yorkville hair salon to collect her prize(s) and agreed to a free haircut in exchange for letting me blog about it here.

Danielle Thompson is an attractive twenty three year old criminology graduate from the University of Western Ontario currently living and working in Burlington, paying back her student loans by working in a real estate property development firm as an administrative assistant.

She has three younger brothers and used to take pictures of them, and for them, chronicling their achievements in sports and outdoor adventures. At one point she had free use of the family camera, a professional grade Canon Rebel with assorted lenses, but an unfortunate incident with one of the younger brothers has eliminated this resource, permanently.

Now she meddles around with small digital cameras, I didn’t catch the name of her most recent tool, but I did get the sense that’s she’s looking for a high quality digital camera to continue her photography art and hobby. She dabbles with fashion and beauty images and puts them on her blogs, in support of her ideas and product research.

Danielle’s blogs include, My Heart on My Sleeve, and one even more fashion and beauty focused On Sugar blog, called Liner and Glitter and Glass oh my, and I’ll admit that name sounds a bit off center but thats actually the trend for blog names On Sugar, and when she told me the handle I smiled, because I know many other similar such destinations. However I cautioned her, just as I will remind all readers here, that blogs are best when you own the domain outright and use open source software such as WordPress which is downloaded free at wordpress dot org

On Oct 1st 2011 Danielle Thompson and her mom spent some quality time at Donna Dolphy hair salon in Yorkville, have a Lenzr prize winning experience.

Danielle Thompson at Donna Dolphy, Toronto hair salon

Here’s a photo montage showing the event with minor commentary where necessary,
Here’s where the day started.

I was reading my book and taking pictures of Donna’s shop which was super busy when Danielle and her mother, Marie Jo arrived in the salon. Donna greeted them both from her chair at the front window with a wide smile and big hello over the din of the already busy salon.

We waited upstairs until Donna could meet us. We talked and I took pictures

Then Donna came up, and she took us outside to her little rooftop oasis in the heart of the city.

We took some lovely pictures in the sunshine.

The sun was really shining and it was a beautiful afternoon.

After a few minutes outside we all went downstairs to the shampoo section where Donna Dolphy gave Danielle Thompson the full head washing experience, cold and hot water alongside some L’Oreal hair care products, I’m sure.


Marie Jo got a picture of Danielle getting her hair washed for her Facebook page.
Marie Jo got a coffee
Then came the actual hair cutting.

Donna took Danielle to her chair at the front of the salon.

At this point I asked Donna what she would do if she had hair like Danielle,

And she answered without hesitation, “I’d flaunt it. I’d do just what she’s doing, work it into long curls and show it off. It’s an eye catcher.”

Donna made Danielle look like the modern day Farrah Fawcett…

Danielle probably doesn’t know who Farrah Fawcett is. Everything that’s old is new again.

We’ve opened this contest up to accept submissions from people living in the USA and Quebec. And a few other matches on site in October will also be open to folks living south of the border in the United States of America. Don’t panic if you loved Lenzr because it was Canadians only, that’s not changing…. much. Its just that in this next contest cycle, and perhaps others we will have some different contests, clearly marked Open to USA that allow submissions from people living in the United States of America to enter and if they have the best pictures according to Judges, Lenzr will award the prize. The contest will probably not be extensively promoted in the USA because we dont really know how to do that very well, and in fact that’s another reason we are trying this. And because we are backlogged on fixes and changes and further web development, this seems to be something we can easily try. So bear with us, and please let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Warehouse Stockpiles is the second in a series of three photo contests sponsored by a software company that seeks images for their new website.

Similar to A Manufacturing Process this competition follows a new style reward structure whereby the winning image is licensed alongside three other images selected by the sponsor, from anywhere in the index.

In this match the sponsor is seeks images of stock being managed to accompany text on the website in which they show thought leadership in Production Planning and also Inventory Management

These two pages need some visual references that compliment the text, but are not so spectacular they are distracting.   The prize is $250 CAN in exchange for the rights to use your photo*  Non exclusive license for 3 yrs. Solarsoft is under no obligation to display photos. Three other photographer’s works will be offered non exclusive license agreements for their works at a rate of $75 each.

RULES / TIMELINE The contest works like any other Lenzr match–it’s a sixty day challenge. Upload your pictures to the index now, and right up until November 25th, 2011. It’s recommended that you promote your pictures when voting begins Nov 15, 2011 to get into the Top Ten grouping. Judges pick from the Top Ten images that are locked down on the 25th of November at 12:01 am when voting ends – the winner is announced Dec 1, 2011.  Must be 13 yrs of age or older to enter. Contest is valid everywhere. Lenzr will ship prizes anywhere in the United States and Canada, and yes that includes Quebec.

Sound off here in the comments or visit the discussion forum, Warehouse Stockpiles Open to Americans.