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.

Community Contests are something we’re working on at Lenzr, and we’re testing them so that some day the membership can make and host their own challenges, because that would be cool.

There is a winner in the Best Bicycle Picture photo contest on Lenzr!

The sponsor has selected LindaJ‘s photo Biking the Countryside! as the winner in this community contest.

Staff members commented, “She has the most votes, 33.5 and there is something peacefully calm about this image, and yet adventurous. Its a perfect blend.”

There were 32 entries and 96 votes. Some of the pictures were really spellbinding. To ChelseaSolomon I would say that her photo makes a really interesting thumbnail and is second runner-up.

In the comments underneath Biking the Countryside!,

mikeinbc1 August 27th, 2011 8:55pm
you’ve entered a really good photo! I’m voting for it because you deserve to be in the top 10, not knocked out because someone has more facebook friends than you.”
Mike

LindaJ August 28th, 2011 10:31pm
Thanks for the vote and the kind words, Mike! Most appreciated. Linda

We love comments.

At Andy Camper , they love getting outdoors and active! Riding their bicycles is one of their favourite activities, and they wanted to see some of your bike adventures! If you’re interested in learning some very important bicycle safety tips, check out the Andy Camper Blog.

LindaJ was deemed to have the best bicycle picture and she will be sent an official Andy Camper t-shirt.

Congratulations Linda.

Back in the Colonial Times, the annual harvest would employ almost every able bodied person and occupy the minds of everyone in the community. The annual crop gathering dominated the calendar and was marked with parades, bake sales, and agricultural exhibits in fall fairs. The autumn occasion was a happy time.

Harvest is still celebrated with some reverence in small towns across Canada because these grassroots farm families are still the biggest stakeholders; they still depend on the harvest for their livelihood, and of course to some extent we all depend on their harvest for ours…

Depending on where you live in Canada, the season comes at different times and means different things. If you live in downtown Toronto, it won’t mean much, except local produce especially sweet corn is cheaper in the supermarket, but if you are living in Tilsonburg it will mean the tobacco harvest, and in Bala its time to pick the cranberries. In Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick they dig potatoes from red earth and in Kenora they harvest the finest wild rice. Show us these seasonal gatherings.

Nora Camps of Duo.ca is a brand strategy consultant for charitable foundations and not for profit organizations. She specializes in executing agricultural theme marketing initiatives for a brighter future on a greener planet. Over time she has articulated to me, and indeed demonstrated to me the power of her ‘high fidelity storytelling’, and how she uses print collateral and events to build an organization’s character. Adding the power of Lenzr photo contests to her already potent mixture of crowd sourcing and story gathering is a winning combination to create trans-media awareness for Duo.ca and Nora Camp’s unique brand personality consulting services.  On her website, Nora writes,

The process of revitalizing and the ongoing effort to maintain brand energy need not be expensive, but it does need to be conscious and purposeful. Think: Brand Personality.
Be unforgettable.   Let’s journey together.
Take a dose of brand proposition, brand story and brand culture and add a dash of WOW! and you will have brand personality. Add a triple bottom line for good measure. Your brand will not only be unstuck, it will be beloved, chosen first and retained.

Photo by Joe Wright while visiting the Strathcona Farmer's Market, Edmonton

The winning picture will be chosen by Nora Camps from the Top Ten user ranked images on Oct 26th 2011 . It will immediately be celebrated as the winner on the Lenzr blog and the photographer that uploaded this gem will be contacted, in due course, and offered an exclusive licensing agreement.  ADDITIONAL INFORMATION – the photo does not have to include humans. The photo does not have to be set in ‘autumn’ season. The picture should however be exterior and be wide angle and show some crop being harvested in some interesting manner.

One image will be licensed, and Nora respectfully asks to be the sole Judge whose task it is to select this image from the Top Ten user ranked grouping.  Nora will give the photographer full credit and $400 for an exclusive license for perpetuity throughout the universe for the one photo she selects.

Let go over the contest timeline again. This challenge launched Sept 1st 2011. Voting begins Oct 15th, and ends Oct  25th 2011 when the Top Ten photos advance to Judges. Contest ends Nov 1st – winner announced on the Lenzr blog.  Any questions? Comments? Feedback of any kind? Let me know.

There was one day a while back when we gave the July 2011 Contest Winners their prizes. Four contests yielded three Sony laptops and a Sony camera to three winners. Lemmings gets his prize as a gift certificate at a nearby Future Shop – he lives in Courtney, British Columbia, Canada.

But much to our delight we were able to have Mr Slava and Silversurfer71 over to the office here in The Distillery District of Toronto, and they both came on the same day; one arrived in the morning, and one in the afternoon.

Mr Slava gets his laptop! Do you remember the Best Office Staff Party photo contest on Lenzr? It was sponsored by Stafflink Solutions and made a lot of traction on Stafflink Facebook fanpage. Mr Slava submitted a funny picture of people throwing co workers into a pool and he won by a landslide.

In the photo above, Mr Slava listens patiently as I, Rob Campbell explain or make excuses about something trivial. I’m talking hard detailing something intricate and probably trying not to look dumb in front of this brilliant guy; he’s a business web developer from Thornhill Ontario.  As I suspected, Mr Slava is Slavic.  His real name is Slava.  He gave me some ideas for the site which I thanked him for, and I will thank him for again here on the blog, if and when I ever figure out how to implement his suggestions.

With Silversurfer71, AKA Andrew Blyskosz we tested some video editing software and got the systems running and everything connected. Andrew is employed as a video editor for Chorus Entertainment, and works in the cartoon production department of this media machine. He also drives a vintage Ford Mustang convertible.

Andrew Blyskosz hopes to start shooting professionally in the near future. He recognizes in Lenzr a good way to promote his own work and exceptional abilities.

Andrew Blyskosz won two laptops for two different contest attractions – he’s a good photographer that is well skilled at promoting his submissions and getting his images ranked among the Top Ten grouping from which the Judges select winners.  Andrew won for A Counting Exercise and Construction Sights; you can read about his prize winning photos in June July 2011 Lenzr Contest Winners.

Windmills, solar fields, steel truss bridges, avant-garde sculptures can all seem like metal worlds in wide angle lenses.  All-metal scenes usually evoke a nearly black-and-white ambiance devoid of organic life–and those are exactly the kinds of submissions Lenzr wants to see in its latest photo contest, Metal World.

Think cinema noir and black and white depictions an almost mechanical look at the stories of humanity; these narratives trace through events that have already come to pass, attempting to draw meaning from the cold and inorganic scenery, and the impassive contact made with other human beings.

Magneto, the infamous antagonist of the X-Men movies was capable of manipulating metal to his every whim, ( in the first film he’s imprisoned in a plastic capsule )  he is unable to shape an exit because there is no metal . In this contest, Lenzr wants to see the opposite. Imagine you were able to move metals with the force of your mind–where would you go? What would you alter? What is your ideal metal world? This photo contest is not looking for the embraces of human contact; our judges are looking for the chilling imagery of metal beams and structures–just think of this challenge as having a science-fiction theme. Show us the contrast of light and dark, feeling and unfeeling!

The sponsor of this contest is Nuden Vinyl Products, a family-run business that specializes in Ottawa metal roofing. Nuden, having recently celebrated over thirty years in business, offers lifetime warranties and personalized services. Since aluminum is lightweight, yet strong and long lasting, this ensures less stress on the frame of your home, and, therefore, no need for future reinforcements.

The prize is a Sony laptop with a seriously cool metal cover.

This contest started on September 1, 2011. Voting starts on October 15, after which the top ten photos advance to judging on October 25. The winning photos will be announced November 1, 2011.

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Landscaping is an art form combining aspects of construction with the forces of nature. Lenzr’s timely new contest, Landscaping and Lawn Care, wants to see your submissions of nature as a canvas. Just as a painter blends colour on their palette, so too do skilled landscapers who may plant lavender with its delicate hints of muted green and purple underneath the rich burgundy of a Japanese Maple. Landscaping requires more than just getting on your hands and knees and working with the earth; the aesthetics of a beautiful lawn space require planning as well as pruning.

Colour, along with form, lines, scale and texture, are the basic elements of landscaping. There are many options to consider while planning your backyard oasis: will the plants be local or exotic? Will you incorporate non-organic materials, such as rocks or mirrors, into your space? Will your landscaping design serve a practical purpose, such as thick shrubbery intended to keep at bay the prying eyes of peeping toms?

Your photograph should tell a story to our judges. Why has your subject been designed the way it has? This photograph of a square in Oaxaca City, Mexico shows a plot of agave plants, significant because agave is the ingredient of regional drinks tequila and mezcal, aesthetically pleasing because the spiky appearance of the plant works nicely with the palm trees which share a similar shape. Show us a manicured landscape with a story behind it and you could win!

This photo contest is sponsored by The Grass Cutters, a cutting-edge property maintenance and landscaping company that also has the distinction of being the first clean air lawn service in Canada. The Grass Cutters epitomizes the term ‘lawn care’ with their 100% zero emissions, sustainable lawn care system powered by renewable energy. The Grass Cutters is a company that not only provides a first-class property maintenance service, it also sets a standard that benefits the planet we live on; “We believe that being environmentally friendly should start with your front lawn,” says the company’s website.

The winner of this contest can get environmentally friendly in their own front lawn with $250 worth of battery operated landscaping tools. This is a great prize for gardeners or anyone looking to get their hands and knees into their own little plot of land. Regardless of whether or not your thumb is already green, this is a prize that will make it greener.

This contest begins September 1, 2011. Voting begins October 15, 2011, after which the top ten user-ranked images advance to the Lenzr judges on October 25, 2011. The winning photograph will be announced November 1, 2011.

Lenzr’s newest photo contest launched just in time for the dog days of summer. We’ve never tried a photo contest specifically looking for ‘beverage photography’, and we thought the heat might give Lenzr members some inspiration; first, to create a colorful liquid concoction, and second, to practice your photography skills (for best results do your shooting before sampling the drinks). Make it look tasty!

There’s a reason that cold beer and sports games go hand-in-hand; could you imagine sitting through all those commercials without having a case on hand to quench your thirst? By the way, your submission doesn’t need to be an alcoholic beverage–it could be lemonade or a freshly blended fruit smoothie–the key here is the 140 character summery.

Show us cocktails, juices, martinis, caesars or daiquiris; treat your liquid canvas as a still life and move your ice cubes, olives or fruit with a toothpick until it’s picture perfect. You could even use Lenzr’s Classy Summer Drinks contest as an excuse to have friends over for a party, if an excuse to party is hard to come by as summer begins to hint at its inevitable end…

Onyx is committed to reducing the widespread use of plastic and believes that everyone should be able to buy safe and environmentally responsible products without breaking the bank.

The winner of this contest will receive $400 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 won’t leak pollutants into your food and definitely won’t shatter. 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.