Message from Rob Campbell, the Executive Contest Producer
Occasionally the Lenzr admin writes dispatches to the membership outlining positive changes and technical evolutions to the Lenzr website. We are growing ever more popular, but slowly, and not so much through software innovation any more as by hosting imaginative contests that appeal to the masses. Each contest is like a stage play, or a project that we mount – and we never really know how successful the live event will be until it happens. Each contest is a story, as I have said before, and every picture is a sentence in the multimedia document, and together we wait to see who wins, and how the story ends.

Regarding the Website Crash(es)
Already House for Renovation and Electronic Engineering matches are breaking the bank and, as it turns out, breaking the website too. There was something restrictive in the database tables? Something fuzzy was happening there, and it was breaking every day as the website peaked in users and activity.

What to do? Pay smart people to fix it quick was the solution. And that’s what we’re doing/have done. It is still and will always be a work in progress, I’m sure.

Regarding the SPAM
I cannot tell you how stressful and embarrassing it is to operate a community software based website that doesn’t allow users to EDIT or DELETE the ubiquitous spam comments that accrue in such destinations all over the internet. Even the admin can’t moderate comments in our new website. And yet we (sometimes) pride ourselves on developing thoughtful and intuitive software solutions… our Achilles heel is that we have overlooked that critical component that every successful user generated content / interactive design MUST have. Now, today it’s a soleful task to receive and reply to countless emails asking for remedy. To everyone with SPAM on their profile pages I apologize and encourage you to Report Spam in the Discussion Forum here. It will all be mopped up and wiped away eventually.

Regarding the Toronto Christmas Market Photo Contest

 

Holy smokes the Toronto Christmas Market photo contest on Lenzr is an incredible success! There are now over 300 images in the gallery! That’s more than twice as many photos in this Community Contest module than in any featured contest Lenzr has ever run in its two and half years of operation, which is over sixty contests. There are twice as many votes as the highest ranked featured contests too. It shows the power of cross platform marketing and the value of developing the photo contest feeds for 3rd party client website hosts. This contest has become an incredible example of just what’s possible when you host a gallery of pictures on your website chronicling an event.

This photo, Christmas sunset by a new user named silverlink is one of my favourites.

If you have a photo in this match, please watch the next video we produce which will hopefully go live before January first, that will show the actual judges live voting and making their decisions on-camera right in front f your eyes! hopefully, if all goes well. Keep your fingers crossed YOU could be a winner!

Here’s a snapshot of Lenzr’s traffic from Nov 22nd to today, Dec 22nd 2011

 

And that’s a great place to sign off saying ‘have a merry Christmas’ ; we all thank you for your participation and patience and your great photography – please  look forward to more great matches on Lenzr in 2012.

 

Lenzr Judges Make Final Decision

Four great summer photo contests have come to end this month.  And there have been so many wonderful images to select winners from.  The Lenzr Judges had their work cut out for them.   There were some challenging decisions to make from the top ten photos from each photo contests.   Each of the four contests had 10 amazing photos, but only one prize for each.   Everyone has their personal favourite photos but thanks to the Lenzr Judges there are now four prize winners!   Congratulations to each winner,  and all other entries for their time and effort!

Objects in Motion

The MetroCity photo, taken by kevyn2992, is the prize winner of a Sony laptop. The photographer described with his photo “The quickest way to downtown Vancouver is riding above the streets. Here the people move fast and the weather changes fast too, so you better be ready to act and adapt to keep up.”
The overall Objects in Motion contest received 157 entrees and over 3,500 votes.  Then out of the top ten rated the judges determined MetroCity the winner. One of the judges, R. Carmichael wrote  ‘something eerily retro, yet remarkably modern juxtaposed upon a dark, storm, almost surreal weather-scape that is Vancouver. “  Another judge explained, “the train caught coming into the station contrasts nicely with the stationary platform and tracks.  The ominous clouds adds a good touch, as well.”

Also, an honorable mention goes to mitchelbriones.   His photo was a close tie with his photo titled,  Let’s Move it’s Summer, which is another awesome photo.  However, the judges determined MetroCity the winner with each judge having a second choice option voting in it’s favor.

Toronto Tourist Attraction

The Flatiron photo to the right by silversurfer71 was voted the best Toronto Tourist Attraction image.  The top ten voted Toronto Tourist Attraction photos were a competitive challenge with 49 photo entrees and almost 1000 votes. This picture was described as,  “one of the most pretty buildings in Toronto and that it reminds one me of a piece of pie.”  “This building is a icon of Toronto that represents a time that is long gone but not forgotten.  The composition is lovely.  Surreal.”

This was another hard decision for judges due to the amazing photos to choose from.  The photo to the right titled, Who is there?? by mr_slava came close to winning as well.  A judge wrote “the baby picture made me take a second look at exactly what was happening here.  I questioned myself as to what I was seeing.This in itself makes for a great picture as it keeps the viewer’s attention, making the guess what is happening.  Nicely done.”  Once again so many great photos to choose from.

Fireplaces and Furnaces

So many beautiful photos were entered into this photo challenge.  Even though the  Fire Places and Furnaces photo contests only had 27 entrees, it received over 530 votes.  Out of the top ten photos the judges determined the photo to the left, Summer Bonfire by Lefthook 25 the best photo and the prize winner of another Sony laptop.  The judges admired the capture of colours.  The use of blue hues is incredible.

Another photo mention in the photo contest goes to Hello Summer by Dasha for it was another almost tie with the winner, and This Band is Hot by j3ckl3r.  Both of these near misses images gave off a warm mood.   All the photos, especially the top ten, were incredible.

Haircuts and Hairstyles

Donna Dolphy was very impressed with the quality of Haircuts and Hair Styles that were uploaded into the contest. Her Yorkville salon is always interested in seeing new fashions and testing new hair styles on different shaped human heads. This contest was something akin to research for herself and her stylists.

This contest received 56 photo entrees and almost 800 votes.   The judges had a few favourites once again.   However, a final decision had to be made, and not everyone could win, so the winning photo is Colourful Braid by danielle-elise of Burlington.  “I liked the ponytail partly because of the cropping of the photo. It captures the purpose of the picture, which focuses on the hair.  The composition along with the nicely highlighted hair makes me give this one the thumbs up.”  judge Taku wrote.  Another judge liked the subtly of it.

Once again another mention goes to another close second silversurfer71 and his photo  Hawk and the Scarlet Dove, with comments from judges, “nice head what do you feed it!”   Another judge gave this feedback, “Nice job Silver Surfer.  The hair is great. The gritty dirt is awesome, the reflection in the sunglasses is almost out of this world.”

Lenzr judges were pleased with many of the photos that they had to choose from to pick from.   The competition was high.  Congratulations to all the finalists in each of the four contests.  Each photo deserves a mention of some kind for their creative risk taking and photographic skills.

The weekend is almost upon us and we wanted to update you on the progress of the contests.

The July/August 2011 session has been one of Lenzr’s most successful cycle ever. The number of photos and votes uploaded has been incredible and we are very happy with the participation levels. The more photos uploaded the more valuable Lenzr is as a story telling social media tool.

Fireplaces and Furnaces was an extreme challenge. It was about being creative and finding the right flame. It took contestants a lot of dedication and creativity to reach the top ten. Even though the Fire Places and Furnaces photo contests only had 27 entrees, it received over 530 votes. The online promotion for the photographs has been incredible.

Toronto Bed and Breakfast came to us after a lunch discussion in the office. With tourists around every street corner, this was the best time for this contest to launch. We felt this challenge would be fun and engaging, with 49 entrees and almost 1000 votes, we are confident that contestants agreed with us and had a blast snapping images around the city.

Haircuts and Hair Styles is a special contest because we don’t often have fashion related themes on our website. We wanted to see the best images of blunt, layered or styled hair. Participants eagerly accepted the challenge; the contest received 56 entrees and almost 800 votes. The Haircuts and Hair styles top 10 photographs showcase different funky haircuts.

The main goal of Objects in Motion is making an object look like they are zooming through a shot. This is the most successful contest we have ever had on Lenzr. Objects in Motion received 157 entrees and over 3,500 votes. This contest is very important to Lenzr because it lets us know what our participants enjoy and what they want to see more of. Thanks to everyone who participated or voted for the contests. We enjoy checking out your photographs and seeing them rise to the top. We do have two contests on the Lenzr website that you can still get involved in, make sure to check them out and discuss them on our forum.

Good luck to all participants with Top Ten photos. Winners announced September 1st 2011 right here on the Lenzr Blog.

 

These were the first four contests on the new website, and they shall always be remembered in screengrabs like this – they are forever preserved in the history of Lenzr, and will be added to the growing legacy of successful social media storytelling case studies.

The winners are:

Construction Sights: Congratulations, silversurfer71, your photo Total Destruction has won you a Sony laptop! Here’s what some of the Lenzr judges had to say:

“Although I’m generally not too partial to unrealistic HDR images, I like the composition of this picture the best. The black and orange arm in the front stands out and gives a sense of power with the torn down building in the background, supporting this feeling.”

“That’s a great image.”

“A fine superposition telling a story in one shot.”

Admin, Rob Campbell adds that the machinery looks like a prehistoric animal and with the machine in the background working on the building, it suggests that they are eating the concrete. This is not actually a construction site yet, its still a destruction site, and hence the name. The machines look like wild animals eating the buildings. Its an awesome picture and worthy of any Construction Company website – these are the types of images that Lenzr would someday like to license and make available to web developers.

Best Office Staff Party: Congratulations mr_slava, you’ve won a Sony laptop for your photo called ‘Get Into the Pool’. Here’s what some of the Lenzr judges had to say:

“Took me awhile to get it, but throwing people in the pool is fun. It’s happened to me before, when I was younger. He has to win!”

“Great picture – great entry. Mr Slava has the only picture worth considering memorable.”

“You can just picture what happens next with this one. The expression of the guy by the pool is a classic and tells us exactly what we all want to see, but are left to see it in our own imagination.”

 

A Counting Exercise: Congratulations silversurfer71, you’ve won again, this time by a landslide, with your photo ‘Air Time Math.’ Here’s what some of the Lenzr judges had to say:

“Beautiful action shot, and I love the way her outstretched arms are mirrored in the hopscotch drawing on the road.”

“First Pick is “Air Time Math” This photo shows counting starting at an early age. The photo is well composed. Funny how this pic reminds me of Sesame Street.”

“This is a great capture of the child in action. Her frozen in the air as she hops through the numbers is great. It’s such a playful image that captures the essence of counting by the numbers in the squares.”

“There is something innocent and compelling about a child at play. I think we all can relate to a good game of hopscotch. I found myself counting to myself when I observed this photo.”

Shafts of Sunlight:

Congratulations lemming, you’ve won a Sony Cyber Shot with your photo ‘Forestrays’. It was a close contest between this photo and Martin Savaria’s ‘National Highway 2′. Here’s what some of the judges had to say:

“… soft capture of morning sunlight. Nice colour and layout.”

“Breathtaking and captivating.”

“Shafts of light through trees in forests are always a classic. I can really get the feel of the emptiness of the forest with this picture. The sunlight looks almost a little surreal, as if it’s coming from heaven. A wider crop to the photo would have brought about a more expressive picture, but I still get a good warmth out of this one as it is.”

“It’s brilliant.”

CEO Rob’s reflections on the four July 2011 Lenzr Photo Contests:

CONSTRUCTION SIGHTS
The Construction Sights photo contest was a nice exercise in voyeurism. There were a lot of photos taken from the fence. It reminded me of a Dumpdiggers post about buying bottles in parking lots of excavation sites. I like construction sites and will go out of my way to look through the hole in the fence and peer down into the fresh concrete abyss, and see men working beside stacks of rebar, nailing together wooden forms or nowadays its insulated concrete forms and men without shirts laboring away and using their bodies to make things that will endure for three hundred years or maybe more… I’ve often wondered if the first skyscrapers will be deemed historical buildings and have people lobbying to save them? Do you think your children, or your children’s children will ever donate money to Save the Scotia Bank Tower fund? Will the tallest skyscraper today someday be dwarfed by the next generation’s monoliths?

BEST OFFICE STAFF PARTY
I gotta be honest, this was a bit of a disappointment for me, and in that reckoning I learned something. People generally are not comfortable posting pictures of their friends and co-workers going crazy in the office. And good for them – the last thing we want to do is be the lynchpin in some scandalous story emerging about misdeeds eye witnessed and made public in a Lenzr photo contest.
I expected to see more and better pictures here, but I was pleased with the Top Ten grouping overall. There are some fine snapshots visible and they are definitely more storyful, or full of story than average, so we got that part right. And regarding the Top Ten, I’ve read some of the Judge’s selections and, indeed, there’s a contest here.

SHAFTS OF SUNLIGHT
This was the spotlight of the summer so far. You know this match was on the back burner for two or maybe even three months before it ever launched? It was ghost contest. Shafts of Sunlight sat unpublished in the CMS of the previous Lenzr website, and the blog widgets would pick it up and show the same three images … But nobody could enter – the contest didn’t go live until June 1st on the new website.
At first this contest was just a collection of lens flares and foreground lighting affects at best, at worst in some shots including those I deleted and many that came afterwards, there were no noticeable shafts or flares beyond overexposure. However, the sponsor is very happy with the results of this contest and found the whole experience quite illuminating.

A COUNTING EXERCISE
The most successful Lenzr photo contest to date – count up the numbers! This contest has exceeded the previous record holder, Backyard Critters
by about another 25 images. It had 152 pictures total! And it attracted an amazing quality of originality – I was and will always be extremely proud of this contest for being so successful and imaginative, original and cool. That’s right, it was cool. We hit on something in the zeitgeist there – people do like to count things.

In fact, this contest was so well constructed, I want to show off my favourites of the ones that didn’t make the Top Ten images. Lenzr admin will give ‘honourable mentions’ which has never happened thus far in the entire history of the website, but some pics were so good I sat and marveled at them and wondered how to celebrate them and their creators:

Shark!!!

Great job Toylady.

Tam-Tadam-ta-Tadam

Terrific – perfect for the theme – this is something I would count ! Great job mr_slava
(Next time give it a better name that’s easier to write and to remember)

Plenty of Purple by kevyn2992

Awesome picture dude.

The sponsor , or actually it was Mark Goodfield, The Blunt Bean Counter, wrote a summary of A Counting Exercise, and included  his favourite pics (almost none of which made it into the top ten) and a general overview of the attraction.

Message from Rob Campbell
We’re just a small photo contest website that is growing slowly, painfully slowly. There are a couple dozen real obvious things I want to change about the new site and the same amount again of irritating things that I know could be improved. But the fixes are happening every day now and will continue until they are all completed, hopefully by the fall… and then we will probably evolve again.
The Lenzr estore will be called The Lenzaar or maybe The Bazr, I haven’t quite decided yet. In there will be a smattering of our clients’ products that we know will make great prizes in the free Community Contests. These will be for sale as prizes – when you buy the prize, the contest is free.
Custom Widgets? Yes – we are real excited about the idea of being able to offer custom widgets that display either the most recent three pictures, or the top three pictures, or perhaps just your own three pictures on your own website or blog. You will also be able to select the contests you wish to chronicle in your sidebar widget – or banner – or button display.
API – the ultimate customization is to be able to put the Lenzr photo contest software module on your own website and collect votes and comments and make that page of your own website relevant – and it will forever host a database of well optimized images directly related to your company’s products or services.
Post your picture to Facebook? Yes, and Tweet individual photos of course this is going to be available. And a monthly newsletter
We endeavour to become the world’s best and most well known photo contest manufacturer.

Andrew Blyskosz is Lenzr member Silversurfer71

Andrew is the big prize winner from the April-May 2011 photo contest series – this photographer took away two Sony Cybershot cameras!

Turns out he’s a video editor at Chorus Entertainment here in Toronto. He’s a witty guy, and a remarkably cool dude for someone who spends his life locked away in a sound proof box listening to cartoon characters and puppets talk to each other. That would drive me crazy. But fact is that Andrew is a very creative and imaginative photographer with serious skills, and lots of high quality friend power. He drives a hot car too, or actually its a cool car cause it’s a convertible, and when I met him in downtown Toronto on Tuesday 7th June 2011 it was perfect ‘top down’ weather.

Andrew is a natural networker. He knew what I looked like from reading this blog, but I didn’t know what he looked like.  So he found me at the rendezvous point and approached me with a smile and open arms like we were old friends. Friend power is required to get your pictures into the Top Ten of just about every featured Lenzr Photo Contest. Some people don’t like that fact, but there it is.

When there’s only five days left in the cycle, the voting ends and the Lenzr Judges deliberate over the best pictures in the Top Ten. That’s when art and skill and form really matters – with the introduction of the Judges, the best photos in the Top Ten now win the prizes.  Andrew won two contests!

Andrew tells me that he plans to give the second camera to his niece. And now that I’ve published that fact, he really can’t change his mind. He wouldn’t. He’s encouraging her pursuit of the arts and hopes the camera will stimulate her creativity.

The Shiny Metal Surfaces photo contest amassed 70 photos and 1323 votes

Silversurfer71′s picture  Cloud Gate – Millennium Park was a crowd favourite which proved most popular with the Judges too.

The Weather The Storm photo contest accrued 64 photos which attracted 1596 votes. It gave Lenzr contest marketers a perfect opportunity to talk about inclement weather and the safety and security of having a TOUGHROOF, which is the finest quality, most durable, and most cost effective commercial flat roof system here in Ontario, and all across Canada, at this time.

The winner was Rise of the Thunderhead by Silversurfer71

Above on the right is an image of a white flat roof here in Toronto after the storm. The white rubber asphalt surface is guaranteed for the life of the building.

The results are in, the Feb / March winning photos have been decided!

The February March photo contest period set many records. There were over 300 pictures entered into nine competitions. These submission collected over 10,000 votes! Lenzr’s judges had their work cut out for them picking only one winner in all nine challenges, especially when so many beautiful entries were submitted for each challenge.

Announcing Lenzr’s Latest Winners!

Take a look at our winners as well as a bit of commentary from our six fantastic Lenzr Judges:  Jacques Surveyer, Chris Kovacs, Brian and Joan Stirling, Marc Gendron and Matt Zielinski.

1.  On Stage At Home

The On Stage at Home photo contest attracted 21 photo submissions which garnered 775 votes.

Winning photograph: ‘Super Hero’ by sweatereyes.

The Judges wrote,

-the photographer has demonstrated great timing with this action shot

-well exposed and well frozen in time, no motion blur
-nice use of colour and light—the photo is not backlit which you might expect in a photo with a window in the background.

This photo references a movie called Kickass.

Following up on some concerns, we contacted sweatereyes and asked if the picture was indeed her own picture? a self portrait? how did she manage that? and this is what she wrote in her email reply,

Yes, that picture is an original.  The entire costume is hand-made by me (with the exclusion of the wig), and is based off of the character Kit Girl from Kickass.  The window is in my living room, and it is overlooking Dundas Street in London, Ontario.  This particular street is known for crime (drug deals, assault.. you name it), making it a suitable place for a super hero to keep watch.  The sign that is slightly visible in the photo (the pink and purple) is a lingerie store, and is what I am lucky enough to see out of every window in my apartment.  That is also me in the photograph, which resulted in a lot of me running back and forth.

Congratulations, sweatereyes, you’ve won a fabulous animal print rug courtesy of Stirling Home Studio, a veteran home stager in the competitive downtown Toronto condominium market.

2. Beautiful Factories

The Beautiful Factories photo contest is the successor to last session’s Broken Factories challenge, and the submitted pictures as numerous and equally beautiful.  This contest was successful in terms of overall participation with 33 images in contention and 1885 total votes.

Winning Photograph: ‘Five Roses’ by sarahgo

The Judges wrote,

-great exposure in tough lighting conditions
-simple and straightforward, but could be cropped
-good use of long exposure to bring out colour.

As the administrator, I must tell you all here that this photo was flagged by several members as being fraudulent. They believed the picture belonged to someone else who has the same Five Roses flour mill pic in his Flickr photostream and indeed his gallery shows several pics of the mill from a few different angles.  So we contacted the member, first name Sarah, and asked her to prove that this was indeed her image. She replied in great length and took the time to point out the differences in the pictures including exposure and star filters on lights – and oddly there were less lights on the building below the bridge in the other guy’s photo? Could they have changed the building in the time period between the shots? Weird.

Congratulations, sarahgo, you’ve won an Apple iPad!

3. Best Patio in Canada

The Best Patio in Canada photo contest on Lenzr accrued 26 photos and 776 votes.

Winning Photograph: ‘Distillery’ by Vagabondage_Press

Lenzr is located in the historic Distillery District and we know how many people wander around the property taking pictures. This place must be among the most heavily photographed areas of Toronto. Personally I find this photo is oddly depressing.  The boarded up bldgs in the background and empty streets are ‘sad’ to me. It looks like the kind of picture you’d see on an album cover of a county and western singer.

The Judges wrote,

-much character is illustrated in this photograph
-great capture of grittiness and durability

This contest was sponsored by Velago Patio Furniture here in Toronto and they’re standing by, ready to ship out a bistro table and two resin wicker chairs to the winner.  Like the furniture in this photo, these ‘durable’ pieces of outdoor furniture are made especially for Canadians. The material is designed to withstand the heat of our summers and the cold winters, ice snow and rain. The Velago Patio Furniture blog is interactive and informative homemade media art.  Go there and connect with Urs – he’s great fun. We show our other blog friends his portal because it’s so well constructed. His blog is a true labour of love from a skilled social media master at this patio furniture company.

Congratulations, Vagabondage_Press, you’ve won a patio furniture set! You and Urs will meet perhaps and I hope he writes a blog post about you and your fantastic, if slightly depressing image.

4. Making Green Power

The Making Green Power photo contest collected 19 photos and 443 votes. We expected more participation here but ended up with a nice healthy match. And it wasn’t all solar panes and windmills either, while they did make up the majoriy of the snaps, there was also an ethanol plant, some vegetable power a female mannequin wearing a dress made entirely of empty shotgun shells.

Winning Photograph: ‘Midnight Wind’ by smaku

The Judges wrote,
- great black and white photo with nifty smear of windmill vanes
- could be cropped
- a very creative entry for this contest
- well composed and captured

Congratulations, smaku, you’ve won an Escape 150 portable solar kit! This is an ultra portable, dependable and completely modular alternative energy system. This kit courtesy of Solarline Power: Ontario Microfit program. The Escape 150 is a small renewable energy device designed to provide electric power for the adventurer that travels light. The sophisticated unit will handily power all devices you bring along on your next camping trip, minor outdoor construction project, or mineral prospecting expedition. The system provides the traveler with 150 watt-hours of rechargeable power and features an integrated 80-watt inverter that provides regulated safe power while protecting your connected devices from power surges. Now you can harness energy collected by the Boulder 15M Solar Panel or quickly power up from a regular outlet to be used whenever or wherever you need it.

5. Reflections in Pools

The Reflections in Pools photo contest was a huge success. There were 86 photos uploaded in this competition and the match collected 2068 votes. That was the most participation  in all of the nine different contests. This challenge clearly struck a chord with people. Obviously every enjoys a good reflection.

Winning Photograph: ‘Shimmering Reflections’ by tluvr

The Judges wrote,

-fine exposure
-great composition given challenging conditions

Congratulations, tluvr, you’ve won an Olympus Stylus TOUGH-8800 underwater camera!

6. Up Against The Wall

The Up Against the Wall photo contest was another wildly successful web attraction. The idea of celebrating images that are shallow- focused on the subject with little or no depth of field was sufficiently intriguing as  71 photos were submitted and 3111 votes were registered.

Winning Photograph: ‘The Wailing Wall of Jerusalem’ by nkuchmak

You can read all about Nick Kuchmak on his World on a Toilet blog site; he was kind enough to leave us the address in his profile. We wish more folks would do that btw. Anyway you can learn a lot about Nick Kuchmak on the About page on The World on a Toilet website. There’s even a picture of the photographer. The site chronicles the recent experience he had backpacking around the world with his girlfriend.

The Judges wrote,

-both the wall and the subject have an emotional impact; lots of character
-very nice composition for what looks like an unprepared shot

My own thoughts were that the man was holding a cellphone, but when I looked closer, I could see that he had no phone but yet still seems to have a connection, a means of communication, with the wall.

Congratulations, nkuchmak, you’ve won a Sony laptop! Also I should mention here that we have invited Nick Kuchmak to become a Lenzr Judge, in honour of his winning two separate photo contests in one session.  He is considering it.

7. Soap Foam and Bubbles

The Soapy Foam and Bubbles photo contest was perhaps the most interesting match in the last photo contest period. There were 36 photos uploaded into the challenge and these images accrued 1287 votes.

Winning Photograph: ‘Hung to Dry’ by Vinzr

The Judges remarked,

-love the creativity of this photographer
-well captured and composed
-nice composition, original concept and otherwise a great picture.

When I followed up with Vinzr (we love  his name) to ask about a story behind the picture he explained,

Personally I think the picture is kinda ugly… sure it’s original yes, but not very pretty. I wouldn’t frame this shot, or hang this on the wall for example.  Although it doesn’t matter a lick I’ll tell you that my choice would have been Martin Savaria’s Bubble Bug that he only uploaded on the 23rd of March (and so it wasn’t even in the official Top Ten), but that shot is art.

However the majority of Judges picked ‘Hung to Dry’ so congratulations Vinzr, you’ve won a Sony laptop!

8.  People Dancing

In the competition called People Dancing, there were 13 photos submitted and 353 votes.

The Winning Photograph is called ‘Monk Dancing’ by nkuchmak

The Judges wrote,

-this shot captures the exuberance and physical exhilaration of dancing
-nice capture of the motion of the dancers and the concentration on their faces
-the shoes’ anachronism is amusing as well

Seattledredge’s picture of the couple dancing in the swimming pool was the runner – up.

Congratulations, nkuchmak, you’ve won two pairs professional dancing shoes! Because Nick is the photographer that recently backpacked all over the world with his girlfriend, now he can take her dancing in professional dancing shoes – unlike the sneakers seen on the dancers in the prize winning photo.

9. An Unlikely Marriage

The Unlikely Marriage photo contest was the most unusual of the session and required more than just good camera skills. This challenge attracted 49 submissions and 1783 votes. Each picture has some very obvious dichotomy.

Winning Photograph: ‘Barnyard Friends’ by paulinchains

The Judges wrote,

-impressive evening lighting, shows creativity
-well composed, nice camera angle

This contest was very popular, and there were incredible images, most notably an old tom cat eying a parrot,  a small Boston Terrier in love with a stuffed doll, and small boys and red cherries frozen in snow.

Congratulations, paulinchains, you’ve won an iPad! This barnyard love affair is intriguing and very well photographed.

Lenzr Celebrates Skill By Creating Tricky Themes and Difficult Challenges

We must repeat, the majority of the pictures uploaded in all nine contests were fantastic, and the Top Ten groupings have never looked better.

We should mention however that one of our judges, Jacques Surveyor noted  that he would have liked to have seen better cropping in many of the photos.  Most cameras today have zoom lenses and plenty of pixels, so he suggests zooming in closer to the point of interest or cropping the picture using photo editing software. Jacques plans to run a cropping tutorial on his Photo Finishes blog (just a tip for our next contest period). Finally, before we announce the winners, we’d like to thank everyone who participated in the contests this session. The sponsors are thrilled. Your input and creativity are greatly appreciated.

JUDGES: Thank so much to our fantastic panel of Judges for performing such a difficult task. And thanks again to you, Lenzr members who continue to surprise and delight us with your style and creativity. Stay tuned for next month’s contest for new challenges, great prizes and superb Canadian photography!

Lenzr members, let’s take stock of this session. As of today, March 17th 2011, there are over 250 photos in nine different challenges.  Contest veterans know that now is when things get really exciting on Lenzr.  Voting and racing pictures in the top ten is what a serial photo contest website is all about!

On March 15th 2011 the voting rainbows appeared under everyone’s pictures, and the game was officially ‘brung’.  The traffic jumped too. Currently the site is getting about 750 visits per day and everyone will be eager to see who wins the contests…

For anyone upset at themselves for not entering these matches, and thereby missing out on prizes like iPads, laptops and portable solar power kits, don’t admonish yourselves just yet.   You still have nine days to submit your best efforts before voting officially closes on Friday, March 25, 2011.

When the voting ends, the judging begins.  We put our trust in the authority of Lenzr Panel of Judges to decide the best pictures from the top ten user ranked images.  The winners to be named on Friday, Apr 1st.

A Review of the February March 2011 Photo Contests

Here are some of the administrator’s favourite photos alongside updates from the nine contests still accepting submissions. Click the pictures – they expand! If you’re one of the photographers whose image was selected to be part of this overview, Thank You… but please don’t get excited and think you’re winning. The contest administrators and bloggers have absolutely no say in who wins. We just like your pictures.

Beautiful Factories – Win an iPad! There have been 32 photos uploaded into the match. This lovely picture is entitled ‘Evening Quiet’ by Toylady, and it was selected for this blog post because of its unremarkable beauty that is strangely pacifying. The railroad tracks and bundles of ready stock by the back door of an assembly plant are oddly soothing to this author.  Is this the view from a train window? The lesson here is that beauty can be found in ‘unremarkable places’.

On Stage at Home –Win Animal Print Rug! This challenge has only collected 18 images so far  and lacks focus or imagination. Its disappointing for us truth be told. I know the contest director is upset with himself on this one, and he wishes he’d picked another idea. All the same, here’s a lovely shot called ‘Entertaining the Troops’ uploaded by rhaslam. We’ve had some interesting entries for this contest, but a quite few of them did not follow the, ahem, contest guidelines.  Although we stated that we wanted to see indoor photography featuring people entertaining people indoors (in an oversight that was never corrected the contest plate shot was exterior so we are to blame) . An entertainer performing an act for an audience. At home. That’s why this shot is good cause it follows the rules and is a little crazy.

Best Patio in Canada—Win Patio Furniture Set!  There are only 16 photos uploaded as of today and that’s a shame too.  We think it was cause of the word ‘best’. We learned that many people don’t believe their favourite patio is the best in Canada. ‘Open to the Public’ by smaku. This is good and was taken in Yorkville last summer. It’s a hot summer night in an upscale part of Toronto just north of Bloor at Avenue Rd.   This picture reminds this author of sidewalk cafes in Europe, but that’s different of course because you can drink beer at sidewalk cafes in most (all) countries in Europe.

..Making Green Power—Win a Portable Solar Kit!  There are only 12 photos uploaded and we were hoping for more ‘green innovation’.  Here’s a terrific black and white image of a rooftop solar play.  ‘Green City’ was uploaded by Scapevision. This contest is fairly straightforward; Lenzr loves green power and we believe the more images of green technology that are proliferating the internet, the better.  Show us windmills, solar panels or water mills. Sustainable energy is in style these days and Lenzr wants to see your creative spin.

Reflections in Pools—Win an Underwater Camera! Wow! There have been a whopping 71 photos uploaded so far and so many of them are fantastic. This will be a very interesting to see who wins and even the race to be in the top ten will be interesting.  Indeed this is a place where the top ten will have to promote their work and we’ll be watching for irregularities. Look here at this beauty called ‘Mississippi River’ that was uploaded by noremac854
This contest has received quite a few breathtaking entries already, but that doesn’t mean yours can’t still top them. With the rainy spring season here in Canada now there’s sure to be plenty of extra pools lying around in which to capture reflections.

Up Against the Wall—Win Sony Laptop! There have been 62 pictures submitted to the index. This is a very popular contest because lots of photographers are rising to the challenge of getting creative with the mandate.  This is portraiture 101.  By having a wall there can be no depth of field, but you know, as these photos prove, being able to stare off into infinity is just a distraction anyway. Take the time to peruse these sixty images and decide as a voter, is the photographer telling a good story?  Have a look at this gem that’s called  ‘Taffeta’ by Vagabondage_Press.  This artist has captured our thoughts by creating such a thought provoking image as this… Who is this woman? And why is she up against the wall?

Soapy Foam and Bubbles—Win Sony Laptop! There have been over 30 pictures uploaded.

Here a dazzling shot called ‘Swirly Reflections’ by sammmizzle. There’s no doubt about it, this picture is the work of a skilled bubble smith. Capturing such foamy physics on digital cameras requires skill and agility.  Lenzr has received some really wonderful uploads in this contest, and we’re looking forward to the late arrivals too.  Is the best yet to come?

People Dancing—Win Two Pairs of Professional Dancing Shoes. There have been 12 photos uploaded and that’s very surprising. There should be more, considering it’s easy to take pictures of people dancing and the prize of winning two pairs of professional dancing shoes is really quite excellent. Those shoes are expensive, and cool.  Here’s a cheery wide shot called  ‘HOORAY!’ that was uploaded by zoe302.  The most authentic dancing pictures are the ones which depict movement; this gravity-defying jump is very intriguing.

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An Unlikely Marriage—Win an iPad! There have been 41 pictures entered into this creative drama, and they are a fascinating blend of genius .
Take this ‘old pier meets NY skyline’ by tornadodamage. This black and white shot marries old wood with the distant concrete skyline.

To all the contest entrants, good luck.

Remember it’s perfectly acceptable to link to  your images on Facebook and Twitter and promote your pictures and ‘campaign’ to be included in the top ten images.  We watch for fraudulence though and are pretty good at spotting deceptions.

To all Lenzr member that have uploaded images and to those waiting for the weekend, good luck!

PETS IN WINTER COATS photo contest winner heidip, her husband Ken, and canine family member Rocco proudly display their red electric snow blower. The LENZR photo contest requested photographers of all levels to submit pictures of their pets in their winter fashion outfits. Many of us have canine family members in society today and take measures to protect them. This contest celebrated the protection from extreme temperatures and inclement weather necessary for our furry family in the Canadian winter climates. Looking at the Lenzr contest photo submissions for the Pets in Winter Coats challenge, you can see the best outfit compliments their friendly personalities and also keeps them warm and safe. Well, Heidip’s photo of her beagle Rocco proved to be smartly dressed for the prairie winter. He was definitely dressed to impress with his knit sweater and bundled scarf.

Voting began on November 20, 2010 and the highest ranked photo won the Craftsman snow blower prize when the contest ended December 1, 2010. The contest was open to all Canadians age 13 years and older. The photograph of Rocco proved to be a favourite of the viewers with a final score of 1017.7 votes. The whole Pets in Winter Coats photo contest attracted 3500 votes and had 19 photos submissions.

This photo contest was sponsored by an exceptional snow removal company The Snowmen, servicing Pickering, Ajax and Whitby in south eastern Ontario. They’re well staffed and equipped to plow everything from the smallest residential driveway to the largest commercial parking lots.

The Snow Blower Prize arrived Dec 28th, 2010

The prize winner, Heidi Pawluk and her dog waited in anticipation for their snow blower in their Winnipeg home. “What better time than now for our Canadian winter” said Heidi. When asked about the arrival of her snow blower prize to Winnipeg she had mentioned that the Craftsmen snow blower arrived and her hubby Ken and pooch Rocco eagerly put it together. Rocco the beagle photo model had to help out in the easy assembly as well by having his nose in every part sniffing with sheer delight of the future winter possibilities with the new snow blower. Heidi said that Craftsmen snow blower was quite easy to assemble with straight forward instructions and is light-weight and easy to use. She also claimed that the fact that it’s electric was another fantastic feature that she loved. One just plugs it in and was all set to go, and of course it is environmentally friendly. Heidi’s husband Ken is looking forward to using the snow blower in their snowy city on the Canadian prairies. Canine Rocco is even more delighted than Ken because he will be able to clear some amazing paths through the snow for this furry hound to explore during the winter blizzard months. “Clearing the snow will be a breeze with this great win of a Craftsmen snow blower” said Ken.

Three photo contests ended on Jan 1st 2011. Sand Dollars seen above, won the designer swimwear prize in the Canadian Beaches photo contest.

Canadian Beaches collected 73 photos from Lenzr members. This body of work was voted on 1084 times by members and their friends. The marvelous image by Cltikal, entitled Sand Dollars, was shot on the beach at Tofino British Columbia, and had the highest score of 154.7 points out of 402 total views.

A sand dollar is a marine animal that resembles a large coin. Sand dollars belong to a class of animals known as Echinoids and are close relatives of the sea urchin and starfish. Many people are familiar with sand dollars that have washed up on the beach, becoming bleached by the sun to a light sandy color. The ones above are probably still alive, and their presence nicely illustrates the flat sandy expanse of that coastline in Tofino, British Columbia, Canada. Well done Cltikal.

From what could have been the same roll of film, Cltikal also won the Making It Beautiful photo contest for the image of a man drawing a heart in the sand of the beach. Same beach? probably.

The Making It Beautiful contest had some incredible images uploaded to the index, which numbered 41 photos in total. The collection was voted upon 1107x and Cltikal’s winning photo, Writing in Sand finished with a score of 142.7 out of 555 total views. The caption reads, The beach is already a beautiful place but why not make your own mark on it with a gesture of love!

Congratulations again Cltikal, you will be mailed a gift pack containing approx $500 worth of Aveda beauty products. Stay tuned for that exciting blog entry in the near future.

Other noteworthy images that must be mentioned would include Doing what you love by pamela-mark, and there is something perfectly wonderful about the green colours and childlike simplicity of MrBishop‘s See Turtle. My personal favourite from the entire contest was Martin Savaria‘s Good dogs, which features a man sculpting two massive pack animals out of snow.

Broken Factories photo contest collected 33 pictures which then earned 1193 votes by members and visitors to the website. The winner was No Trespassing, a black and white ghostlike image from a Vancouver shooter named Chris Kovacs.  The picture has the description, “The remains of an insane asylum from the late 1800′s which later became a storage facility.” Its all rather haunting.

NOTE ABOUT FUTURE JUDGING

This is the last time that Lenzr photo contests will be conducted without ‘judging’ by sponsor and admin. Starting Feb 1st, at least one judge but preferably a body of judges will select the winning photo from the Top Ten, which are decided by voting on site.

Lianne’s Snail Trail wins Lenzr’s Backyard Critters Contest

The Backyard Critters contest in November was one of Lenzr’s most popular photo contests yet, with more than 130 contestants and over five thousand votes. Liane‘s winning photo, Snail Trail, captured the hearts of voters with her adorable cross-eyed daughter Isabelle and a nose-occupying snail. It garnered over 637 votes.

Congratulations, Lianne, on winning this popular event. Your grand prize of an Apple iPad is waiting to be claimed. We’re sure that you’ll love your prize as much as Isabelle loves her snails!

Roxxyroller wins Concrete Ideas and Colourful Houses

“A Beauty of Concrete” for Concrete Ideas

“Colourful House in Cuba” for Colourful Houses

Roxxyroller is the winner of not one but two photo contests this month! She ranked first in both the Concrete Ideas contest as well as the Colourful Houses contest.

The Concrete Ideas photo contest showcased 77 amazing photos with more than 2833 votes that really captured the charm of various buildings, structures, and roads. The Colourful Houses photo contest had over 54 submitted photographs and 2151 votes. With more than two thousand votes on both contests, they proved to be favourites among Lenzr visitors.

Congratulations to Concrete Ideas’ winner, roxxyroller, with the photo, “A Beauty of a Concrete”. The snapshot of a rundown building in Varadero collected over six hundred points. The second winning photo, “Colorful House in Cuba” for Colourful Houses, made the top score of 371.4. Her photo is an interesting shot of a red, yellow, and blue building complex. Roxxyroller, we hope you enjoy your two grand prizes of an Apple iPad!

Heidip’s Beagle Proves to Be Smartly Dressed

Lenzr’s third photo contest last month was one that warmed our hearts. Pets In Winter Coats attracted close to 1500 votes among the 19 photo submissions.

The lucky winner is heidip with her photo, Dressed – Prairie Winter, which shows her beagle Rocco dressed to impress in his knit sweater and bundled scarf. It proved to be a fan favourite with a final score of 1017.7 votes.

Heidip, we hope that you and Rocco will enjoy your red electric snow blower this winter.

Seattleredge Takes a Dive With Water on Skin

Lenzr’s Water on Skin photo contest had 28 contestants and over 325 votes. The winning photo belonged to seattledredge, with “The Dive”. Taken in Waterford, Ontario, the image shows the silhouette of a woman gracefully gliding in aqua water. It scored a grand total of 89.5 points, bringing it to the top of the ranks.

Congratulations Seattledredge on winning the grand prize of $500 worth of Soya Boutique skincare products!

A big thank you to all contestants and voters.

Be sure to visit Lenzr.com regularly to follow up on our current and upcoming contests! We currently still have three contests running throughout the month of December, so make sure to check them out!

The above three contests will run until January 1st, 2010 and voting will begin December 20th. Click on the contest template above for more details.