On Stage At Home Contest Winner !!

On Stage At Home was a perfect photo opportunity for Sweater Eyes to enter her “Kit Girl” photo. She was pleasantly surprised to find out that she actually won the prize. The competition was set high with a large amount of photo submissions. She originally had her photo posted on a photography project blog:
http://sweatereyes.wordpress.com.   She made a typo and her photograph was named “Kit Girl” when submitted to Lenzr but it was actually intended to be named “Hit Girl”.  She gives photo credit for this image to her partner, Korpolfr.  She was kind enough to send Lenzr a kind of silly, promotional shot of the prize winner Sweater Eyes with her catopus creations that she mentions later.  They are not the technical zebra print rug that was the original prize offered, but she was thrilled with the prize alternative non the less.  The prize money allowed her to create her own whimsical creations for her budding new innovative business.

Here is what Sweater Eyes had to say when we asked for verification that she received her contest prize and how she felt about being a Lenzr contest winner:

“I heard about Lenzr and the contest on a photography network site, someone posted in the forums, a website that had photography contests that were only open to Canadians. I was pretty excited, but really skeptical… there had to be a catch, or an entry fee.. something… but there wasn’t. I think I actually entered 3 or 4 contests on Lenzr during that time period. When my picture was in the final top 10 in the At Stage At Home contest, I didn’t really expect to win. I thought that my photograph “Hit Girl” (oh by the way, I realize I made a typo way back when and said “Kit Girl” instead.. but it is “Hit Girl”) was too abstract from the theme, and then there was the fact that people were confusing my photograph with being an actual movie screen shot. I almost didn’t even get the first e-mail from you asking if the photograph was an original, as it was sent my junk mail. I’m definitely happy that I noticed it, and that I replied right away (hence the messy spelling). But I was really excited when I found out that I won, although I must admit that I felt really awkward too.. I wasn’t sure the proper way to react, and I’m actually a really shy person. I was also really nervous that people would be angry, thinking that I didn’t deserve to win. When the “critiques” were posted on the Lenzr blog, it made me feel better because I knew that my photograph won because of various reasons, and no one seemed angry (I’m probably just paranoid).”

Prize Making Catopus

Sweater Eyes had more to say about her prize.  “When you asked if it was okay to send me money instead of a rug, to be honest I was a little relieved. I made good use of my prize, and it could not have come at a better time. Since January I had been working like crazy to launch my personal business at the beginning of April, at a horror convention in London, Ontario. As a multi-media artist, I work primarily in photography and hand-sewn soft collectible sculptures. My favourite, and I suppose “trademark” (although it is not actually trademarked) items are a chimera creatures called a catopus (it is half cat and half octopus). This prize allowed me to properly launch my business: I have my own domain name for my official website, I ordered professional business cards, and I’m currently in the process of registering my business with the government of Canada. Those things would not have been possible this quickly if it had not been for Lenzr, so Thank You. This puts me more than half a year ahead of my original business plan and schedule. It has always been my dream to be able to have my own business, so that I can continue making art, and this entire experience has been such a great help.”

There was some  controversy at the end  of the May June 2010 photo contests, but the  official results in the Lenzr machine are as follows:

Crowded Places had the most participation with 46 PHOTOS UPLOADED | TOTAL VOTES 1828.

Ve3bnw Bill Watson wins the brand new Blackberry Curve courtesy of Innate Media Group for having submitted the first place photo in the Crowded Places photo contest. Bill’s aerial photo of the Rockton Worlds Fair is quite interesting and was well received, collecting 270.2 points, the most in category.  The image was clearly taken from the sky, and so is most likely a product of Bill Watson’s remote controlled helicopter gunship and budding aerial photography business. This smart phone will certainly come in handy for the high flyer.

50 Going On 15 was won by Mommakoala, AKA Debbie Watson, Bill Watson’s wife. This long standing member of Lenzr is a Hamilton resident and part time nurse and passionate photographer. She takes imaginative pictures and has a knack for writing good titles and captions. Her ‘No Pesky Neighbours’ photo won the first Ontario Tourist Attractions photo contest on Lenzr on November 1st 2009.

Portable Luxury was won by Seattledredge when Mommakoala’s photo was deleted by admin with only 15 minutes left in the competition.  It was indeed an ugly finish to what had been a close struggle. This strange but not unwarranted eventuality is explained in great detail in What Happened to Mommakoala’s Candy Stash? The account proferred along with an apologetic  explanation and rare glimpse into the world of the Lenzr admin. Remember we are all trying to achieve something that has never occurred before, a perfectly democratic contest community where business sponsors art.

The contest itself collected a lot of very strange and amusing ideas relating to our human notions of luxury, and what it means to move your comfort zone. There were 17 PHOTOS UPLOADED | TOTAL VOTES 680.  The Portable Luxury photo contest started late and that’s why the numbers were relatively low, but the prize is the greatest gift that has ever been shared by the site admin on the behalf of Lenzr’s most generous sponsor to date.

Seattledredge plus one guest have won three days and

two nights in Las Vegas courtesy of a portable toilet rentals business in Toronto ItsMyPotty.com

Perhaps the answer to the eternal question “which smart phone should I choose, iPhone, Blackberry or Palm Pre?” has finally been answered.

Snickerzmom, who could have had any make and model, chose a new 16GB 3GS iPhone. The really interesting thing is that she already has an iPhone,  and yet she chose it again… What does that tell you?
Thursday Sept 3rd, 2009 inside the Rogers center at the Arriba restaurant at a cozy table by the window overlooking the Blue Jays practice before their game with the New York Yankees, Paul Peic of myCELLmyTERMS.com produces the grand prize for Snickerzmom and Dad.

Paul wrote about the Lenzr photo contest on The Cell Phone Blog, which is fast becoming a terrific niche destination for all Canadian cell phone users

What an amazing photo finish for Lenzr, Summer in Toronto July to Sept 2009

What a perfect end to a beautiful story about a web savvy woman with a camera phone seizing an opportunity to win another camera phone that’s made even more powerful by the recurring Blue Jays game motif. Is this true social media? You bet.  She couldn’t done it without her friends.
Colleen Cole of Brampton Ontario harnessed her friends on other social networks and brought them to the site, directly to her image using the link available on the vote page. Dad at The Game totaled 112 green thumbs up. Not bad considering there were 58 pictures and over 3700 votes.

The first photo contest on Lenzr was won with this photo.   Dad has the same enthusiastic expression on his face in every shot.

You can follow Talking Colleen on Twitter and find out more about the contests she enters there and what’s new with her ‘BF and three cats’.

There will be more information regarding the other two contest winners, and three new contests and sponsors and the changes that have been made to  Lenzr.com in the days to come.