On September 28th 2009 at a Starbucks in Mississauga Steven Prentice the CEO of Bristall Morgan Inc met a Toronto photographer named Mario Pirraglia who was the winner of the Emergency in Toronto photo contest this summer.

Mario Pirraglia (mpirra on Lenzr) is a business executive in the natural gas vehicle industry who travels extensively for business. A passionate shutterbug his job gives him the opportunity to expand his travel photography portfolio.

Mario’s photo, Firefighter saving lives carried the caption, “Toronto Firefighter returning from a fire” and soon collected 55 green thumbs up to win the challenge on August 31st 2009.

When I asked Steven Prentice to describe the encounter and Mario (as well as obtain the photos seen here) he wrote this terrific account,

It was a really great experience. Mario and I met at a Starbucks in Mississauga and chatted for an hour and discovered we had a great number of things in common, including a love of cars, playing music, photography, and expensive watches. I was truly fascinated to learn about his business and about alternate sources of energy (sounds like I’m writing a grade 8 essay here), but given that we were complete strangers at the start, I really felt it was an hour well spent, and hopefully Mario is someone with whom I can keep in touch.

To use a photographic analogy that I have used for many years, it’s what I call the “Polaroid effect.” When you meet someone for the first time, the slate is quite blank and can remain that way, but as you talk, the colours appear…  That’s one of the great things about meeting people and about taking the time - in the true spirit of Time Management - to slow down and enjoy a slice of their life.

I enjoyed the whole experience of sponsoring this contest, and hopefully Mario will be coming out to see one of my band’s performances, and maybe taking a few pix. After all, he’s well qualified.

Lenzr agrees. He wins the grand prize, seen here, an Esquire Verve 2020 mens’ watch.

Here’s Mario Pirraglia (mpirra on Lenzr.com) of Toronto relaxing last week in Berlin, Germany.

He’s thrilled to have won the prize, a luxury watch, while away on vacation. So far during this trip he’s been in Turin, Berlin, Helsinki and Zagreb. Next week he will be in Bolzano, Northern Italy and in Vevey, Switzerland. And finally after that he’ll be heading home to claim his prize as winner in the Lenzr photo contest.

Emergency in Toronto had 14 photos and 269 total votes. This was the hardest challenge but yet this was the contest that turned the most heads as people marveled at the quality of the submissions.  Photos like Mario’s prize winner add value to the entire site.

Mario’s photo, Firefighter saving lives carried the caption, “Toronto Firefighter returning from a fire” and soon collected 55 green thumbs up to win the challenge on August 31st 2009

Mario Pirraglia is a business executive in the natural gas vehicle industry that travels extensively for business. A passionate travel photographer, this gives him the opportunity to expand his portfolio.

The winning photograph entitled Firefighter saves lives was taken in 2003 during a fire in a high rise on Bloor Street just west of Keele.

The firefighter in the picture had just exited from the building after extinguishing a healthy blaze and rescuing an older gentleman from certain death.

Mario adds, “Firefighters are true heroes. I decided to highlight the firefighter by keeping him in colour while making the background black and white. This is an effect that I use quite often, and it’s one that you either love or hate.”

Congratulations Mario, your Esquire Verve luxury watch and time management guru Steven Prentice, the CEO of Bristall Morgan and the author of Cool Time will be waiting here in Toronto to present it to you upon your return.