The 2012 Toronto Christmas Market is distilled from the old school European – style festive organization that brings together culturally rich family entertainment including musicians, carolers and children’s choirs. These markets originated in Germany, beginning in the early 1400?s, and are now being held in many countries all over the world, and this is arguably Canada’s biggest and best example. You can follow the Toronto Christmas Market on Twitter @TOChristmasMkt

This is a world class shopping destination. The stuff sold here is very rare and special as merchants must apply and are selected by jury for the right to sell unique products all along the different streets. The Distillery District is playing host, for the third year in a row to this festive extravaganza that is expected to bring three hundred thousand people to the compound.

Lowe’s 2012 Toronto Christmas Market has a photo contest and you could win $250 cash or dinner in any of three world class Distillery District Restaurants!

Check the 2012 Toronto Christmas Market Photo Contest on Lenzr, or visit the Toronto Christmas Market website.

Sponsored by Toronto.com, this photo contest allows attendees to compare notes. Last year this same call-to-action collected over 300 pictures, which in turn accrued over seven thousand votes as folks laboured to get their pics up into the Top Ten to be eligible for the grand prize.

Prizes for the 2012 competition are as follows,

Winner will receive a $250.00 cash prize,

2nd place will receive a $150.00 Distillery Restaurant gift certificate

3rd place will receive a $100.00 Distillery Restaurant gift certificate.

RULES

Upload original photos now and until December 25th

Voting begins December 15th and ends midnight Dec 25th

Top ten images advance to judges. *Sponsor is Judge, Here is a link to the Term of Use page unique to this contest. Winner announced on Lenzr blog Jan 1st 2013. Lowe’s 2012 Toronto Christmas Market event runs from Friday Nov 30th to Sunday December 16th, 2012 at The Distillery District, Must Be 13yrs older to enter – gift certificates and cash prizes will be mailed anywhere in Canada only. Good luck!

Lenzr’s Landscaping and Lawn Care photo contest wants to savour what’s left of the green grass and blooming flowers of summer. Do you or does someone you know have a perfectly manicured property that deserves to be remembered forever in a photograph? Is there a public space in Toronto that you feel has achieved excellence in landscaping design? Landscaping is an art, using organic, living materials and colors to express a wide variety of symbols and feelings. Send in your best shot of your favourite green space and you could win a great prize!

The prize is $250 worth of gardening tools, courtesy of the contest’s sponsor, a 100% emissions free property maintenance company located in the GTA.

Lenzr’s Canadian Harvest photo contest is set to collect autumn stories from all across Canada. Harvest time is different from coast to coast, and Toronto has its own unique way of expressing the season. Kids on tours at Riverdale Farm, families walking under a canopy of bright red leaves in High Park, trips to apple orchards, or little towns in the country for a fall fair–these are all ways the modern Torontonian may experience the Canadian Harvest.

The prize for this contest is $400 plus a photo licensing contract with the contest’s sponsor Nora Camps, a brand personality consultant who specializes in coming up with marketing solutions for charitable and not-for-profit agricultural organizations. She is looking for a harvest-themed photo for her website; the winning photographer will be published online and scoop up $400 cash.

Avant-garde structures like the ROM are exactly what Lenzr’s judges are looking for in the Metal World photo contest. If you’re a photographer who prefers to shoot in black and white, this could be your opportunity (along with the metallic world you shoot) to shine! Metallic structures have a decidedly futuristic feel about them and in most cases they’re cold and rather impersonal–try to capture these qualities and you may win a great prize!

The prize is a Sony laptop with a unique metal skin, courtesy of this contest’s sponsor, an Ottawa metal roofing company.

All three of these contests started September 1, 2011. Voting begins on October 15, after which the top ten user-ranked photos advance to the Lenzr judges. The winning photographs will be announced November 1, 2011.

A Manufacturing Process:

The first contest is called A Manufacturing Process. Lenzr was approached by a software company for help finding images for the process manufacturing and lean manufacturing pages. The winners of this contest will receive a 3 year licensing agreement for photo use (not exclusive) and $250. Take pictures of a machines during their robotic work. A great example is bottles waiting to be labeled. The software company is also offering $75 to three other members for their photos. This contest is strictly for professionals, if you think you have the talent to win it, then enter now.

Classy Summer Drinks:

The second contest is Classy Summer Drinks. Capture the essence of summer time in a glass. This is one my favortie constests because it’s a great way to end the summer. I spent a lot of time this summer on patios enjoying cold drinks to cool down.  It can be a fruity drink or simply citrusy. Show Lenzr how you spent your summer and how you cooled down from the heat. Don’t forget to add some ice to your drink, the sponsor of this contest, a stainless steel ice cube tray knows the importance of the great chill . The winner of this contest will get $400 worth of product from the sponsor’s catalogue. The choice is yours. I would love new stainless steel items for my kitchen.

Both contests started on August 1st 2011. Just like all Lenzr contests, this is a 60 day challenge. Voting for the top 10 photos begins on September 15th but you can upload pictures until the 25th of the same month. The judges will deliberate and announce the winner October 1st.

Fireplaces and Furnaces Photo Contest:

The first contest is Fireplaces and Furnaces. Since it’s so hot outside, Lenzr is trying to cool you down by having you think back to the cold winter. Submit photographs of you in a cozy scene. You can be getting all nice and warm around a fireplace or furnace. The winner of this contest will get a Sony Laptop courtesy of an Ontario furnace installer. The summer season is, after all, the cheapest time to think about a furnace replacement or installation.

Toronto Tourist Attractions Photo Contest:

The second contest is all about Toronto Tourist Attractions. Everywhere I go in Toronto, I hear accents and different languages. It is tourist season but I guess I never realized how big of a “tourist” hub Toronto has. Our city does have a lot of attractions to offer visitors–the islands alone are great and appealing to both locals and tourists. Let’s all celebrate the beauty of Toronto! Submit the type of photo you would like in a travel publication. The winner of this contest will receive a Sea Eagle inflatable kayak courtesy of a Toronto B&B that’s as downtown as you’ll find in Canada’s largest city.

Haircuts and Hairstyles Photo Contest:

The third contest is by far my favorite this month. It’s all about Haircuts and Hairstyles. I know a lot about that, I’ve had some of the worst and best hair jobs, so I feel like I can relate to this challenge comfortably. The idea is to capture a beautiful, unique or iconic hairstyle, with the haircut as the main focus of your photograph. The prize is also incredible–you win a high-end blow dryer and flat iron courtesy of a new Yorkville Salon. You can also use the flat iron create beautiful waves, making it a 2 in 1, a curler and flat iron.

Objects in Motion Photo Contest:

The fourth contest that has been added is Objects in Motion. This photo contest is a bit of a challenge and in my opinion you might need a professional camera to get the winning shot. You must capture an object, person or animal in motion. Be sure your photograph indicates which direction your object is moving in. The winner will receive a Sony laptop courtesy of an international air freight company that’s constantly keeping objects in motion over land, sea and sky.

Be sure to enter your photographs before August 25^th. Judges will deliberate and choose the photograph from the top ten. The winner will be announced on September 1^st.

Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival comes to Toronto May 1^st to May 31^st . The world’s largest photography festival features more than 1000 local, national and international artists at more than 200 venues across the GTA. Come be part of the excitement by witnessing captivating and thought provoking photos.

The new CONTACT NAV mobile app quickly links you to information and exhibits near your location. Take in all the festival has to offer by downloading the free CONTACT NAV mobile app at scotiabankcontactphoto.com. The mobile app will be available for download mid to late April.

Location: Various venues across Toronto
Date: May 1st – May 31st
Time: Varies based on exhibition see scotiabankcontactphoto.com for details

On Stage at Home:

On Stage at Home is an exciting and interactive way to capture some fun. A number of memories are made at home, relaxing with your friends, having a couple of drinks, and talking about your day. Capture these moments and share them with Lenzr. Invite your closest friends to enjoy a night in with you. Play some charades, or rock band, and top of the evening with a great bottle of wine. This home stager contest focuses on group fun. Take pictures of your night and send them in to Lenzr for a chance to win an animal skin rug courtesy of a home staging company downtown Toronto.

Best patio in Canada:

We often hear arguments over The Best Patio in Canada. This contest is great because it gets you to share and help finally put an end to the debate. With all of us wishing for the summer to come faster, this contest soothes the pain of the cold outside. The idea is to send in pictures of your favorite patio in Canada. It can be from the time you were in Vancouver on a business trip, or the time you decide to relax in the hot heat on king St. after a day at the office. What is so special about this patio? Is it the scenery? The street? Or the special drinks? Send in a picture of your favorite patio and you can win a set of patio furniture courtesy of Velago Patio Furniture

Beautiful Factories:

Finding the beauty in a factory is not as hard as you imagine. Beautiful Factories can be found in different ways, it can be teamwork, efficiency or even machines working with manufacturing software. It is about finding a special unique side to your favorite factory. The prize for this contest is an Apple iPad courtesy of Solarsoft in Richmond Hill.

Unlikely Marriage:

This one is my favorite, Unlikely Marriage,it is a fun way to get your creative juices going and think outside the box. It is all about finding a unique marriage between opposite things. It can be a cat and dog, an elephant and mouse (if you can find two to stand next to each other) or serving only chicken at a vegetarian outing (an event planner’s nightmare). This contest also gets you a nice win, an Apple iPad courtesy of a marriage counselor office downtown Toronto.

People Dancing:

We all do this on the weekends, dancing is a way to relieve stress and relax. People Dancing can consist of what ever dance move you like. Anything will work for this contest. You don’t need to be a pro or take dancing classes. Anything goes, it can be the samba, tango or just a good ol’ night out. Take a picture of you dancing with your partner or with some friends. Send it in to Lenzr to get the chance to win 2 pairs of dancing shoes from a dance studio downtown Toronto. Soap Foam and Bubbles: You also need to think out side the box in order to win the Soap Foam and Bubbles contest. Next time you do the dishes don’t reach out to pop the bubbles, instead take pictures of them. It sounds simple, but it is actually insanely hard to catch a shot of a bubble, they have a very short life span. You need to play this one close to the beat. Prepping is key to win this. The idea is to capture your best image of a soap bubble. It can be you spending some time outside blowing bubbles for fun or cleaning the house and capturing the bubbling action in the process. The win is a Sony laptop courtesy of a rigid foam insulation company.

Up Against the Wall:

Up against the Wall is my second favorite contest out of the nine. I think it’s a lot of fun because I find beauty in vintage and old images. It is wonderful to think about the history behind a building or home. This contest asks contestants to take pictures of things up against walls with character. It can be the cracks, bricks or color that sets your picture apart from others. The wall acts as an accessory to your image. You can use it as a contrast or to blend in the image you use against it. You get the chance to win a Sony laptop courtesy of a company that specializes in wall systems in Toronto.

Reflections in Pools:

This is again one of those contests that will ease the winter blues. The contest Reflections in pools, help calm the mood and relax the muscles. You need to take a picture of a reflection in a pool of water, it can be of whatever you’d like. Swimming pools need to make up the body of water. It can be a ripple or people enjoying a swim. You can win an Olympus 8800 underwater camera courtesy of a landscaping company in Toronto.

Making Green Power:

Last but not least is Making Green Power Photo Contest. This contest is all about how far we as humans have come to making green power. With programs such as the Ontario MicroFIT, we are making strides towards making our energy more environmentally friendly. Take pictures of how far we have come. It can be of windmills, waterwheels or solar panels. Be creative and show Lenzr and their judges your image. it can be improvements you have made towards your carbon footprint. The prize for your participation is a portable solar kit. After using it for a couple of weeks, it will be hard to live without. Even though the contests have already started, voting doesn’t begin until march 15th. You still have time to submit and think up ideas for your win. Open to all Canadians (excluding residents of Quebec) 13 years of age or older.

Lenzr Photo Contest Website Celebrates Twenty Five contests with five new offerings…

The Backyard Creatures photo contest, sponsored by a metal roof company asks photographers to submit images of animals trespassing in ‘your own backyard’. Don’t worry if it isn’t really your yard. Just snap pictures of squirrels, raccoons, birds… you get the idea. Remember Lenzr is 100% user driven which means the members upload the photos and pick the prize winners, completely independent of admin or any overriding authority. This is one of three contests where you could win an Apple iPad if your picture gets the most votes by December 1. Easy.

Concrete Ideas photo contest is perfect for urban dwellers. Snap artistic shots of concrete (buildings, pillars, statues, roads, etc.) and you’ll be eligible to win. This one is sponsored by a company that makes insulated concrete forms. Don’t worry, you don’t need to know what those are — just enter the contest!

Colourful Houses photo contest pretty much speaks for itself. Send in photos of bright properties for a chance to win a sexy iPad courtesy of a company that makes durable and long lasting PVC trim as a building alternative to less-sturdy wooden trim.

Lenzr sponsors give away Apple iPads because people with iPads are cool, right?

That’s the perception anyway; the cool factor is enormous. And even if that’s not entirely true, having an iPad certainly gives you an effective way to show off how cool you want to be by the stuff you read aloud, and show off to your friends and strangers in public. Like, imagine being that dude sitting in the local coffee shop drinking a fair trade Americano and reading Esquire on your iPad. Sexy, right? Or picture being that chick with her latte (heart-in-foam on top, of course) Twittering cultural insights on your iPad. Irresistable, no? The caveat? iPads are kind of pricey. The upside? Lenzr has five new photo contests running in October/November and THREE of them offer chances to win Apple iPads. Even complete doorknobs that are found laughing aloud while browsing in public on their iPads look cool. Their behavious solicits an emotional response from people sitting around them. You want some more good news? Tomorrow, on your Apple iPad, you’ll be able to enter for a chance to win even more iPads on Lenzr.

And don’t forget about the red electric snow blower!

The last contest on Lenzr in November, ends December 1st, is something special called Pets in Winter Coats. This challenge is collecting images of well loved animals proudly displaying man-made garments over top of the coats that God gave them. One of those cats, dogs and pet raccoons could be your own!

Upload your best pictures before the voting begins November 20th, 2010 and you could win the red electric snow blower seen opposite courtesy of a reliable snow removal company that services Ajax, Pickering, Whitby and Oshawa. This region of Ontario receives more precipitation than average because of their location in relation to Lake Ontario and the lake effect snow belt.

Lenzr appeals to web savvy shutterbugs of all ages and skill levels who know they can upload very specific images into friendly competitions in exchange for real prizes; three Apple iPads are being dispensed this month in separate but equally exciting challenges that end Oct 1st 2010. These contests are populated with user submitted photos. The members also vote, and by selecting their favourites, they pick the winners.

The View From The Roof photo contest is taking in all sorts of slightly elevated cityscapes and wonderful landscapes from all across Canada. There are strange and slightly elevated views from the roofs of buildings and farm silos alongside business flat roofs in downtown Toronto.  Images from all across the nation are collecting in the contest queue; shots from Ontario are viewed beside submissions from British Columbia and Canada’s Maritime Provinces.  There are even some colourful cityscapes that were lensed half a world away…

The contest is sponsored by an industrial roof repair service that installs a white extremely durable ToughRoof system in the greater Toronto Area. Dan Sheridan is a flat roof repair specialist and there’s a lot more information about his company, All Weather Roofing on the Lenzr blog and there’s even a picture of Dan Sheridan on a thread published about View from the Roof photo contest on Toronto Forums.

The Morning Sunshine photo contest requires getting up really early and taking pictures at the crack of dawn. Its a magic hour thing and in the morning is when the magic happens. Submit shots of the purple sky and yellow moon above the pink granite at the Havelock Bluegrass Festival.  Now do you feel it? Morning is a special time and the first rays of sunlight have travelled farther than all others and they’ve often been bent out of shape and into a warm glow by the heavy atmosphere of a misty morning in late summer. Look at Michael Reichmann’s image on the left. He generously donated his shot of a ‘Barn At Sunrise’ which perfectly illustrates the contest theme.

The contest is made possible by the generous donation of an Apple iPad from a portable solar power generator (PSG’s) assembly firm in Ontario. These guys custom design and manufacture trailers that have solar panels on the top and all the tools and equipment your business needs inside – wherever possible they hope to replace gas and diesel generators in favour of battery powered and solar recharged inside their ‘Mobile Solar Work Units’ which are very cool. This company makes Canada look good, and green. Although they’re located here in southern Ontario, they’ll ship product anywhere in the world.

The Solarline Mobile Solar Work Units are clever and clean and efficient. Most importantly, they deliver clean renewable energy. With one solar panel hinged on top you can charge batteries to power a wide array of tools and equipment.

People Building Things photo contest is easy to enter and win. Although the topic does require pictures of humans and they must be building something, anything showing any form of construction with any size people will no doubt be accepted in the match.

This iPad prize was provided by a solar powered deck building company that uses a custom built Solarline Power work unit which is also their equipment trailer. The firm was founded by a few forward thinking craftsmen that intend to make a market for sustainable business and tehir vision of the future includes green construction sites as part of a planet saving solution. Matt and company build backyard fences, gazebos, and wooden decks of all shapes and sizes using the energy they collect from the sun.  There’s more information about EcoDeckBuilder on the Lenzr blog.

In all three web challenges, the registered member that uploads the highest ranked photo WINS IPAD! Voting begins September 20th 2010, the highest ranked photo wins prize when the Contest Ends Oct 1st, 2010.  Must be 13yrs old or older to enter, open to all Canadians, contest not valid in Quebec.

The 50 Going On 15 photo contest is downright absurd, and so is the prize.

The 50 Going On 15 photo contest on Lenzr will reward the member that uploaded the highest rated photo with over 50 lbs of dark chocolate as a prize!

This challenge is sponsored by an emerging baby boomer magazine for people over 50 in Toronto. The content is written by and for fifty year old people living in this great city.

Winning this contest might be more of a curse than a blessing esp if you are a woman over 50 and trying to lose weight.  You can read more about this over 50 magazine sponsor and prize on the Lenzr blog.

Crowded Places might just give people a new reason to appreciate traffic jams.

A highly respectable Toronto web developer is generously offering a Blackberry curve phone as prize in the crowded places photo contest on Lenzr.

The contest asks crowd photographers and budding anthropologists to submit shots of large gatherings of people, and use the caption to tell stories.  A Lenzr photo contest can be decided by the quality of the story hook in the caption, as often as the quality of the photography itself, which tends to be wonderfully amateur, raw and inspired.

The Portable Luxury contest is also kinda weird. The theme asks for images of the handiest conveniences you can take with you on the run. The Portable Luxury photo contest on Lenzr is looking for exceptional storyfull pictures that highlight things you could stuff in a knapsack that would make you feel more at home wherever you end up in the world – basically how do you move your comfort zone?

The theme is certain to glimpse hand-held conveniences and inventions that nicely define the differences between humans from animals. Beautiful expensive jewellery will no doubt be popular, but also advanced tech gadgets. And a thermos full of expensive coffee, anyone?

The prize is a Las Vegas vacation for two people courtesy of the contest sponsor, a portable toilet rentals company that’s arranged to provide airfare and hotel accommodation for two people for three days and two nights in Las Vegas.

Lenzr admin hopes the winner will be generous with photos and stories of the adventure in Las Vegas, for the Lenzr blog.

Must be over 18 to enter and win this contest, and you must be Canadian and unfortunately Lenzr photo contests are still not translated into French language and therefore still not available in Quebec.

What happened last month? There is a full chronology of who won what contests on Lenzr? last month written up in the Lenzr blog on site.

Backyard Party Events was a rather queer web challenge because the actual photo contest sponsor won, and yes… that’s allowed. Or at least there is no rule against it. But don’t go thinking it was deliberate or that it was a mistake because it wasn’t… It wasn’t a mistake because his photo was really terrific.

John Kenyon the marketing director at Absolute Tent and Event Services actually won his own company’s Lenzr photo contest. But of course he yielded to second place, because the last thing he needs is another $500 gift certificate or a 10×10 pop up tent. And he admits, that he yielded because of the strength of the second place submission, which was his personal favourite picture uploaded to the entire online event.

But Instead of hogging the company’s generous prize for himself, John gave it to a member named ‘Sausma’, (2nd place photographer) for a picture she submitted called ‘He Really Nailed That Pig’.

Here’s Sandra Ausma the 2nd place contestant standing beside John Kenyon in front of the loading dock at Absolute Tent and Event Services at 185 Eastern avenue in Toronto.

Sandra’s photo was excellent; she totally deserves the 10×10 pop-up tent, and the $500 gift certificate to be spent on anything and everything this unique Toronto party rentals warehouse stocks.

Thanks everyone who participated in this Lenzr photo contest.

All three photo challenges showcase the warn tropical environs of Mother Nature as they program environmental awareness into the hearts and minds of visitors and voters. On Lenzr anyone can vote for the pictures, but registered votes are worth 5x more, and the score is a combination of both types of votes divided by the number of votes.  On Lenzr the membership decides the winners, and the system builds buzz and attracts local photographers to help business make art.

Medicinal Plants in Nature harvests botanical photography. Do you have pictures of healing plants in nature? The contest pays $330 worth of Neal’s Yard Remedies. Lenzr members (and you have to be a member to upload a photo) are asked to document each plant’s medical properties. The winner of the contest will be both a scientist and an artist and someone with an eye for natural beauty.

Sponsored by Ontario’s premier natural medicine clinic, the member that uploads the highest rated photo WINS six different Neal’s Yard Remedies which are formulated from botanical ingredients. The prize package includes Orange Flower Facial Wash, Rosewater Toner, Orange Flower Facial Oil, Yarrow & Comfrey Moisturizer, White Tea Eye Gel, Geranium & Orange Body Butter for a total retail value of $330.00* all prizes subject to change. You can read more about this prize and the

Macro Photos of Life contest is specifically destined to amass a large display of small living things. Photographers are asked to use their camera’s macro lenses to capture the tiny facial expressions of animals and bugs.

ShrinkRay is a powerful tool built by an advanced mobile app developer to shrink business websites down into effective mobile applications. They also make web 2.0 mobile widgets for small to mid sized enterprises.  Shrinkray is a Device Management System (DMS) and an application toolkit that can be customized to suit any marketing agenda.

The friendly sponsor works with their clients to ensure the application delivers all necessary functionality. ShrinkRay Mobile is quite possibly the best mobile platform available.

Prize is a free deluxe Locaboire Eastern Ontario Wine Tour Travel Package for two adults. The prize includes two meals and one night accommodation at a beautiful Brighton Ontario B&B. Contest ENDS: Jan 1st 2010

Ontario Tourist Attractions 2 photo contest on Lenzr.com continues to display this province’s most interesting travel destinations. The contest theme fits perfectly with Kanetix.ca, which is a forward thinking company that specializes in delivering the lowest car insurance quotes. In my opinion the challenge is even more relevant when people submit family road trip pictures. Are these types of vacations becoming a thing of the past? or are they even more popular now because of the recent economic recession?I love the pictures that have already arrived including shots on carnivals and museums, and lots of wide open country.

Its a fact that eco tourism is definitely becoming more popular in Ontario, and I think people who pick up the rubbish along the beaches and while hiking in the woods should be commended for their actions.  Here at Lenzr we’d like very much to run a photo contest which asks folks to upload shots of the trash they have collected from roadways and and conservation areas across Canada. If everyone were like the today’s kids, who are confirmed non polluters, then the world would be a better place and the great outdoors would be even more great.

Ontario Tourist Attractions 2 photo contest will be won by the member that uploads the top rated image January 1st 2010 as determined by the quantity of registered votes + popular votes / total number of votes.Are you paying too much for your mortgage or your insurance policies? Can Kanetix help you to find a cheaper rate? As Canada’s leader in online insurance and mortgage price comparisons, Kanetix.ca can quickly provide you with competing quotes from top rated companies. Pick the company with the best quote and arrange for coverage online. Compare mortgage rates, home/property insurance, motorcycle insurance, life insurance, business insurance, travel insurance, health insurance, and more…

CONTEST ENDS Jan 1st 2010 contest open to all Canadians except the residents of Quebec