Todd and Brad Reed Photography and the Ludington Area Arts Council are once again teaming up for the 4th Annual Online Photo Contest. They're hoping to get 1,000 submissions for this year, which equals $5,000 in donations. All money raised will help purchase a professional lighting system for the main gallery at the Ludington Area Center for the Arts.

For $15, amateur and professional photographers alike can submit up to three separate images and can enter as many images as they like in quantities of three. Photos may be submitted through the Ludington Area Center for the Arts website: www.ludingtonartscenter.org. The deadline for entries is midnight EST Sunday, February 26, 2012. Photo contest winners will be announced at a reception at P.M. Steamers on Thursday, March 1, 2012.

Todd and Brad Reed will judge the photos according to five categories:

1) People (sports, portraits and family photos)
2) Landscape (large scene, such as a sunset over mountains or water)
3) Animals (domestic animals and wildlife, including insects, birds and fish)
4)Plants (leaves, trees, flower, and garden scenes)
5) Free subject/abstract (example: extreme close-up so the person, animal or plant is no longer identifiable.)

The Reeds will not know the names of the photographers until judging has been completed. There will be a first, second and third place winner for each category, as well as a Grand Prize winner. Prizes include gift certificates to the Todd and Brad Reed Photography Gallery in downtown Ludington and a family-level membership to the Center for the Arts. New to this year's contest is the People's Choice award. Using the Facebook "Like" button under each photo, contest participants and the general public can vote for their favorite images. The photo with the most "Likes" at the end of the contest will also receive a gift certificate to the Reed's gallery.

To date, the Annual Online Photo Contest has raised over $9,000 to support projects at the Art Center, including a new website and the gallery lighting fund.

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