Every February

Todd and Brad Reed Photography and the Ludington Area Arts Council team up every year for the Annual Online Photo Contest. They hope to get 1,000 submissions every 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.

The 2012 winner was Elizabeth Marquand for her photo entitled "Snow Princess." Over 633 entries were submitted, and $3165 was raised for 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 2012 has passed--details on the 2013 contest will be posted as they become available.

Todd and Brad Reed 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.