(January 12, 2008) -- Justin Rudd's first-ever "Say 'Cheese,' Long Beach" digital photo exhibit/contest put 288 views of our town (taken during a 24-hour period from noon Jan 5 thru noon Jan 6) on display outside the WaMu bank on 2nd St. in Belmont Shore on Jan. 12.

Viewing the photos (between noon and 5 p.m.) was free and drew a healthy crowd.

Attendees who paid $1 got the ability to vote on their favorite photo in a "People's Choice" category. (Half of that money goes to the winner, the other half to Mr. Rudd's non-profit 501(c)(3) Community Action Team).

These ladies were among the crowd giving the entries a very close look. (We're not sure if they voted or not...but they seemed to like what they saw.)

The judge's choice for winner is:

Photo by Samuel Lippke.
Use by LBReport.com courtesy Justin Rudd/Community Action Team

Mr. Rudd says that Mr. Lippke does lots of wedding photography. His site is www.samuellippke.com.

Comments from the event judges (led by the Press-Telegram's Jeff Gritchen): "It's technically accurate (good exposure and sharp) and has good composition. The picture rose above many of the other images because it is more than just a person running on the beach - It conveys a feeling, a mood. The use of the low angle and blur for the runner while keeping everything else sharp really made this image rise above the rest. Great time of day to shoot too! In the end, this photo really shows Long Beach without being too literal. It shows the beach, recreation, and the ability to jog outside in the evening in January. Great work!"

And these photos were also among the top-10 winners:

Photo by Phil Harvey
Use by LBReport.com courtesy Justin Rudd/Community Action Team

Photo by Robert Gaddy
Use by LBReport.com courtesy Justin Rudd/Community Action Team

And veteran LB photojournalist (whose work has frequently appeared on LBReport.com) Diana Lejins won the prize for Top Nature Photograph. Ms. Lejins titles this work: "El Dorado Nature Center Rain Pools":

Photo by Diana Lejins.
Use by LBReport.com courtesy Ms. Lejins

To see more of the winning photos, click here.

Mr. Rudd's website indicates that judges also selected winning photos on criteria including photographic excellence, visual impact and artistic quality; in addition to approx. $1,000 distributed to photographers of the top-10 images, additional cash, photo printers from Epson and other prizes from Arbor by the Bay, C.A.T., Romance, Etc., were slated to be awarded to various category winners.

The photo exhibit/contest webpage -- one of several linked at www.justinrudd.com -- said the goal of the photo exhibit/contest was:

"[T]o visually record all aspects of our community -- our people, our environment, and our working and leisure activities -- during a 24-hour period...The contest's mission is to capture, in a single day, images of Long Beach that celebrate this vast, vivid, vibrant city...to explore [the photographer's] creative, humorous or serious side to create a blended expression of our community. The contest aims to capture moments during 24 hours of our lives and the life of our community -- taking us from dawn to dusk. We expect that this Long Beach family album of sorts will inspire, amuse, and on occasion, disturb...We want to see an eclectic mix of photographers with a varied range of photos from a wide variety of places in our city...from the mundane to the artsy.

The website indicates that a photo book and/or calendar may be created with the images after the contest.