I Love Riverhead and the Riverhead Free Library have announced three winners chosen out of almost 500 entries for the Downtown Riverhead Summer Photo Contest this year. Three honorable mention awards were also given out.

The winners are:

1st Place: "This Place Matters," by Diane Woodcheke
2nd Place: "Riverhead Lights," by Michael McLaughlin
3rd Place: "High Noon Hula Hoop Shadows," by Jo Rambo
Honorable Mention: "Halls of Justice," by Michael McLaughlin
Honorable Mention: "Celebrating Independence Day, Riverhead Style (8)," by Diane Woodcheke
Honorable Mention: "A Summer Day on Main Street" by Jason Yeager

Five judges chose the winners based on "overall quality, creativity, composition or technical quality, memorable content and delivery, and expression of Riverhead’s identity," according to a statement from the competition. Unlike in previous years, there were no categories or public voting in this year's competition. Pictures had to be taken between Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends, 2011 in the downtown area.

Related: For more entries in the competition, see the group's Flickr gallery.

The five judges were award-winning photographer Steve Berger, Art
Sites Gallery owner Glynis Berry, Riverhead Free Library Director Lisa
Jacobs, East End Arts Council Executive Director Patricia Snyder and
Nancy Swett, founder of I Love Riverhead, a website devoted to downtown.

The photographs will be used to promote downtown Riverhead through next summer. The contest winners will receive award certificates and cash prizes made possible through the support of the Riverhead Rotary Club. The winning photos will be displayed in showcases at the Riverhead Free Library this January. The contest was organized by Lisa Jacobs, Director of the Riverhead Free Library, and Nancy Swett, Founder of I Love Riverhead, a website established in 2009 about downtown Riverhead.

"I'm thrilled to see that local photographers were able to see the beauty in downtown Riverhead,” Jacobs said in a statement. “The town is vibrant and alive, and the photo contest entries are living proof."

“We’re grateful to all of the photographers for their time and talents, and to the distinguished panel of judges,” Swett said. “There is so much to see in downtown Riverhead, and these photographs inspire all of us to look and see more.”

Which photo from the competition is your favorite? Vote in the poll below and add a comment to pick your winner.