The competition is heating up in the PDNedu Student Photo Contest, featuring great prizes in five different categories and a PEOPLE'S CHOICE section that enables everyone to weigh in on his or her favorite shots.

In the regular contest, our esteemed judges include gallerist Jen Bekman and Aurora Select assignment director David Laidler. Check out their bios and Web sites below:

Jen Bekman - Owner, Jen Bekman Gallery

Jen Bekman owns the tremendously popular New York gallery that shares her name, writes a blog called Personism, and is the founder of the international photo competition, Hey, Hot Shot!. Her latest endeavor is 20x200, limited-edition prints and photos available online at ridiculously affordable prices.

Jen Bekman Projects, including the gallery and its exhibitions, 20x200, Personism, Hey, Hot Shot! and Jen herself, have been featured in numerous publications, nationally and internationally. Jen frequently lectures and participates on panels about art, technology, media and marketing. A popular reviewer at top portfolio review events, Jen was recently honored with the Rising Star Award at the Griffin Museum of Photography's annual Focus Awards and named an Innovator of the Year by American Photo magazine. Her writing has appeared in GOOD Magazine and photo-eye Booklist.

David Laidler - Assignment Director for Select: Aurora Photos Assignment division

David Laidler heads Select, the NYC based photographer representation agency affiliated with Aurora Photos. Driving opportunities for a boutique roster of commercial and editorial photographers, the artists receive enhanced exposure in advertising, magazine, gallery, book publishing, fine art and new media arenas.

Former director of Getty Images' North American assignment division, Orchard Represents, he was instrumental in the exciting growth of this start up within the stock giant. Before that he ran the editorial news team at Corbis for four years after being acquired during the purchase of Sygma Photo News in 1999 as the senior news editor. While in London, David worked at various photo agencies, deejayed and generally had a lot of fun. He has a degree in physics, before you ask.