Great contest..but honestly man...you could have spread that $1K around to all the different gallery designers and have had a bunch of nice galleries that you could use for quite some time...and then whoever's happened to to convert or worked best with your site you could continue to work with them.
But either way check the portfolio...I don't do contests but am willing to cut you a nice deal on a steady stream of hosted galleries
http://www.eroswebmaster.com