Tips for Submitting Great Photos for a Baby Photo Contest

With so many proud parents in the world, no wonder baby photo contests are so popular. Of course there is usually only one winner and we all want our little darling to be it. Here are a few tips on how to submit photos to be judged for baby photo contests. Here is what the judges are looking for.

Can the judges see the baby’s face? If not, then how can they judge your baby or toddler’s appearance? If you have taken your cutie to a picture studio, chances are they have several shots of your child looking at a prop of some sort. These are no doubt cute pictures, but opt for the shot of your child looking at the camera. Close up facial shots are eye catching. Your baby is indeed a cutie, let the judges see that.

If you are a 1st time parent, you have probably taken too many photos to keep track of. Sorting through your tons of pictures can be a breeze if you follow this next suggestion. If it has a lot of background, move on. Family vacation photos with your little standing next to 10 cartoon characters won’t work. All the background distracts the eye away from the main subject- your little one. Pictures with background are ok, as long as the main focus is your child. For example, a child swimming in a pool would be good as long as the child takes up more picture than the pool water. The pool water is all one color and your child’s bright face and bathing suit colors are sure to bring the eye right to your darling.

Focusing on the baby is really important. While keeping background to a minimal is important, so is making your child the main subject. For parents with more than one child, I am sure to have tons of family shots. Keep these photos in the family scrapbooks and photo albums. Of course you can tell your children apart, but that may not be such an easy task for judges. If your children look alike that can be very difficult. Make judging as easy as possible by keeping pictures simple. Playing the guessing game will only frustrate judges. It doesn’t get any easier than one person in the photo to be judged. Of course this rule doesn’t apply to multiples or Mommy or Daddy and me photos.

I already know you have a dozen shots with your baby wearing huge sunglasses, daddy’s baseball hat, mommy’s jewelry, or a Halloween mask. Photos with props truly are cute, but they are not always suitable for baby photo contests. Props that hide your baby’s face make it hard for judges to see the true beauty of your baby. The key is to enhance, not hide their cute faces. For instance, wearing daddy’s hat is ok as long as its to the side or back where we can see the baby’s face. Halloween costumes with face covering masks or that require facial makeup, is not helping your toddler win.
Other Tips Include:

Send clear photos. Photos that are dark are pretty useless. You are not giving yourself a fair judging chance.

Red Eyes do not make appealing photos. Many online picture software can help fix that problem.

Pictures taken from far away distances can't help judges see the child's face.

Size matters. Judges prefer pictures larger than a wallet up to size 5x7 (3x5, 4x6, 5x7 and anything in between).