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Photographer Judges

Along with the top-10 most popular images voted for by the public, we have a panel of judges made up of 5 professional photographers, our Sponsors and 5 Mums. The image with the most ‘likes’ receives 10 points, the 10th most popular image receives 1 point. This is repeated with the result from our 5 ‘Mum’ judges, ‘Sponsors’ and our 5 ‘professional photographer’ judges.

The scores are then collated and marked out of a total score of 40 points. The top 5 babies with the most points each will receive a £50 Boots voucher and entry into our Baby of the Year competition to win £5000!

Featured below are the Photographers on our judging panel:

Justine McMillan

My name is Justine and I’m really excited about being a judge in the Baby of the Month competition. I love looking through the hundreds of entries received,  so this will be fun! I have been a photographer for 23 years, starting with weddings and families, progressing to babies over the years. I now specialise in Newborn and early years photography from my studio just outside of Kingston upon Hull.

I think being a mum myself, I automatically have something in common with my customers, which helps build a rapport through shared experiences. It’s really important to find out what Mum (and Dad) expects from the photoshoot and not just to churn out the same thing each time. I spend time chatting to customers on the phone and in the studio to find out what makes them tick, and getting to know baby. Then it’s time to start, and I find I have a natural ability (and a range of silly noises and faces) that brings out those beautiful baby smiles and expressions.

A contented baby is key to beautiful portraits, so I advise parents to relax, be silly to help baby laugh, and don’t worry if baby needs changing or feeding or has a little ‘accident’ on a prop, it’s all part of the job!

Matthew Preston

My name is Matthew Preston, and I own and operate my own studio in Lichfield, Staffordshire. Although I also work with family groups and pets, the majority of my work is with babies, and I have been fortunate enough to have had winners and runners up in the Baby of the Month competition. I always enjoy looking at all the entries and constantly find myself inspired by what other photographers are creating.

To prepare for your baby’s session, please do have a look at your photographer’s website or Facebook page to get some ideas of the types of poses and styles of images which can be created, and feel free to discuss any ideas you may have with your photographer.

Peter Evans

Hi I’m Peter and I really enjoy judging the Baby of the Month competition to see what other photographers are doing, and to be inspired by new ideas. I am also keen to help maintain the high standard set by all our photographers and entrants!

Mums need to make sure that they speak to the photographers and understand what they need to bring to the session and how to prepare in order to make it easy on everyone involved! It’s best to work to the babies needs so that you get the best from the time that you are there.

Mike Thornton

I have a great deal of experience, not only in baby photography but also with weddings, PR/commercial work in London and around the UK.

I love photographing babies. I believe success with babies is all about self-confidence and being very aware how mum feels in the studio; a baby’s mood is often very closely linked to Mum’s!

It is also hugely important to time a session around sleeping and feeding patterns and not to rush a session.

Faye Collyer Rolls

What an honour it is to be selected as an Baby of the Month judge! The calibre and standard of photography is so high I know this is going to be a tough job!

I run a busy family portrait studio in Brighton and have a team of photographers here who work with, well anything you can imagine! We love photographing Maternity to New Born, Little Angels to Little Monsters! As a qualified member of the Master Photographers Association your photography session couldn’t be in better hands than with us!

We just love photographing people, especially little people, so it is a privilege to be working with Baby of the Month and Emma’s Diary along with many other baby photographers in the UK who are entering the competition! It’s really great for our customers and a buzz if you win – I should know, I won it several times since 2015!

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