McMaster Studio is returning to pre-pandemic form with their annual “Cutest Baby” contest — the contest is open for babies under 18 months and will run until the end of May.
“We haven’t done it for the last few years,” said Mark Duffy, owner of McMaster Studio. “We started it up again, and we’ve learned every time we’ve done it, so now we’re doing it with actual people from Moose Jaw voting.”
Duffy said that in previous years they had tried out Facebook voting, but it turned into a popularity contest. People recruited their friends and followers to vote for their baby, with an obvious bias emerging for those who were more active on social media.
“People didn’t like that,” Duffy laughed. “Because the people with the most followers and stuff like that on Facebook would win.”
Now they use a judging panel from Moose Jaw. It is important that their judges be neutral, so judges aren’t allowed to know any of the babies in the contest. Many entries are from out of town, making it fairly easy to stay objective.
Hopefully, Duffy said, they’ll be able to recruit some big names to be on their judging panel — perhaps Mayor Clive Tolley will help, or the local MLAs can weigh in.
For their most recent contest (pre-pandemic), rock icon Burton Cummings was one of the judges.
First prize this year is $500 — the runner-up prize is a $250 gift certificate to the newly-opened Golden Lux Bar & Restaurant on Main Street. There will be several as-yet-unannounced consolation prizes in addition to first and second place.
McMaster Studio has been at 70 Stadacona Street West for over 40 years, with a permanent studio on their upper floor.
“We love photographing babies, we’ve got lots of props upstairs,” Duffy said. “We’ve got lots of different backgrounds, lots of different backdrops, people bring in different outfits.”
Trudy Thiele, office manager at McMaster, remembered a shoot that had a Toronto Maple Leafs theme with jerseys and other hockey props. Another little girl had a beach-themed shoot that was quite cute. They work with parents to brainstorm fun ideas that make sense for the family.
“We’re trying to get that one shot that pops. That one shot that, you know, maybe it’s a little awkward-looking, or even an angry expression,” Duffy said.
After the shoot is over, Duffy edits the photos and the album goes online for parents to browse. They pick out their favourite photo and enter it into the contest. The entry fee is $20, but photo prints are half off for two weeks for entrants, so it works out to be a good deal.
To enter the contest, book an appointment with McMaster Studio by calling 306-693-0144, emailing [email protected], or texting 306-630-4181.
