Pageant Entering Tips
A successful pageant entry isn't just about the pose. Almost all pageants have a theme, and you should also strive to enter the best photo for the theme.
Building a Pageant Portfolio
Just like there is an ideal balance of themes in the pageant hall, there is also an ideal balance of entries that you submit to pageants! There are so many different themes that pageant hosts come up with, ranging from the common to the totally out there. You never know what kind of photo will be needed in a pageant!
Every good pageant portfolio should have a mix of:
- Big smiles
- Common non-standard faces such as squishy smile, shocked face, kissy face, halfmoon, plus eyerolls.
- Goofy/weird photos and wildcard poses
- A range of outfits in various colors, themes, and seasons, plus diaper only and bubbles.
- A range of positions, such as on the knees, on the ground, crawling, standing, dancing.
Photo Repeating
It's definitely okay to reuse photos a few times, especially if you have a really good one for the theme already. But, if you don't have something that fits the theme exactly, it's better to take a new photo than to try to enter something that "sort of" fits.
Even if there isn't a super specific theme to take new photos for, it's still a good idea to give pageant hosts something new that they haven't seen before. If a host has judged the same picture multiple times, they may start to place it lower as it makes it seem like there is less effort going in to entering that pageant. Once you have entered a photo in 3-5 pageants, it's best to retire that photo and save it for themes like "my favorite photo" that pop up from time to time. The bonus to entering new photos as often as you can is that, over time, you'll see your pageant portfolio start to grow!
Of course, when there are a lot of pageants or you have very limited free time, you might have to just use what you have - just do your best to change it up when you can!
Photo Session Tips
One of the ways you can build up your baby's pageant portfolio is to save all kinds of pictures during each photo session rather than just the specific ones you're taking for the theme.
Babyz do all kinds of cute, posy, and silly faces while you're waiting for them to do that winning smile. It doesn't hurt to save those extra photos for another theme later on. Even the goofy ones often find their perfect moment.
Another way to make it faster and easier to take photos for a bunch of pageants at once is to write down the themes of each pageant you don't have good entries for in a notepad doc, then go through the list and add the clothes you need to your clothes folder. Then, once you go in game, you can cycle through the outfits saving photos until you get the right pose, then move to the next one. once you've got all the photos, you can bring out the next baby and repeat. This method is really nice as you don't have to close and reopen the game in between and you can then enter all the pageants in one go!
If you're limited with time, you can grab outfits for just a few of the pageants at once, and then do another few the next time you have a free moment.