The Children’s Portrait Contest at Photography by Tina kicked off on January 1, 2011, and parents are already entering their children to vie for the title (and prizes) associated with becoming “North America’s Cutest Kid!” Local photographer, Tina L. Scott of Photography by Tina, is participating in the 2011 International Charity Model Search to select North America’s Cutest Kid and to raise funds for the non-profit Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Foundation (NILMDTS). The last two years featured over 2,600 model’s images and raised $184,775 for the NILMDTS organization. Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (NILMDTS), is a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization committed to assisting parents and families who experience the tragedy of an early infant loss. NILMDTS connects families with volunteer photographers and provides them with a professional portrait session and reproducible CD of the images of their baby at no cost to the family. For further information on NILMDTS, visit their website at www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org. Participating photographers submit portraits of local kids to an international online voting gallery. Parents let friends and family know about the event and encourage them to vote for their child. Each vote is $1, and all proceeds from votes benefit Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (www.NILMDTS.org). Finalists are determined by online votes, and all finalists move to an independent judging round. The grand prize international winner will be determined from the 50 regional finalists. The winners are then selected from the finalists by photography industry experts. The winning child receives a $2500 savings bond, a $2500 travel package, and a $100 Target gift card. The second and third place runners up each receive $500 savings bonds, and a $100 Target gift card. If a portrait created by Photography by Tina makes it into the finalist round for our region, that finalist will also receive a 16×20″ canvas gallery wrap valued at $380 compliments of Photography by Tina. Winning photographers also receive valuable prize packages. Sandy Puc¢, Charity Model Search creator and sponsor, has long believed charitable work is the backbone of the community. She created this fundraising contest to highlight excellence in the portrait photography industry as well as raise funds for NILMDTS, the organization she co-founded in 2005. The contest is open to children newborn to age 18 years. Anyone interested in entering their child into the contest may do so by calling Photography by Tina at 715.212.0767. The contest is open to residents of the US and Canada. The contest began on January 1 and will go until March 31; however, Scott recommends parents schedule their appointments for their child early. “Obviously, since the finalists are selected by votes,” Scott says, “having your child’s portrait taken earlier gives you extra opportunities for your child’s portrait to garner lots of votes!” For more information, visit http://www.charitymodelsearch.org. Tina L. Scott, owner of Photography by Tina, has been a professional photographer practicing in the north central Wisconsin area since 2000. Her studio initially began as a home-based business in a spare bedroom of her home. When her business outgrew the space, Tina moved her studio to her current retail location in downtown Merrill at 820 East First Street, Studio B in the second floor of an historic brick building where Photography by Tina currently resides. The business was previously known as Photography by Tina L. Miller but was shortened to simply Photography by Tina in 2009 when Tina married and changed her last name. Photography by Tina specializes in “Artistic … Unique … Portraits to Remember” with an emphasis on high school seniors, maternity, and children of all ages-newborns, children, tweens, and teens. ###