NAPCP Master Photographer: What the Certification Means

About My Work

I am, technically speaking, an award winning photographer. However, I’ve had a complicated relationship with awards and external validation my whole life. That’s a longer story. You can read it here.

Basically, I’ve looked for outside confirmation that I’m good enough on the inside. I’m aware this is not a unique problem.

The weird part is what happens when the confirmation actually comes. Then I don’t want to share it, because sharing it feels like admitting I was looking for it. Like it exposes something.

But I’ve been thinking about humility lately, and I think I’ve had it wrong. Humility isn’t hiding. It’s being right-sized. Telling the truth accurately, even when the truth happens to be good.

The truth is: I entered these competitions and applied for these certifications, and professional judges decided my work was among the best they evaluated. That’s what happened.

Young girl crouching at a Maine tide pool, photographed from low angle with dramatic coastal sky — award-winning family photography by Corey Flint, Lincoln MA — 2nd Place, Baby and Toddler, NAPCP International Image Competition, 2025 – This is my daughter. I used off-camera flash for this, which meant mounting an expensive strobe on slippery, wet rocks and hoping it didn’t go into the ocean. To get the shot, she had to wander naturally into exactly the right spot. I couldn’t put her there. I had to wait and hope it happened. The colors in this, the sweater she’s wearing, the way she’s completely absorbed in whatever she found down in those rocks. That day was special. That place is special.

NAPCP Master Photographer Certification

The National Association of Portrait and Child Photographers (NAPCP) is one of the leading professional organizations for photographers who specialize in children and families. Their Master Photographer Certification is one of the more rigorous credential processes in portrait photography.

To earn certification, you submit a portfolio of 25 images. Every image must feature a completely different subject, pose, scene, and overall feel. At least 20 of the 25 must be solo child portraits. The portfolio has to demonstrate that you can consistently deliver technically excellent, emotionally impactful work across a wide range of situations. Not just on your best day, but reliably, across all kinds of kids and all kinds of light.

Finding 25 completely different images from my own work and committing to them as the clearest representation of what I do was its own kind of reckoning. I spent longer on that than I expected to.

Each image is scored on a 1 to 5 scale by a panel of working professional photographers. Every image must score a 4 or higher. A 4 means the image meets client expectations, any technical flaws aren’t noticeable or distracting, and the emotional criteria are met. The overall portfolio is also scored separately for consistency of style and perspective.

There’s no curve. You’re not being compared to anyone else. The question is simply: does this photographer reliably know what they’re doing?

The first time I applied for Family certification, I didn’t get it. I’d misunderstood what consistency actually required. Not just strong images. Technically excellent work across every kind of situation, reliably, with no weak spots. I wasn’t there yet. I waited about a year, kept working, and applied again.

Mine came back: yes.

I hold certification in two categories: Child and Family. The designation is valid for three years and must be renewed. When I recertify, I submit new work. It’s not something I earned once and put in a drawer.

NAPCP International Image Competition

The NAPCP also runs an annual international image competition. This one actually is a competition. Images are judged anonymously by a minimum of three photographers across eight categories: Baby and Toddler, Child, Family, Maternity, Newborn, Senior, Siblings, and Studio Portraiture.

The anonymous part matters more than it might seem. No name recognition, no reputation working for or against you. Just the image, the criteria, and whether the work holds up on its own. Which is the only question that should matter.

Each image is scored on Impact (40%), Creativity and Style (30%), and Technical Merit (30%). Impact is the hardest to define and the hardest to manufacture. You either feel it in a photo or you don’t. The top three scores per category earn placement. The top 5% earn Merit Recognition.

Here’s where I landed:

2nd Place, Baby and Toddler (2025)

Merit Recognition, Family (2024)

Merit Recognition, Siblings (2024)

The NAPCP also runs a separate Inspired Print Competition, which evaluates images as physical printed artwork. One image earned a Top 100 placement in 2025.

Fearless Photographers and Inspiration Photographers

Fearless Photographers is an international community focused on documentary-style family photography. No posing, no directing. Real moments as they happen. Selection is juried by other photographers.

This is the recognition that probably means the most to me, because it’s recognition for exactly the thing I care most about. Not technically perfect portraits. Moments that actually happened, in the order they actually happened.

Sessions on the farm tend to generate this kind of image. Somebody’s chasing a chicken. A kid falls down and then laughs about it. A parent looks at their kid and doesn’t know I’m watching. That’s where the real stuff lives.

Inspiration Photographers runs a rigorous global juried awards program for family, wedding, and portrait photographers. I’ve had family images recognized by both.

The Images

The other reason I’m putting this here: I like these photos. Not in a “my kids drew this and I have to say something nice” way. I actually like them. So part of this is just wanting to share them.

Two siblings laughing while lying in tall grass, photographed from directly above — Corey Flint Photography, Lincoln MA — Merit Recognition, Siblings, NAPCP International Image Competition, 2024

The first time I tried this angle. Now I use some version of it in almost every session. Shooting straight down removes everything but the two of them. No background, no distraction. And siblings just goofing around together hits differently now that I have two kids.

Black and white portrait of grandmother holding newborn in armchair — family photographer Corey Flint, Lincoln Massachusetts — Merit Recognition, Family, NAPCP International Image Competition, 2024

The mood in this one. Two people with about eighty years between them and the same kind of stillness. That’s what I was going for.

Portrait of red-haired boy lit by firelight — Corey Flint Photography, award-winning portrait photographer Lincoln MA — Top 100, Inspired Print Competition, NAPCP, 2025

The Inspired Print Competition included a category with a red theme. This felt like the obvious submission. Shot in front of a fireplace with natural window light. The light is doing everything here.

Family laughing at chicken coop with bird mid-flight in fall woods — documentary family photography by Corey Flint, Lincoln MA — Award, Family, Fearless Photographers

This was supposed to be a posed photo. This is the outtake. It ended up on their Christmas card, and it’s my favorite image from the session by a distance. The Fearless Awards go to photos that show real life. This one qualifies.

Three children playing in outdoor copper tub, one spraying water — candid family photography by Corey Flint, Lincoln Massachusetts — Award, Family, Inspiration Photographers

This family had a large canvas made of this. That makes sense to me. There was almost no light left when I took it. Outdoor tub, late in the day. One of those situations where the moment is more important than whether everything is technically where it should be.

Certifications can’t tell you whether a session will feel good. Whether I’ll actually see your family. Whether you’ll leave thinking it was worth it.

If you want a sense of who I am before you decide anything, you can start here. If you want to know what a session on the farm actually looks like, this is the place.