First let me say thanks to the Sandor Family. They were great to work with for this shoot at the beach in Cornucopia, Wisconsin. Super relaxed and flexible, even if not everyone was quite up for pictures. Thanks also for letting me use you as an example.

Okay. Family portraits can be tough. I think they're one of the hardest genres of photography to do really well. Especially with little kids. It's a lot of factors to deal with all at once. Sometimes you get lucky and everyone looks the same way at the exact same moment and smiles their biggest, happiest smile and you get the photo and you're all set. But sometimes, no matter what you do, not everyone is on the same page. It happens. We all have those days (in fact, I might be having one right now, but that's a different story). That doesn't have to mean the shoot is a loss though; you can still come away with some great images. It just means you need to re-imagine the photos you planned to get. And that's the biggest challenge. Once you have a concept mapped out in your head it's hard to walk away from it, but sometimes it's necessary. Sometimes you have to step back and find another route to the same destination: great photos. For the shoot with the Sandor's that meant abandoning the formal family photo and changing to a less formal arrangement like the more candid images below. It's different, but in the end I think everyone was happier. Watch for more.