Most of you may have expectations for your beach portrait session. You want at least one good photo of the family sitting together, smiling at the camera. But when you throw toddlers or infants into the mix, those chances grow slim!
On a recent session, I was photographing a family of about 10, with five of those being toddlers under the age of 4.  When we attempted to get the entire family photo, most of the kiddos were not happy! In fact, they began crying! What to do? Well, I have photographed hundreds of children over the years, and I have learned not to push them when they don't want to do something! So instead, I had the family walk down to the water, and just play with the children at the edge of the surf.  Once the children began having fun, they warmed up to me, the photographer, and I wasn't a stranger anymore! Before the session was over, I had great photos of the children smiling, with the entire family.  My advice is, don't force toddlers to do something they don't want to do. Just be patient and they will come around.
Here is a link to a similar situation!
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/lifestyle/2013/09/family-photo-session-not-your-average-day-at-the-beach/