STORY | THE NETHERLANDS

Autumn in the Dunes, Ending at a Beach Café

By Aleksandria Rudenko | Updated 3 November 2026

Couple embracing on a sandy path between low shrubs, a dune slope and a heavy gray autumn sky behind them

Lena and Sam live in Utrecht, and on free weekends they had started exploring their own country. For a weekend by the sea, they wanted autumn in the dunes: sandy paths, crooked pines and a gray sky over the North Sea.

So their walk became one of my photoshoots across the Netherlands. They packed a thermos and an old quilt, and I took care of the rest: the spots, the route and the way down to the beach.

Autumn in the Dunes, Under a Gray Sky

We met on a sandy path between low shrubs, with dune slopes on both sides. The clouds hung low, so the light stayed soft and even. Lena wore a long cream knit and Sam a light gray one, both with jeans and sturdy boots. On the soft sand, they simply held each other. Then Sam kissed her cheek, and she laughed.

He kisses her cheek as she smiles, holding hands on a sandy dune path, both in glasses and soft knit sweaters

Hand in hand and smiling, the couple walks toward the camera along a sandy path through the dunes under low clouds — A sandy path through the dunes, under low clouds

She hugs him from behind and peeks over his shoulder, a sea buckthorn bush full of orange berries in the foreground

Along the path, a sea buckthorn bush hung full of orange berries. Lena hugged Sam from behind and looked over his shoulder, while I let the berries fill the front of the frame.

Farther on, I stepped back and let the landscape take over. Two small figures on a long sandy track, a dune valley, a sky full of clouds: autumn in the dunes needs little more than that.

Seen from behind, the two walk hand in hand along a sandy track between dark green shrubs toward the open dunes

Two small figures in a wide dune valley, holding each other beneath a dark, heavy sky with a pale band of light

A Bench Under an Old Oak

Where the dunes meet the woods, an old oak spreads its branches over a wooden bench. They sat down, Lena rested her head on Sam’s shoulder, and for a minute nobody said a word. When I walked around to the back of the bench, they had turned to each other for a kiss.

Couple sitting on a wooden bench under the wide branches of an old oak, her head on his shoulder and her tan boots stretched out

From behind, a kiss on the wooden bench beneath the oak, her cream knit and his gray sweater against the deep green leaves

A Picnic Among the Dune Pines

On a sandy rise, a few pines grow crooked and wide. First, the two of them stood under the tallest one, small next to its twisted trunk.

Smiling side by side on the sand beneath a tall pine with a twisted trunk, the gray sky wide open above the dune woods

Wide view of two crooked pines on a sandy rise, the couple sitting small and close together on a picnic quilt below them

Then Sam spread out a red, white and blue patchwork quilt, and Lena poured something warm from the thermos. In front of the cups, a few pine cones lay in the sand, close to their boots.

Steel thermos, two black cups and pine cones in the sand beside her tan lace-up boots and his brown boots, a starry quilt behind

They clinked their cups and kissed, while the quilt slowly gathered sand.

Sitting on a red, white and blue patchwork quilt in the sand, cups in hand and a steel thermos beside them, pines behind

A kiss over two black cups, his gray quarter-zip sweater and her cream knit close together on the star-patterned quilt — A picnic under the pines, on an overcast day

After that, they lay down head to head, and Lena rested her hand on Sam’s forehead. From above, I caught them both laughing.

Seen from straight above, they lie head to head on the quilt, both in glasses and laughing, her hand resting on his forehead

Running Across the Sand

Running across open sand with their arms flung wide, toward low trees and a bright patch in the soft autumn clouds

In a wide sandy clearing, they suddenly ran off with their arms out, like children on the first day of the holidays. Later, in a quieter moment, Lena laid her hand in Sam’s with a stalk of dry grass between them. Up close, her ring with a small blue stone caught what light there was.

Close-up of her hand resting in his, a stalk of dry dune grass across her palm and a ring with a small blue stone

From the Dunes to the Café Lights

At the end of the path, the dunes opened onto a wide beach. The wind had picked up, so Lena pulled a pale pink jacket over her knit. They stood in the marram grass and looked at each other, then out at the gray sea.

Couple standing in the marram grass at the edge of the dunes, a wide beach and the gray North Sea behind them

She wraps her arms around him on the beach, her pale pink hooded jacket against his gray knit, the sea under heavy clouds

As evening fell, we walked on to a beach café. Its lamps were already on, and colored lights glowed in the windows. Outside, by the window ledge, they raised their glasses to the day.

Raising their glasses outside a beach café after dark, warm lamps above them and colored lights glowing in the windows

Close in the dark, foreheads almost touching, glasses in their hands and soft warm light falling on her long hair — A beach café after dark

The last frame came close to the window: two faces in the dark, with warm light on their cheeks. For Lena and Sam, it was the end of a weekend by the sea, and the start of a long list of places still to see.

Curious where else on the coast a session can go? My guide to a beach photoshoot near Amsterdam shows the beaches and dunes of real sessions.

Want autumn in the dunes for the two of you? See how my photoshoots across the Netherlands work.