STORY | ZANDVOORT

A Mother’s Day Gift in Zandvoort, by the Sea

By Aleksandria Rudenko | Updated 3 November 2026

Mother in blue mirrored sunglasses and her daughter in a blue floral dress standing back to back by the sparkling sea in Zandvoort

Claudia’s Mother’s Day gift in Zandvoort was a photoshoot for her mother, Emma, on the beach they both love. The two live just across the border in Germany and often drive over for a few days by the sea.

On Mother’s Day in May, Claudia showed her mother a photoshoot gift card on her phone. “For our next days by the sea,” said the message on it. Emma chose the date herself: a sunny day in summer, during one of their stays.

Zandvoort is one of the beaches I keep coming back to for my photoshoots across the Netherlands. It has a wide beach, wooden dune fences, beach terraces and the open North Sea, and it lies close to Amsterdam.

Zandvoort on a Sunny Day

We met at the top of the beach, where a sandy path runs down to the water between wooden dune fences. Emma wore a long cream kimono with red and orange flowers, and Claudia a blue floral dress with a denim jacket. Bright sun lit the sand, and a fresh breeze kept their hair moving.

Sandy path down to the beach in Zandvoort beside a wooden dune fence and marram grass, a beach pavilion with string lights above

Mother in a long floral kimono hugging her daughter from behind against a wooden dune fence on Zandvoort beach, the sea beyond — Wooden dune fences at the top of the beach

By the fence, Emma wrapped her arms around her daughter from behind, and Claudia leaned back into the hug. Then we spread a blue blanket in the sand, right below the fence. Claudia opened a book on her lap, but Emma kept pointing at the sea, so they soon forgot about the book.

Daughter in a denim jacket smiling as her mother holds her close and rests a cheek on her hair beside the weathered fence

Mother pointing out to sea while her daughter holds an open book on her lap, both sitting on a blanket below the dune fence

Two white cups stood on the blanket, next to a yellow scarf. Emma rested her head on her daughter’s shoulder, and after a while they lay down head to head in the sun. For one frame, I photographed them from above while they simply kept talking.

Mother leaning on her daughter on a blue blanket by marram grass, two white cups and a yellow scarf on the blanket beside them

Seen from above, mother and daughter lying head to head on a blanket in the sand, a yellow scarf beside them, both smiling

Dancing at the Waterline

Down at the water, the wind caught the yellow scarf. Claudia wrapped herself in it and laughed, while behind her the sea sparkled all the way to the horizon.

Young woman wrapped in a yellow scarf smiling at the waterline, the wind in her long blond hair and the surf behind her

Next, I asked the two of them to walk along the waterline, hand in hand. Within a few steps they were dancing. Far down the beach stood the high-rises of Zandvoort, and Claudia twirled her mother around until the kimono flew out in the wind.

Mother and daughter walking hand in hand and laughing along the waterline, the high-rises of Zandvoort far behind them

Daughter twirling her barefoot mother under her raised arm at the edge of the sea, the long floral kimono flying in the wind — Along the waterline, with a fresh breeze off the sea

Emma kicked off her shoes and stepped into the surf, one arm up as if she were waving to the sea. Meanwhile, Claudia couldn’t stop laughing.

Daughter laughing on the wet sand while her barefoot mother waves one arm in the shallow surf, a moment from a gift photoshoot by the sea

Before we left the water, Claudia pulled her mother into a long hug, cheek to cheek, and kissed her. Those two frames are the heart of this Mother’s Day gift in Zandvoort.

Cheek to cheek on Zandvoort beach, a mother in blue mirrored sunglasses and her daughter laughing, on a photoshoot the daughter gave as a gift

Daughter kissing her mother's cheek in a tight embrace by the sea, on the Mother's Day gift photoshoot she gave her mother

A Toast to Mothers in Zandvoort

Mother and daughter at a table on a beach terrace in Zandvoort, behind a low wooden fence, under orange and red parasols

Halfway through, we took a break on the terrace of a beach club, between orange and red parasols. A low white fence kept the terrace apart from the sand, and the dune rose green behind it.

Emma raised her glass to her daughter, and Claudia raised hers back: to mothers, and to daughters who come up with gifts like this. After that, they sat side by side in two black wooden chairs, looking out at the sea.

Mother raising her glass to her daughter on a beach terrace, a toast during the photoshoot she received as a Mother's Day gift

Mother and daughter seen from behind in black wooden chairs on a beach terrace, looking out over the sand to the North Sea — A beach terrace facing the North Sea

A Blouse Full of Stars

After the break, Emma changed into a navy blouse covered in white stars. Two catamarans stood high on the sand, and mother and daughter climbed onto one of the white hulls. First I stepped back for a wide frame with the masts against the sky, then I came close again.

Two catamarans pulled up on Zandvoort beach under a bright sun, mother and daughter sitting small on one of the white hulls

Low view of mother and daughter sitting back to back on the white hull of a catamaran, its mast rising into the blue sky — Catamarans pulled up high on the sand

Barefoot daughter in a blue dress on a catamaran hull, her mother in a navy blouse with white stars hugging her close

On the hull, Claudia sat barefoot with her toes in the sand, and Emma held her tight. The star print and the blue flowers looked lovely together against the white boat.

A Scarf in the Wind

To finish, Emma walked back to the water with a white scarf. She held it up, and the wind did the rest. Barefoot on the wet sand, she spun around once and laughed: the last frame of the day.

Mother in a navy blouse with white stars holding a white scarf up into the wind by the sea in Zandvoort, eyes closed

Barefoot on the wet sand, a woman with platinum hair swirls a white scarf around her and smiles, sunlight glittering on the sea

Claudia had wanted to give her mother something they could share, not just unwrap. That was her Mother’s Day gift in Zandvoort: a day by the sea together, and photos to keep.

Thinking of a gift like this yourself? My guide on how to give a photoshoot as a gift walks you through it.

Dreaming of a day by the sea together? Discover my photoshoots across the Netherlands.