STORY | AMSTERDAM

A Solo Christmas Walk in Reindeer Antlers

By Aleksandria Rudenko | Updated 8 November 2026

Young woman in reindeer antlers laughing behind two candy canes held in a heart, a shop front glowing with Christmas lights

Selma had one wish for her solo Christmas walk: portraits of herself among the lights, not just photos of the lights on her phone. She came in a camel teddy coat, with a red tartan scarf and a headband with reindeer antlers.

Portraits that feel like a good evening out are what my portrait photoshoots in Amsterdam are about. So we met in the center at dusk and walked from one lit spot to the next.

A Walk Under the Christmas Garlands

Woman in a camel teddy coat and reindeer antlers on a walk under Christmas garlands, tram tracks beside her as dusk falls

The sky was still blue when we started on a wide street with tram tracks, under garlands of lights. Selma walked toward me down the middle, hands in her pockets and antlers up.

Next, we found a shop front where every column wore a garland of tiny lights. Selma leaned against one and held two candy canes together in a heart. Then she laughed behind it: the frame at the top of this story.

Smiling woman in red patterned mittens holding two candy canes in a heart shape, a column wrapped in tiny lights beside her

Woman in reindeer antlers, a red scarf and a long coat standing by a shop window framed with garlands and lights on a Christmas walk

Shop window filled with gold tinsel and stacked gifts inside a frame of tiny lights, a stop on a solo Christmas walk after dark

A shop window close by was a show of its own, all gold tinsel and stacked gifts inside a frame of lights.

Candy Canes Under a Tall Tree

Inside Magna Plaza, built as the city’s main post office in the 1890s, a tall Christmas tree stood under the arches. Selma took off her coat and her antlers there. By the tree, she held a candle wrapped in a string of small lights. Behind her, the colored lights melted into soft circles.

Eyes closed and smiling, she holds a candle wrapped in fairy lights, a red tartan scarf over her shoulders and Christmas tree bokeh behind

Holding a lit candle wrapped in fairy lights, she smiles at the camera on her solo walk, the tall tree in Magna Plaza blurred into blue and green circles

Woman in a black top and tartan skirt holding candy canes on her head like antlers, a tall Christmas tree under the arches of Magna Plaza

Then she held two candy canes on her head instead: a new pair of antlers, and her own idea.

A Sparkler After Dark

Back outside, it was dark. In a red beanie now, Selma held a sparkler among the parked bikes. The facade behind her carried a giant book of lights: blue trees and a golden moon. Afterward, we walked on to the canals, where the bridges and lit windows doubled in the water.

Woman in a red beanie holding a sparkler among parked bikes at night, a facade behind her lit with blue trees and a golden moon

Bridge with three lit arches and a row of old houses at night, their warm lights doubled in the still water of an Amsterdam canal

Canal houses and a lamppost glowing at night above a bridge lined with small lights, the end of a Christmas walk through the center

For the last frame, I left Selma out of it and kept only the city she had walked through. That was her solo Christmas walk: one coat, two pairs of antlers and a whole city lit up around her.

Planning photos in the festive season yourself? My guide to a Christmas photoshoot in Amsterdam shows when the lights are up.

Would you like portraits of your own among the city’s lights? Discover how my portrait photoshoots in Amsterdam work.