http://www.pinholeday.org

There's a small pond near our house called Poplar Pond. It's part of Long Branch Nature Center, one of three nature centers in Arlington County. 

For some reason I'm obsessed with this little pond. I stop there at least once a week, if not more often. I love how the change in seasons affects the pond. Different critters are active at different times of the year and you never know what you're going to see. I think I've taken a bazillion photos there.

Earlier this week I was on my way to the library and I stopped by the pond. I was shocked to see a small snake gliding around on the surface of the water. I hadn't seen any snakes in the pond before. 

As I walked around the pond, I saw several more snakes, including a large one who came out of the water to lay on the platform. (You can see the platform in the two photos above.) Soon she was joined by two smaller snakes and they proceeded to mate. I counted six snakes total.

I went inside the nature center and asked the naturalist about the snakes. He said they were Northern Watersnakes, very common to freshwater here, and that it's mating season. These particular snakes give birth to live babies, usually between August and October.

This morning I went back to the pond armed with my camera, hoping to see the snakes again. One of them was resting on an exposed log, and there were two others swimming and basking in the sun. I walked all the way around the pond looking at the snakes, American bullfrogs, and Eastern Painted turtles.

One turtle climbed out of the water and walked over the top of the snake who was resting on the log. The snake didn't seem to mind at all!

Earlier I wrote about my previous and not-so-successful attempts at pinhole photography:

Mark Your Calendars: Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day 2012 Is Coming Up Fast!

And now, all that's changed. I finally got images on my film using a pinhole camera!

This was the first year I've participated in Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day, which happened on April 29, 2012.  Just to be on the safe side, since I've had limited luck with cameras I've made myself, I used a MintyCam, an empty Altoids tin reborn as a fantastic little 35mm pinhole camera. I bought my MintyCam from Chris Keeney, a very cool guy who makes very cool photographs, and not just with pinhole cameras either.

The image above was the one I submitted to the Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day website. If you have time, I highly recommend taking a peek at all the great pinhole photos submitted from all over the world.

It dawned on me today that I've only got one week to get ready for Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day 2012! The annual event takes place the last Sunday of April. 

I've never taken part before, mostly because my pinhole photography experiments have been complete disasters. Well, maybe not COMPLETE disasters. I did manage to get images. Just not very good ones.

My first pinhole camera was made out of one of those cylindrical cardboard Quaker Oats containers. I used sheets of 5 x 7 photosensitive paper inside to capture the image. I think I got maybe one picture that was halfway interesting.

A few years ago I built a pinhole camera out of a matchbox. (For a good tutorial, check out matchboxpinhole.com.) I carried the darned thing around in my pocket for a week. It used 35mm film, and I (stupidly) attached a roll of 36-exposure film to it. It seemed to take forever to use up that roll, especially since I was dying to see what I got, if anything.

This year I'm determined to have a pinhole photography success. I've got a Zero Image 6 x 6 pinhole camera, lots of film, a light meter, and the Pinhole Camera Exposure Guide.

Keep your fingers crossed!