A female smooth newt slowly sinks back to the bottom of a pond after coming up for air.

Every year when the water temperature reaches 12 degrees Celsius, several cephalopod species start to arrive in the shallow waters of the Oosterschelde (Eastern Scheldt), an estuary in the south of the Netherlands: the reproductive season has arrived. Especially the spawning of the Common cuttlefish Sepia officinalis is, by all accounts, a spectacular event to witness.

And so, during the last weekend of May, my buddy and I set out on the 250 kilometer journey from my home to the Oosterschelde, to try and see this extraordinary display for the first time. Alas, when we arrived there was a strong wind, and the conditions did not look good. We waited for slack water and then walked the excruciating 500 meters from the car to the dive site in full gear, but only five minutes underwater were enough to call it a day. I couldn’t see my buddy, even though we were holding each other by the arms.

Of course, the next day, back home, the weather was absolutely splendid. As I was making a stroll through the garden, I noticed the newts in the small pond, bathing in the afternoon sunlight. I rushed back inside for my camera, and lowered it into the pond.

This image of a female Smooth newt Lissotriton vulgaris is the result. It didn’t take a 250 kilometer drive, and back, nor did it take hours of waiting for slack water and hauling dive equipment. It took only 30 minutes of patience. Sometimes the best images are just waiting to happen in the backyard.

This article was written for Underwater Photography Magazine and was published in issue 55 (July/August 2010).