Pied Kingfisher - Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka

Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis) - Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka

I hadn't photographed a Pied Kingfisher until my last trip to Arugam Bay in July. I came across a pair of them hunting along a small waterway on the side of the road. They were making short flights out over the water and hovering for a while and returning to their perch on a telephone wire. Fortunately for me, they hovered for long enough for me to take a few photographs.

More inside.

 Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis) - Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka

Pied Kingfishers range from sub-Saharan Africa across to west Asia. The species found in Sri Lanka is considered to be a sub-species named leucomelanura. They are about 17cm in length and are white with a black mask. The males have a narrow second breast band while females have a broken breast band. The photographs above are of a male. It hunts by hovering over water to locate prey and then diving bill first to capture fish. 

Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis) - Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka

These photographs were taken with a Canon 7D and the 100-400mm lens. The conditions were not ideal as the clouds were a very bright background for these flight shots. I also had to push the ISO up to be able to shoot photographs of the birds in flight. I'm hoping to get some better shots in the future but they are not too bad for a first effort.

Forster - New South Wales, Australia

Main Beach - Forster, Australia

The 26th of January is Australia Day, one of a handful of public holidays over here in Australia. Since it fell on a Thursday this year, we took Friday off and headed up to Forster for the long weekend.  We stayed at one of our friends apartments which is just a block away form Main Beach.

More photographs inside.

Forster - Tuncurry Bridge across Wallis Lake - Forster, Australia

Forster and its twin town Tuncurry, lie on a thin strip of land between Wallis lake and the Pacific Ocean. Forster and Tuncurry are home to a population of around 18,500 people, more than half of who are aged over 55 years. Forster is located in the great lakes area which is roughly 300 km north of Sydney, an easy 3 hour drive.

The Marina - Forster, Australia

The Forster marina is the first part of town that you see on the right hand side of the bridge when you drive in from Tuncurry. The breakwater is open to the public and a paved walkway provides easy access from the public car park. Dolphins can be seen around the breakwater on a regular basis.

The Pelicans - Forster, Australia

The Marina is also known for the flock of relatively large Pelicans that are often seen there. Facilities are provided for fishermen to clean their catch at the Marina and the birds gather around the cleaning tables hoping to feed on the scraps. They are quite used to people and gather by the table whenever someone is cleaning their fish.

Ocean Baths - Forster, Australia

As with most coastal towns in Australia, Forster also has Ocean Baths. The baths are located at the southern end of main Beach and are open to the public. The baths can be tricky to photograph as the rising sun will be directly in the background in most compositions. The best times to photograph the pools would be late evening or early morning before the sun rises. A Tripod is essential.

Ocean Baths - Forster, Australia

I made several early morning starts and managed to shoot the pool in varying light conditions. These two photographs are the ones I liked best of the lot. I tried using a graduated ND filter to compress the dynamic range of the photographs but it was tricky due to the compositions that I chose.

Tuncurry across Wallis Lake - Forster, Australia

All the images on this post were taken with the Canon 7D and the 24-105mm lens. A graduated ND filter was used for some of the photographs and a tripod came in handy on many occasions.

48/52 - Cherries

Cherries

This weeks shot is of water splashing off some cherries. The hardest part of this shot was getting a decent splash. I wanted to light the cherries using two lights. I wanted one of them to light the overall image and the second to act as a key light. I could have used one light and the ambient to achieve a similar result.

Lighting setup inside.

 Lighting setup - Cherries

The main light was a Canon 580 EX II fired at 1/4th through a shoot-through umbrella from high camera left.

The key light was a bare Canon 430 EX II fired at 1/32 from camera right.

I used a black foam-core board as the background. I tried a white foam-core board but the water droplets were not as clear.

The Leopards at Karaw Gas Wala - Yala, Sri Lanka

A Leopardess having a drink - Yala, Sri Lanka

One of the best sightings we had while in Yala, was of a female Leopard and her cub at Karaw Gas Wala. We were on an evening round when we crossed another vehicle and were informed that a Leopard was seen in the area. Our driver had a hunch that the Leopard would be heading towards the water hole at Karaw Gas Wala and headed off in that direction. He had seen the Leopards stopping there for a drink before and thought they would make an appearance.

More photographs inside.

 Leopard cub emerging from the undergrowth - Yala, Sri Lanka

When we got to the water hole we were greeted by three or four Buffalo in the water and a couple of Painted Storks but no sign of the Leopard. A decision was soon made to wait there for a while and see if we got lucky. Unfortunately a number of other vehicles that drove passed decided to stop and wait as well! It was getting a bit too crowded for our liking and hoping to lead the other jeeps away, we drove "around the block" and got back ten minutes later to find all the other vehicles gone. 

Leopardess and Cub - Yala, Sri Lanka

We were rewarded 20 minutes later when the cub emerged from the undergrowth. It was a bit hesitant and initially poked its head out and stared at us for a while. It was soon joined by it's mother (I was annoyed to later discover that a stick in the foreground had actually got in the way of a photograph with the mother staring directly at the camera! The shot above).

The Leopardess approaches - Yala, Sri Lanka

After a few minutes the Leopardess led the cub towards the road along a gully and we lost sight of them briefly. We were pretty confident that it would cross the road behind our vehicle so we stayed put. We didn't have to wait too long.

The Leopard comes up to the road- Yala, Sri Lanka

The female re-appeared a bit further away from us to cross the road. She was uneasy and kept staring at the vehicle while she was in the open. During this period I was able capture a number of photographs with her staring directly into the camera.

AFemale Leopard crosses the road - Yala, Sri Lanka

A little while after she crossed the road, the cub followed. It was very tentative and took a while to work up the courage to actually walk across. Soon after it crossed the road it disappeared into the undergrowth on the further side of the water hole. Probably because it was unsettled by the presence of both our vehicle and the buffalo.

The Leopard cub crosses the road - Yala, Sri Lanka

Soon after the cub crossed the road the female started to drink. Thankfully she positioned herself at the far end of the waterhole, directly opposite us. she had a long drink throughout which she didn't take her eye's off the vehicle. I was glad because this meant I was able to get more photographs with her staring straight into the camera.

A Leopardess having a drink - Yala, Sri Lanka

A few minutes after the Leopard started drinking, the buffaloes became restless. They didn't seem to have any young with them so I'm not really sure what agitated them. They approached the Leopard threateningly, stamping their hooves and snorting and succeeded in chasing the Leopard away.

The Leopard walking away - Yala, Sri Lanka

The whole experience lasted about 15 minutes. It was one of the best sightings I've had of a Leopard in Yala and having it to ourselves was a big bonus. I think I fired off about 50 frames during the fifteen minutes. I was expecting to have taken a lot more to be honest!

The photographs were taken with the Canon 7D and the 100-400mm lens.

Sambar - Yala, Sri Lanka

Sambar - Yala, Sri Lanka

We came across this pair of Sambar on one of the drives we did in Yala. They had just come out into the open and were about to drink at a waterhole when we drove up. Initially they seemed a bit uncomfortable with our presence but within a few minutes they settled down and had a long drink.

More photographs after the jump.

 Sambar - Yala, Sri Lanka

Unlike at Horton Plains, where large herds of Sambar are frequently seen, Sambar sightings in Yala are usually limited to a pair or a single individual. On our trip we saw this pair and caught a glimpse of another Sambar as it disappeared into the bush. We were fortunate enough to have a lengthy sighting where the animals were quite close and not bothered by our presence.

Sambar - Yala, Sri Lanka

They are a relatively large species of Deer which measure up to 160 cm in height and weigh up to 280Kg. They are found through most of South Asia and vary widely across their range. The sub-species found in Sri Lanka is Rusa unicolor unicolor which is one of the largest.

  Sambar - Yala, Sri Lanka

These photographs were taken with a Canon 7D and the 100-400mm lens. The photographs seen here have not been cropped.

 Sambar - Yala, Sri Lanka

31/52 - In the drink... again

In the drink...again

Here's another shot I was experimenting with last weekend. I got the idea for this shot when I came across some unused golf balls at home. I didn't have a fish tank to use for the shoot so opted for a rectangular vase instead. This was a two light setup but I would have liked to use a third light fired through a get to light the background and make it a bit more interesting.

Setup shot after the jump.

Lighting Setup - In the drink...again

The lighting for this shot was fairly simple. I used a canon 430 EX II from the left and a Canon 580 EXII from the right and fired them both at 1/64th.

I also used a black foam-core board as the background.

Somersby Falls - Part II

The Main Waterfall - Somersby Falls, Australia

The Somersby Falls picnic area in the Brisbane Waters national park, on the central coast of New South Wales, is the starting point of a short walk along Mooney Mooney Creek. A number of decent sized waterfalls are within a ten or twenty minute walk from the picnic area. The first, and most impressive, of these is the waterfall pictured above. More images and info after the jump.

A Closeup of the main waterfall - Somersby Falls, Australia

One of the most interesting compositional elements of the main waterfall, in my opinion, is the branch which extends across the water fall from the left of the frame (shown in the image above). I think it helps convey a sense of depth in the  images of the waterfall.

A section of the lower falls - Somersby Falls, Australia

The drop of the second fall is not as big as the main waterfall but the rocks, moss and leaves make for some interesting compositions. I didn't have any ND filters on this trip and had to rely on an aperture of f22 to get  a suitable shutter speed required to capture the silky feel of flowing water. We got there quite early in the morning and fortunately the sun wasn't too harsh at the time.

The main waterfall - Somersby Falls, Australia

The wet moss and ferns growing on the rocks along the creek add a lot of colour and interest to the images of the creek. The fact that the area is very rocky allows photographers to capture interesting compositions of small sections of the falls themselves.

A section of the main waterfall - Somersby Falls, Australia

Somersby Falls is only around an hours drive on the F3 from our place in Sydney. I've been up there on three occasions already and will definitely head up there again. It's probably best to visit in late July or early August as the winter rain would ensure a decent amount of water flowing through the creek.

A section of the main waterfall - Somersby Falls, Australia

All images on this post were captured using a Canon 7D and the 24-105mm lens. The aperture was set to f22 and the ISO of 100 for all the images on this post.

More images of Somersby Falls

• http://devwijewardane.blogspot.com/2010/08/somersby-falls-part-i.html
• http://devwijewardane.blogspot.com/2009/09/somersby-falls.html

Puliyankulam Tank - Anuradhapura

Puliyankulam is a relatively small tank and is situated on the A9 highway north of Anuradhapura. It is about a ten minute drive from the centre of town and is definitely worth a visit. For those of you who are not aware of what a "tank" is, it is a man made lake that is used for irrigation. The north central province of Sri Lanka is covered with a number of tanks that have been built over a thousand years ago, with the aim of collecting rain water in order to cultivate paddy in the drier months. More info and images after the jump.

We visited the tank one evening in January with the hope of doing some bird watching. It was around five in the evening when we got there and the light was fantastic for photography. Apart from a herd of water buffalo, we had the place to ourselves. As can be seen in the first and third images of this post, there was an abundance of lush green grass growing in the fertile soil around the tanks and in the shallows. Beyond the grasses the tank was covered with lotus and the area was teeming with bird life. Our sightings that evening included Common Kingfishers, Egrets, Grebes and Darters. 

We didn't wonder around too much to be honest.  We found a large rock on which we sat while watching the sun dip below the horizon. I'm an outdoors person and this to me, was one of the best ways to spend an evening, surrounded by wildlife and far away from the hustle and bustle of a city. 

All the images on this post were captured using the 7D with the 100-400mm lens mounted on it. These images must be viewed large.

Ruwanweliseya - Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

Ruwanweliseya & Mirisawetiya - Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

The Ruwanweliseya Stupa, which is considered an architectural marvel, was built by King Dutugemunu. It is also known as Mahathupa, Swarnamali Chaitya and Rathnamali Dagaba. The Stupa is one of the worlds tallest monuments, standing at 300 feet with a circumference of 950 feet. More info and images after the jump.

Ruwanwelieseya - Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

According to ancient texts, the raw materials used during construction included, Gold, Silver, Pearls, Coral,  clay bricks, Copper and precious gems. Construction work on the Stupa began on the full moon day during the Vesak period (April - May). According to Buddhism, the Vesak full moon day is considered sacred as numerous important events took place on this day. These included the birth and passing of the Buddha, his arrival in Sri Lanka and the arrival of Prince Vijaya to Sri Lanka.

The foundation stone was laid during the full moon in June - July. The King had 8 large water pots of gold and 8 of silver placed in the midst of the great Stupa. Around these pots he had a hundred and eight vases placed. He also had eight bricks of gold placed in the eight corners of the Stupa and a hundred and eight silver bricks placed around each of the gold bricks.

After the Buddha's Parinibbana (passing) his relics were enshrined and worshipped in Stupas by Princes of eight countries (two quarts in each country). The two quarts of the relics which were enshrined in the village of Ramagama were, according to the Buddha's determination, destined to be enshrined in the great Stupa Ruwanveli.  King Dutugemunu took the relics on his head and circumambulated the relic chamber, which he entered from the east, three times and placed the relics on a silver couch which was arranged on the north side. When the enshrining of the relics was completed, two novices closed the relic chamber with two stone blocks.

King Dutugemunu passed away while gazing at the Ruwanweliseya when the great Stupa was completed up to the tenth square turret. He had ruled Sri Lanka for a period of 24 years. The construction was completed by his brother King Saddhatissa.
Source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruwanwelisaya

Ruwanwelieseya - Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

I captured these images in January 2010 when I last visited Anuradhapura. They were taken using a Canon 7D with a 100-400mm lens mounted on it. The first two images were captured across Tissa Wewa, while the third was captured from across a smaller tank. Ruwanweliseya is the larger of the two Stupas visible in the first image. The second is Mirisavetiya.