Dev Wijewardane Photography

Common Kingfisher - Thalangama, Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (dev wijewardane) — Sat, 14 Aug 2021 12:45:00 +0000

Common Kingfisher photographed at Thalangama this morning. The bird was far away and I had to crop the image a fair bit. It was pretty quiet from a birding perspective but Cinnamon bitterns have made an appearance.

Brown-headed Barbet - Colombo, Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (dev wijewardane) — Sat, 31 Jul 2021 12:34:00 +0000

The barbets are regular visitors to our garden, specially when there is fruit on the trees. I photographed this guy from about 10 feet away. I was on a balcony and was glad that I had a clear line of sight to it and sufficient space between the bird and the background to get a nice blur.

Jumping Spider - Colombo, Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (dev wijewardane) — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 14:01:00 +0000

Covid lockdowns have resulted in the macro lens being brought out more often than usual. This shot of a jumping spider was taken at home when I found it perched on a branch at eye level. Lighting was form high camera right using a speed light defused with a small soft box.

The Herd - Kala Wewa, Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (dev wijewardane) — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 02:37:00 +0000

We watched these elephants having a bath and rolling around at the waterhole for a few hours and they provided us with plenty of photographic opportunities. The herd was not bothered by our presence as they didn't seem to change their behaviour which included lying down in the waterhole. There were more elephants in the herd but they are out to the right of the frame. They too kept approaching the waterhole periodically.

Barana - Kala Wewa, Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (dev wijewardane) — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 09:52:00 +0000

Barana was in musth when we decided to visit the Kala Wewa area a few weeks ago. We got there around midday and had to wait a few hours until he made his appearance. Fortunately there was a herd of elephants at a water and they provided us with a number of photographic opportunities while we waited. Barana's presence was given away by the odour of the secretions from his temporal ducts that carried on the wind. We watched and photographed him for a few hours as he drank his fill at the edge of the wewa and we left him feeding on the plains.

Sloth Bear - Wilpattu, Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (dev wijewardane) — Thu, 22 Oct 2020 05:58:00 +0000

Seeing Sloth Bears in Sri Lanka is relatively rare. I hadn't had a clear sighting for ages but that changed on my last trip to Wilpattu. We came across this bear while we were on a quiet morning drive. Fortunately there were only a handful of vehicles in the park and we were able to observe the bear without being disturbed. We stopped the car and watched the bear walking down the road towards us. It walked about a 100 meters in our direction before it moved into the undergrowth and disappeared.

Leopards - Wilpattu, Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (dev wijewardane) — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 02:13:00 +0000

Wilpattu was quiet last week with all the Covid-19 scares and fortunately, we were in the park. I'd have seen about 4 different vehicles within the park on our different drives. It was avery different experience from Yala with drivers cooperating with each other and actually tracking animals instead of being on the phone. We came across this pair of mating leopards on one of our morning drives and were able to watch them for about 15 minutes before they moved deeper into the jungle. This photograph was taken during one of their interactions.

Corridors - Dambulla, Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (dev wijewardane) — Mon, 21 Sep 2020 04:23:00 +0000

I came across this little stupa at the end of a corridor near the entrance to one of the caves. I thought the row of windows made the composition a bit more interesting. Thoughts?

Statues - Dambulla, Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (dev wijewardane) — Sat, 12 Sep 2020 15:58:00 +0000

Dambulla on a quiet day is great experience. These statues were in the second cave (from memory) and I was fortunate to be able to take my time photographing them as there weren't too many other people around. A tripod is essential and flash photography is not allowed. The main statues are lit but the paintings on the walls are in relative darkness.

Raja Maha Viharaya - Dambulla, Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (dev wijewardane) — Fri, 11 Sep 2020 09:31:00 +0000

The cave temples in Dambulla are on almost every tourist route within Sri Lanka and they deserve to be. The artwork and statues are stunning and are a welcome reward after the climb up to the caves. I visited the temple early one morning with the aim of photographing it without other visitors walking across my frame. I got to the temple and found that my lens was broken and wouldn't zoom out more than 70mm. Fortunately I had taken a few photographs the previous day.

Sentinel - Lahugala, Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (dev wijewardane) — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 08:25:00 +0000

While driving through Lahugala, we came across this stunning tree in the middle of a dried up lake bed. Fired off a few frames with a telephoto lens and decided to process it as a black and white image as I felt the contrast between the tree and the clouds and surroundings made the image "work".

Buduruwagala - Wellawaya, Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (dev wijewardane) — Thu, 20 Aug 2020 06:27:00 +0000

We stopped at Buduruwagala on our way to Arugam Bay a few weeks ago. I hadn't been there in a number of years and was a bit disappointed to see that the area had changed. I guess it was inevitable given the increasing number of visitors to the area. The statues though are still stunning and well worth a visit.

Sunset - Galle, Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (dev wijewardane) — Tue, 18 Aug 2020 09:26:00 +0000

We spent the weekend down the coast in Galle and were fortunate to witness an amazing sunset. There aren't too many people visiting the area due to covid and the season for the south coat doesn't get underway for a month or so more. God knows when more people will head down south so may as well enjoy it while it's quiet.

Leopard - Kumana, Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (dev wijewardane) — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 06:12:00 +0000

We were fortunate to come across this leopard during an early morning round in Kumana a few days ago. It was nice to be in a park where you didn't have to deal with over crowding and noise at a sighting. We had this more or less to ourselves with a couple of other jeeps turning up as the leopard finished drinking and walked into the bush.

Brown Fishing Owl - Kuamana, Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (dev wijewardane) — Sat, 08 Aug 2020 17:29:00 +0000

The Brown Fishing Owl is one of the larger species of owl found in Sri Lanka. We found this owl perched on a branch by the side of the road in the Kumana national park. We had clear views of the Owl for about ten minutes before it flew off. I have seen this owl on a number of occasions but they have been perched on branches higher up in trees. This sighting was different as it was at eye level.

Milky Way - Kalthota, Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (dev wijewardane) — Thu, 23 Jul 2020 11:27:00 +0000

On a recent trip to Kalthota we stayed at a place in the middle of the jungle with relatively little light pollution. An early evening shower ensured clear skies and resulted in this photograph. I wish I had a wider lens with me though. This was shot at 24mm.

Duvili Ella - Kalthota, Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (dev wijewardane) — Mon, 20 Jul 2020 12:56:00 +0000

We were out glamping over the weekend and decided to visit Duvili Ella on the way back home. A 2 hour stop and a 400 step descent were not what my travel companions had in mind when we stopped but the sight of this waterfall was definitely worth it. We were fortunate to have the place to ourselves and I spent a bit of time photographing it from different vantage points.

Black Eagle - Galaha, Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (dev wijewardane) — Mon, 29 Jun 2020 05:01:00 +0000

The Black Eagle (Ictinaetus malaiensis) is seen regularly around the Galaha area near Kandy, Sri Lanka. I've been trying to photograph it while perched for about 20 years but have had no luck so far. This weekend was no exception. We saw the birds at quite a close range but unfortunately they didn't perch on any of the trees in the area. This photograph was taken when the birds swooped down on one of it's many circuits of the area.

House Fly - Colombo, Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (dev wijewardane) — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 10:06:00 +0000

I came across this house fly in the garden over the weekend. It was relatively easy to photograph as it stayed still on the leaf while I lit it from different angles and fired off a number of frames. The hardest part of this shoot was waiting for the breeze to die down and the leaf to be still. Got there in the end.

Snail - Colombo, Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (dev wijewardane) — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 12:17:00 +0000

I came across this little snail in the courtyard at home. Fortunately they are a lot easier to photograph than jumping spiders! I fired off a few frames and then took him out to the garden. I'm not sure what species of snail this is but it might belong to the macrochlamys family. If you know what species this is, please let me know via the comments?

Green Long-legged Fly - Colombo, Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (dev wijewardane) — Sun, 31 May 2020 03:27:00 +0000

I've been shooting a few macro photographs over the last few months as we are in lockdown and haven't been able to get out beyond our own garden. This photograph of a Green Long-legged Fly was taken last afternoon when I saw it perched on a fern. It was not too hard to photograph as it didn't seem to be spooked by my presence and it wasn't constantly on the move.

Jumping Spider - Colombo, Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (dev wijewardane) — Sun, 24 May 2020 04:58:00 +0000

This is the third jumping spider I came across at home. I hadn't realised there were so many until I pulled out the macro lens during the covid lock down and started photographing them. Identification is not easy as there are over 75 species of jumping spider in Sri Lanka. Facebook spider interest group to the rescue!

Agrasen Ki Baoli - New Delhi, India

noreply@blogger.com (dev wijewardane) — Sat, 16 May 2020 08:33:00 +0000

Agrasen Ki Baoli is a little known step well in New Delhi. I was surprised that not too many people had heard of it and I had to use google maps to find the place. Although there are no historical records, the step well is said to have been built by King Agrasen. The present architecture suggests that it was re-built in the 14th century.

Perahera Dancers - Kelaniya, Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (dev wijewardane) — Fri, 15 May 2020 10:36:00 +0000

I went to Kelaniya for the annual perahera last year and was able to take a few shots of the traditional dancers. Due to the security situation in the country at the time, the perahera was restricted to the temple complex and didn't make its way through the streets as it usually does. This worked in my favour as I was able to position myself and watch as the procession passed my 3 times. It would have been a lot harder to find a good vantage point on the streets.

Lynx Spider - Colombo, Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (dev wijewardane) — Sat, 09 May 2020 09:31:00 +0000

As the Covid-19 lockdown continues, I've found myself using the macro lens on a regular basis. The kids were playing in the garden last afternoon and called me when they came across this tiny Lynx Spider. I managed to get my gear ready and photograph it for about 30 minutes. I was able to get a number of shots that I'm quite happy with. It was a decent way of keeping myself occupied for a while.