Went out last night to get some vesak shots in and around Panadura. Unfortunately there aren’t that many pandals as supposed to Colombo. But the one in the market is quite impressive and generally everyone around makes it a point to visit the market and have a look at the pandal every year.

Please note that all images in this blog are the property of the photographer. No one may use these images without written permission from the photographer. The fact that it’s on the internet is not an excuse for you to steal it. Legal action will be taken against anyone using these images without permission from the photographer.

If you are interested in using these photographs, please email (rangad.silva[at]gmail.com) me for permission.

In a couple of days it will be time to start celebrating Vesak. A festival of lights where Buddhists celebrate Lord Buddhas Birth, Enlightenment and Death. But mainly it’s just an excuse for everyone to hit the streets, roam around town till the wee hours and eat free food from dansals. I’m also hoping to hit the streets with my camera and tripod. Hopefully the crowds won’t make a meal of me.

Oh this photograph was taken a couple years back when I was photographing the Vesak 2010 Buddhist Film Festival at BMICH. My friends and I got bored and decided to walk around to see what was outside BMICH. I can’t remember where exactly but this pandal was on the grounds of an government office complex on Baudhaloka mawatha just outside the BMICH.

Please note that all images in this blog are the property of the photographer. No one may use these images without written permission from the photographer. The fact that it’s on the internet is not an excuse for you to steal it. Legal action will be taken against anyone using these images without permission from the photographer.

If you are interested in using these photographs, please email (rangad.silva[at]gmail.com) me for permission.

Entrance to Fort Fredrick in Trincomalee. An old fort built by the Portuguese using debris from the destroyed Koneswaram Temple. Later captured and rebuilt by the Dutch, afterwards occupied by the British until Sri Lanka gained independence. Currently a garrison housing a detachment of the Gajaba Regiment of the Sri Lanka Army. Even though an army garrison, the fort is open to the public since anyone visiting the Koneswaram Temple will have to go through the fort. Though you are expected to behave yourself once inside.

More photographs of the Koneswaram Temple on my Facebook page.

Please note that all images in this blog are the property of the photographer. No one may use these images without written permission from the photographer. The fact that it’s on the internet is not an excuse for you to steal it. Legal action will be taken against anyone using these images without permission from the photographer.

If you are interested in using these photographs, please email (rangad.silva[at]gmail.com) me for permission.

I was quite happy with the old layout but it was the same for almost three years so it was time for a makeover. I wanted the new layout to be more social network friendly so hence the links to all the other social websites I’m on. Do take a peak if you have the time.

The current layout seems a bit generic cause it’s mostly plugins and even the icons came with the plugins so my plan is to slowly change most of the graphics to something more attractive with time. Currently I have no time with the rest of the workload. Even this I just woke up at 4am cause I couldn’t sleep and started messing about with the code till it was time to actually get to the day job. (I don’t usually get up at 4am, sometimes its 4am when I go to sleep) Oh, the theme I’m using is Meeta by WPZOOM. I just changed some CSS stuff to make it look the way I wanted and the widgets and stuff are easily customizable from within the theme. Pretty good theme I must say since it only took me six hours to get all this done (four if I hadn’t stopped to take a nap).

What I’ve been upto…

• I’ve setup a Facebook page to upload most of my albums. I usually do this of my Flickr page but given not everyone is on Flickr, this will enable more people to see my photographs. At least that’s the plan.
• As most of my close friends will know, I’ve been working on my own web and graphic design company for the past year. So I will be posting articles on some of the projects we’ve been working on. Hopefully someone will see these and give us more work so I can afford to buy the new Samsung Galaxy Tab. I’m planing to buy it from softlogic because they are cheaper than Etisalat and  because I don’t have anyone to ferry one over from abroad.
• My internet has been on the frits for the past couple of months thanks to our friendly neighborhood broadband provider SLT and now they’ve told me to stick to a limit  of 25gb per month on which I was told is an unlimited  connection when I bought it. Needless to say I’m quite pissed because I can no longer procrastinate watching YouTube videos and my favorite TV shows online.  I’m sure that I’m not the only one suffering out there so I’m planing a separate post with my experience with SLT and my views on FUP later.

So yah, that’s about it. I’m hoping to diversify the content on the site from just photographs. I’m not going to say what sort of content cause I really have no clue. May be on the line of travel stuff to electronics to web design and graphics. Hopefully!

View of  a tea estate up in the hills of Sri Lanka, photographed from Udarata Manike train while I was going up to Badulla from Colombo. The udarata manike line offers picturesque views of tea estates, water falls and as you get closer to Badulla pine forests covered is mist. I recommend getting tickets for the observation car for anyone doing a train trip up to Badulla from Colombo.

Please note that all images in this blog are the property of the photographer. No one may use these images without written permission from the photographer. The fact that it’s on the internet is not an excuse for you to steal it. Legal action will be taken against anyone using these images without permission from the photographer.

If you are interested in using these photographs, please email (rangad.silva[at]gmail.com) me for permission.

This was taken back in December 2010 at the Udawalawe National Park when we stoped to let a large elephant cross the road I caught a glimpse of this tiny baby elephant crossing from  behind our vehicle. The two dark areas in the photograph were made by the canvas at the back of the jeep. I’d say it was quite lucky shot. Had I clicked too early or late it would have been covered by the canvas.

Please note that all images in this blog are the property of the photographer. No one may use these images without written permission from the photographer. The fact that it’s on the internet is not an excuse for you to steal it. Legal action will be taken against anyone using these images without permission from the photographer.

If you are interested in using these photographs, please email (rangad.silva[at]gmail.com) me for permission.

Visited Jaffna for the first time a couple of weeks ago. After the war ended I badly wanted to visit Jaffna but couldn’t really afford the high cost and no one really wanted to join me, so the trip was shelved for the time being. But in January one of my friends and I decided to finally go, regardless the cost. Thankfully my friends organizing skills were much better than mine and we managed to visit both Jaffna and Trincomalee for quite a low cost. We even managed to hire a buss to drive us around Jaffna for two days and this photograph of the sun setting behind some Palmyra trees was taken from inside the bus on our way back from Causirina beach.

I didn’t get as much time as I would like to photograph most of the places we visited so I’m hoping to visit both Jaffna and Trincomalee again in the near future but in all my travels this trip ranks among one of the best, primarily because of all the amazing new friends I made. I will upload more photographs sporadically as time permits.

Please note that all images in this blog are the property of the photographer. No one may use these images without written permission from the photographer. The fact that it’s on the internet is not an excuse for you to steal it. Legal action will be taken against anyone using these images without permission from the photographer.

If you are interested in using these photographs, please email (rangad.silva[at]gmail.com) me for permission.

Spent the weekend in Madatugama. A village about twenty kilometers from Dambulla down the Anuradhapura road. The entire area is prime farmland and the main crop is rice. The rainy season is just ending and at this time of the year the paddy fields are literally acres and acres of green.

Please note that all images in this blog are the property of the photographer. No one may use these images without written permission from the photographer. The fact that it’s on the internet is not an excuse for you to steal it. Legal action will be taken against anyone using these images without permission from the photographer.

If you are interested in using these photographs, please email (rangad.silva[at]gmail.com) me for permission.

The last in the Enduro Lanka teamwork series. Teamwork doesn’t end when everyone gets back to the campsite. In-fact everyone pitches in with the setting up, cooking and cleaning for dinner. Afterwards two man teams take two hour shifts staying up, to keep the campfire going to make sure no wild animals come straying into the campsite.

Please note that all images in this blog are the property of the photographer. No one may use these images without written permission from the photographer. The fact that it’s on the internet is not an excuse for you to steal it. Legal action will be taken against anyone using these images without permission from the photographer.

If you are interested in using these photographs, please email (rangad.silva[at]gmail.com) me for permission.

We can’t forget that the driver is also an integral part of the offroading team. It takes a certain amount of skill to gently descend into a body of water and then wade across it in a vehicle like this. Although it was specially modified for this kind of thing an inexperienced driver would probably end up going nose first into the river bank. I know I would.

Please note that all images in this blog are the property of the photographer. No one may use these images without written permission from the photographer. The fact that it’s on the internet is not an excuse for you to steal it. Legal action will be taken against anyone using these images without permission from the photographer.

If you are interested in using these photographs, please email (rangad.silva[at]gmail.com) me for permission.