Panduka

Hand carts on a Sunday

2012-01-25T22:13:00.000+05:30

Sunday morning in Pettah, a usually wholesale market area in busy Colomboshows a row of hand carts perfectly aligned and all attractively coated in blue. These made a beautiful pattern against theshuttered doorways of the shop fronts on a cross street and at rest on this Sunday.

ISO 640; f7.1 @ 1/80–Nikon D700 – 200mm (35mm equivalent)70-300mm f4 – 5.6 VR lens

Pensive damsels

2012-01-20T18:55:00.002+05:30

These two girls were photographed at this abandoned structure at Maligatennain the Gampaha district.

ISO 250; f9/ @1/160 secs–Nikon D700 – 45mm (35mm equivalent)24-85mm f2.8-4 lens

Baskets and the shadow

2012-01-13T21:10:00.000+05:30

Right foot forward and the rather precise symmetry of the baskets andthe shadow during mid-day of this villager in his native, tucked up sarong fromJaffna made me a perfect capture. These sturdyhand crafted baskets made as a cottage industry in the rural areas of Jaffna hasa ready market and a source of income to the villagers.

ISO 200; f5.6 @1/1250 –Nikon D300s – 82mm (35mm equivalent)17-55mm f2.8 lens

Puppet on a string

2012-01-13T20:47:00.000+05:30

A puppet with the controlling strings attached was dangling and framedagainst these colorful garments for sale at a handicrafts shop at Chiang Mai – NorthThailand.

ISO 500; f5.6 @ 1/250–Nikon D700 – 85mm (35mm equivalent)70-300mm f4 – 5.6 VR lens

Silhouette of a damsel

2012-01-04T09:54:00.000+05:30

This type of panned door was once popular in the aristocratic housesof yore. The patterned green panels, theintricate design of the stained glass window and the silhouette of this lass wasat the Richmond castle at Kaluthara, Sri Lanka.

The mansion builtby Padikara Mudali Nanayakkara Rajawasala Appuhamilage Don Arthur de SilvaWijesinghe Siriwardena; is a two-storied building with 99 doors and 34 windows,decorated with glass panes of exquisite design depicting grape vines.

ISO 400; f2.8 @1/30 –Nikon D300s – 48mm (35mm equivalent)17-55mm f2.8 lens

Flowers to the Buddha

2012-01-04T09:37:00.000+05:30

The offerings of the araliya & manel flowers make a beautiful tapestryof a foreground for this nicely framed statue of Lord Buddha at the Nagadeepayatemple – Jaffana, Sri Lanka. Nagadeepaya,according to the chronicles is a location where the lord Buddha visited in his 5^thyear after enlighten and is a sacred place of worship for the Buddhists.

ISO 200; f5.0 @1/80 –Nikon D300s – 48mm (35mm equivalent)17-55mm f2.8 lens

Looking to the future

2011-12-30T13:33:00.001+05:30

The young samanera; a Buddhist monk draped in a robe at this villagetemple is probably contemplating his future as to what the Year 2012 dawning a ina couple of days holds, not only for himself, but for mankind at large. Photographed at a Buddhist temple at an ornate opening - Panduwasnuwera, Sri Lanka.

ISO 640; f7.13 @ 1/160 –Nikon D700 – 140mm (35mm equivalent) 70-300mm f4 – 5.6 VR lens

Model airplane

2011-12-24T11:03:00.000+05:30

No it’s not taking off from the umbrella… but a model airplane takingoff the ground and soar in to the sky at the Unawatuna beach, South coast of SriLanka.

ISO 200; f6.3 @ 1/1000–Nikon D700 – 140mm (35mm equivalent)70-300mm f4 – 5.6 VR lens

Secured entrance

2011-12-24T10:52:00.000+05:30

Wondered why this guy wanted to make his way in through this forebodingentrance….. But what was interesting wasthe skeletal effect of frangipani or temple flower trees framing the doorway. Galle Fort, Sri Lanka.

ISO 400; f7.1@ 1/250–Nikon D700 – 70mm (35mm equivalent)70-300mm f4 – 5.6 VR lens

Sentinel at dusk

2011-12-15T12:04:00.000+05:30

This loan tree in silhouette against a beautiful tapestry of a skyat dusk was netted in Kaluthara, a city to the south of Sri Lanka.

ISO 400; f4.0 @ 1/400 –Nikon D300s – 57mm (35mm equivalent) 17-55mm f2.8 lens

Sisters … Negombo

2011-12-15T11:19:00.001+05:30

These sisters tanned and bare bodied, yet with a sweet expression wereposing for a fellow photographer near the Duwa church in Negombo.

ISO 250; f5.6 @ 1/125–Nikon D700 – 110mm (35mm equivalent)70-300mm f4 – 5.6 VR lens

Lottery seller commencing a business day

2011-12-05T20:51:00.001+05:30

The humble shop in the back is hers; probably being leased for a triflingrental and located within the premises of the Anuradhapura bus depot. A motorcar battery that is being transported dailytied to the back of her bicycle provides the power for her PA system with announcementsto entice customers. This then is the beginningof her business day.

ISO 500; f5.6 @ 1/80–Nikon D300s – 292mm (35mm equivalent)70-300mm f4 – 5.6 VR lens

Tedious operation

2011-12-05T19:32:00.001+05:30

Loading the freshly harvested sand from the river is not at all aneasy task for this worker who toils single handedly with only a measly spade tofill up this truck on the banks of the river – ‘Kalu ganga’ in Kaluthara, SriLanka.

ISO 400; f4.5 @ 1/100–Nikon D300s – 153mm (35mm equivalent)70-300mm f4 – 5.6 VR lens

The branch of a neem

2011-11-28T20:05:00.001+05:30

The sky, the clouds and the stark nature of this branch of this hugemargosa; neem tree with the withered leaves and almost in silhouette and then captureddiagonally in the frame made me a pleasant picture to look at. The neem tree incidentallyis used in almost 75% of Ayurveda remedies forcountless health conditions, from diabetes to skin and gum diseases … toinfections.

ISO 200; f14/ @1/640 secs–Nikon D700 – 32mm (35mm equivalent)24-85mm f2.8-4 lens

Mangoes for sale

2011-11-24T08:20:00.000+05:30

This youngster with the sacred markings on his forehead, typical of a boy of Hindu faith was in charge of this wayside stall with luscious mangoes. The guy was adept at peeling the mangoes in a few seconds and offering the mangoes for sale for a few rupees to the pilgrims visiting Nagadeepa, Jaffna – Sri Lanka.

ISO 400; f5.6 @ 1/80 –Nikon D700 – 185mm (35mm equivalent) 70-300mm f4 – 5.6 VR lens

Fire escape with a shroud

2011-11-24T08:06:00.000+05:30

It was the design with the rather subtle geometric shapes was what caught my eye. The fire escape partly shrouded in a safety net was being re-done in a building at Chiang mai, Thailand.

ISO 250; f8/ @ 1/125 secs–Nikon D700 – 40mm (35mm equivalent) 24-85mm f2.8-4 lens

Aloka…

2011-11-20T18:45:00.000+05:30

Pretty Aloka models at a workshop at the Photographic Society of Sri Lanka….

ISO 200; f16 @ 1/125 secs–Nikon D700 – 62mm (35mm equivalent) 24-85mm f2.8-4 lens

The coiled lashing

2011-11-18T19:32:00.000+05:30

Just getting to grips with a 80-400mm lens from a distance….. having focused on the coiled lashing on the beach with which the net laid by these fishermen are drawn in physically. The boat guiding the movement of the net with the catch and the fishermen drawing in the ‘ma-dela’ as it is referred to was at the southern coastal town of Beruwela, Sri Lanka.

ISO 200; f11.0 @ 1/320 –Nikon D700 – 140mm (35mm equivalent) 80-400mm f4.5 – 5.6D VR lens

The open parasol

2011-11-18T17:18:00.000+05:30

Sheltering from the morning sun, this lady, a visitor to the Gall Fort strolls along the rampart. The vivid colors and the banding of the sky, the sea and the embankment was a perfect capture; specially the patch of red.

ISO 200; f9.0 @ 1/640 –Nikon D700 – 1400mm (35mm equivalent) 70-300mm f4 – 5.6 VR lens

Solitary sentinel

2011-11-15T22:08:00.000+05:30

… along the A9 to Jaffna, Kokavil. This hulk of a tree; naked and standing in a rather barren landscape caught my attention and the cloudy sky more of less added to the captivating site.

ISO 400; f7.1 @ 1/800–Nikon D300s – 25mm (35mm equivalent) 17-55mm f2.8 lens