cityscapes – Son of the Morning Light

Colombo Celebrates Vesak

May 10, 2023May 9, 2023 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2023/05/img_2451e2.jpg — *City skyline over the Beira Lake. May 2023.*

^{• 24mm • f/2.8 • 1/125 • ISO1000 • Canon R6 & RF24-70/2.8L •}

Tales of Power

May 9, 2023May 9, 2023 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2023/05/img_2376.jpg — A two-storey stone fresco (above) on the exterior of the Gangaramaya Temple, in Slave Island, depicting different chapters in the Buddha’s journey from birth to enlightenment to death, is mobbed by sightseers on *Vesak Poya night. Colombo, May 2023*. Meanwhile (below), a more traditional pandal sits forlornly in the waterlogged Stanley Jansz Grounds nearby, its electricity supply disrupted by faulty wiring.

^{• 24mm • f/2.8 • 1/125 • ISO3200 • Canon R6 & RF24-70/2.8L •}

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2023/05/img_2515.jpg — ^{• 45mm • f/2.8 • 1/125 • ISO2500 •}

The Last Refuge

May 3, 2023May 3, 2023 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2023/05/3h3a9500e2-1.jpg — The Temple of the Tooth, in the morning light of Kandy. Built in the early 18th century as a royal palace for Vira Narendra Sinha, the last Sinhalese king, it was converted into a temple to house the Tooth Relic of the Buddha. The moat and the octagonal Paththirippuwa pavilion were added in 1802 by Sri Vickrama Rajasingha, the last king of Kandy. Designed by the royal architect, Devendra Moolacharya, the pavilion’s eight points were meant to radiate from the king as he displayed the Tooth Relic to the crowds below, reinforcing his position at the centre of the world. The name Paththirippuwa comes from the Tamil words, parthu *(meaning ‘to see’) and* irippu *(to be ‘seated’), and together sound like ‘to sit and see’, and many take this as evidence that Tamil was in fact the* lingua franca of the Lankan aristocracy. After the British seized Kandy in 1815, the Paththirippuwa was converted into an oriental library, and thus it remains today, housing the temple’s collection of Buddhist palm leaf manuscripts and books. Shot for the New York Times in December 2018.

^{• 24mm • f/4 • 1/2500 • ISO400 • Canon 5DMkIII & EF24-105/4L •}

Special Feature – THE COLPETTY MARKET: Colombo’s Original Supermarket

May 1, 2023May 2, 2023 David BlackerLeave a comment

Whether you are there just to browse, or do your weekly grocery run, you will find yourself struggling to leave without buying enough food to feed a full strength infantry platoon.”

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2023/04/img_1104.jpg — *A collective cash desk on the Colpetty Market’s second floor handles the proceeds for all the seafood stalls.*

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Mövenpick, Colombo

February 28, 2023February 27, 2023 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2023/02/img_0427.jpg — *Turret Road, October 2022.*

^{• 24mm • f/2.8 • 1/200 • ISO25600 • R6 & RF24-70/2.8L •}

Evening in Pettah

January 30, 2023January 29, 2023 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2023/01/img_0652.jpg — *Prince and 2nd Cross streets, Pettah. January 2023. If there ever had been a* Tintin in Ceylon, this would be the place in one of those large illustrations a la The Calculus Affair or Tintin in Tibet.

^{• 14mm • f/4 • 1/100 • ISO1250 • R6 & RF14-35/4L •}

Make a Wish

November 11, 2022November 20, 2022 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/img_0329.jpg — *The Lotus Tower, Colombo. October 2022.*

^{• 70mm • f/2.8 • 1/125 • ISO32000 • R6 & RF24-70/2.8L •}

Coke of the Masses

November 4, 2022November 4, 2022 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/img_0334.jpg — *Colpetty Junction, Colombo. October 2022.*

^{• 24mm • f/2.8 • 1/125 • ISO12800 •}

Life, in the Valley of the Wolves

November 2, 2022November 9, 2022 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/img_0107.jpg — *Armed police on Wolfendhal Lane, in Hulftsdorp. October 2022.*

^{• 35mm • f/2.8 • 1/2000 • ISO160 • R6 & RF 35/1.8 courtesy Canon/Metropolitan.}

Dancing Girl

October 25, 2022October 24, 2022 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/10/064a0222-1.jpg — *The Ballet School of Colombo, September 2022*.

^{• 53mm • f/4 • 1/200 • ISO400 • Canon R6 & RF 24-105/4L courtesy Canon/Metropolitan.}