skyscapes – Son of the Morning Light

The Doomed Giants of Anuradhapura

January 9, 2023January 8, 2023 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2023/01/img_5270e2.jpg — Sunrise over the Basawakkulama Tank, believed to be Sri Lanka’s oldest reservoir, built in 400BC, against the backdrop of the Ruwanwelisaya and, faintly in the distance, the massive broken Jetawanaramaya, both over 2,000 years old. The tree silhouetted against the morning is one of many that line the tank’s retaining bund. For perhaps a century or more, these broadly spread giants have sheltered farmers, workers, schoolchildren, and the occasional photographer, using the bund as a footpath into Anuradhapura. When I took this picture in January 2017, while on assignment for Serendib magazine, the trees were also home to rock squirrels, numerous nesting birds, and families of grey langurs. But sadly, it has now been reported that the government has begun felling these ancient trees because they are believed to be damaging the bund with their great roots. The perspective they have given to one of the most iconic views of Anuradhapura will be the least of the losses their deaths will bring.

^{• 18mm • f/3.5 • 1/250 • ISO100 • 600D & EF-S18-200/3.5-5.6 •}

The Horizon of Our Hope*

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

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2023/01/744a0049.jpg — *Dawn at Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka.*

^{• 50mm • f/1.4 • 1/160 • ISO100 • Canon 5DMkIII & EF 50/1.4 courtesy Canon/Metropolitan.}

*“Time is no longer endless or the horizon destitute of hope.”

^{— Charles Lindbergh}

Twilight of the Kings

December 12, 2022December 12, 2022 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/12/img_9702e1.jpg — Last light over the almost completely dry bed of the Habarana Lake, in northern Sri Lanka. One of the country’s oldest historical reservoirs, the lake is believed to be the ancient Aggivaddhamanaka Tank, built by King Vasabha of Anuradhapura at the end of the 1st century AD. Shot on assignment in January 2016, for Explore Sri Lanka magazine.

^{• 18mm • f/3.5 • 1/40 • ISO400 • 600D & EF-S18-200/3.5-5.6 •}

The Sun Fallen Beneath Trees of Stone

October 7, 2022 David Blacker2 Comments

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/10/064a0412e2.jpg — *Downtown Colombo, from the rooftop of Cinnamon Red. September 2022.*

“The sun is fast fallin’ beneath trees of stone
The light in the tower, no longer my home
Past eyes of pale fire, black sand for my bed
I trade all I’ve known for the unknown ahead.”

^{— Bear McCreary This Wandering Day}

_{• 24mm • f/4 • 1/125 • ISO5000 • Canon R6 & RF 24-105/4L courtesy Canon/Metropolitan.}

Pelicans at Sunrise

October 6, 2022October 6, 2022 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/10/064a0120.jpg — *The Beira Lake, Colombo. September 2022.*

^{• 105mm • f/4 • 1/320 • ISO400 • Canon R6 & RF 24-105/4L courtesy Canon/Metropolitan.}

Day Breaks, the City

September 30, 2022September 29, 2022 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/09/064a0107.jpg — *The Beira Lake, Colombo, Sri Lanka. September 2022.*

^{• 24mm • f/10 • 10s • ISO100 • tripod • Canon R6 & RF 24-105/4L courtesy Canon/Metropolitan.}

Sunset from Yapahuwa

August 16, 2022August 15, 2022 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/08/img_6730.jpg — *Taken from just below the summit of Yapahuwa, 300ft above the plains east of Maho, in north-central Sri Lanka. May 2022.*

^{• 18mm • f/3.5 • 1/2500 • ISO400 • polariser •}

Sunrise, Panama

May 30, 2022May 31, 2022 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/05/744a0057.jpg — *Sri Lanka, May 2022.*

^{• 50mm • f/2.8 • 1/8000 • ISO100 • Shot on a Canon EOS 5DMkIII & EF 50/1.4, courtesy Canon/Metropolitan.}

Beauty from Garbage

November 9, 2021 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2021/11/img_1293.jpg — Weras Lake, Bellanwila, after a night of rain in November 2021. Many of these lakes in the southern suburbs of Colombo, which are central features of landscaped jogging and cycling tracks, have been created by using the wetlands around the Weras River as landfills. The city’s garbage (including huge quantities of plastic) has been emptied into these marshes, creating land on which footpaths, recreational areas, and premium housing have been built. Despite the fact that the wetlands stretching south to the Bolgoda Lake *include areas designated wildlife sanctuaries,* much of its water has been drained by the landscaping into deep pools that form artificial lakes. While these water features still teem with birds and reptiles, they are a heavily polluted manmade ecosystem that doesn’t support many of the creatures endemic to the original marshlands.

After the Storm

October 8, 2021October 8, 2021 David BlackerLeave a comment

https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2021/10/img_0805.jpg — The sun breaks through over Weras Lake in Bellanwila, south of Colombo, after a day and night of heavy rain and wind *that had soaked me on my previous day’s jog*. October 2021. Shot with the only camera I have with me all the time; the one on my iPhone.