Tag: sunrise

The Doomed Giants of Anuradhapura

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 •

Advertisement

The Horizon of Our Hope*

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

I Had Red

David BlackerLeave a comment
https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/12/064a7287.jpg
“If I don’t have red,” Picasso said, “I use blue.” Dawn at Ocean Cottage, Kalametiya. September 2022.

• 24mm • f/13 • 0.80 • ISO100 • tripod • Canon R6 & RF 24-105/4-7.1 courtesy Canon/Metropolitan.

Sunriser

David BlackerLeave a comment
https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/09/064a7315re.jpg
Ocean Cottage, Kalametiya. September 2022.

• 24mm • f/13 • 1/60 • ISO100 • tripod • Canon R6 & RF 24-105/4-7.1 courtesy Canon/Metropolitan.

Firefight

David BlackerLeave a comment
https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/08/img_5562-e.jpg
I’ve been missing the predawn curtain raisers on my morning walks, these past weeks, sunrise coming earlier, as we arrive at our longest day of the year, today, 3rd August. But some morning showers gave the sun something to fight, and there’s nothing like a fight for spectacle. Weras Lake, Bellanwila, Sri Lanka.

The Dawn of Empires

David BlackerLeave a comment
https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/06/img_4940.jpg
Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence paddy fields in Battaramulla, in the eastern suburbs of Colombo. June 2022.

Sunrise, Panama

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.

For a Bright, Brand New Day

David BlackerLeave a comment
https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/01/img_2528.jpg

Now the music’s gone but they carry on
For their spirit’s been bruised, never broken
They will not forget but their hearts are set
On tomorrow and peace once again.
For what’s done is done and what’s won is won
And what’s lost is lost and gone forever
I can only pray for a bright, brand new day
In the town I loved so well

— Phil Coulter The Town I loved so Well