Tag Archives: Photography

What’s In My Camera Bag?

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Photography was not my passion for long. Drawing and painting were the closest that I had some interest when I was young. Later when I was in high school, interests got shifted. Then it was videos. I was obsessed with it to the level, I even wanted to go to film school at some point of time. Lucky me, it didn’t happen.

During my time at university (at Moratuwa), I got the chance to broaden my skills in video production. I worked backstage at most of the university programs, as a camera man, as a online editor, and even sometimes running the show. It was the first time I realised my passion for images, and moving images – videos. When I got out of the university, I suddenly lost my access to the equipment at uni studio. I couldn’t afford a decent video camera, moreover I didn’t have any time to put into making videos.

Photography was a realisable target and a DSLR was affordable. I didn’t know a thing about photography. I had a peculiar sense of composition, that came from my days with paints. Except to that I started learning slowly. When I moved to Brisbane about a year ago, I had more time and money at my dispose to experiment wit photography more. During this time I spent a good amount of money in buying gear. I did learn to use some of those, and others at least what not to buy next time.

This is a stock list of what I have got…

Cameras:

  • Canon EOS 1000D
  • Canon EOS 300V (35mm Film Camera)

Lenses:

  • Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
  • Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
  • Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS

Flashes:

  • Sigma EF-530 DG ST
  • Yongnuo YN460

Accessories:

  • Translucent/White/Black Umbrella Kit
  • 5-in-1 Reflector
  • Flash Modifiers
  • 3ft E-TTL Cord
  • Wireless Flash Trigger
  • Time Lapse Intervalometer
  • Gloves (for sweaty hands)
  • Opteka HD2 Filter Kit
  • Macro Filter Kit +1 +2 +4
  • 2 x Opteka LP-E5 + 1 x Canon LP-E5
  • Opteka BG-E5 Grip
  • 8 x AA Rechargeable Batteries
  • Tripod
  • Monopod

Even though its a long list, I don’t use many of those. So this is a post to remind me to use them more often or stop buying anymore.

An afternoon trip to Unawatuna

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Into the Waves

A short message from Bhagi on Facebook was the start. He suggested a photography trip during the last weekend of November. First plan was a one day trip to Bundala and Yala, and as my new DSLR was sleeping in my closet for sometime, I instantly said “I’m in”. But due to some reason, it didn’t work out as planned. I called up Bhagi on Friday and we decided to go to some place along the Southern Coastline of Sri Lanka, but we didn’t finalize on a place that day and as usual I went to sleep around 3am on Saturday.

Unawatuna Beach

My got up on Saturday with the wake-up call from Bhagi around 10.30, and he asked, “Shall we go to Unawatuna or Hikkaduwa, we can take some good sunset shots there?”; “When?”; “Today, around 11.30…”. I was not sure about this instant trip plan, but thought at-least I could spend a Saturday without sleeping all day. When it was 12.30 we were on a C0lombo – Kataragama (yeah, its no more Katirkamam) bus, from Wellawatte to Unawatuna. According to Chamin, whom I talked in the mean time, it would be a 3 hour journey on road.

Unawatuna Beach

Unfortunately we had to stand for 3 hours with our backpacks, and when we reached Unawatuna little later than 3 in the evening. We had no plans whatsoever, and didn’t know where we could find lunch. So I called Chamin and he asked us to meet him near Wella Devalaya. It was a 10 minutes walk towards the beach and we waited there till 4, and clicked few shots of the beach in the meantime.

One important fact I noticed is that Unawatuna is a pretty expensive place for locals, specially with food. We couldn’t find a good place around for lunch, so we went to a small restaurant in Magalle with Chamin. And when we came back to the beach around 5, we almost missed the sunset… :(

Wella Devalaya

We spent another 2 hours there, until its too dark, and took some photos around the beach. Bhaghi managed to take few good shots of the sunset, and I experiments with manual modes. We had to comeback that night as there was a assignment for Bhagi.

Though it was an unplanned trip, and we didn’t do much there, it was a good chance to learn few things. One, even unplanned trips, plan to some extent. Two, I know too less about my camera. Three, learn and practice night photography. May be I should plan for another trip down south soon…!

Unawatuna Beach

Bhagi’s Photos from Unawatuna // My Photos from Unawatuna