Biography

I was born in December 1988 in Medirigiriya, Sri Lanka as the second child to my parents. My father worked as a biology/ chemistry teacher for GCE Advanced Level classes in Sri Lanka. My mother is a housewife. I have two brothers. The one who is older than me lives in the Netherlands as a “highly skilled migrant”. The one who is younger than me is a small entrepreneur.

My childhood was awesome, because I got the opportunity to learn many things. And, I must say that I was good with that.

As a child I used to observe and learn many things like machines, animals, weather, nature, etc. One day, my father brought home a live snake that we calle “Depath Naya” (Ceylonese cylinder snake, Cylindrophis maculatus) and he asked me to hold it. I hesitated for a moment with shock, but I then soon made my brave move as a kid. So I held it in my palm and showed it to the neighbors. I was a little guy, so I felt heroic when I was holding a live snake on my palm. On that day, my fears disappeared forever..

When I was in grade 6 at school, I had an opportunity to join my father and his class for the annual field trip of science students. It was a great tour, by which I became a person who loves and explores the environment. I tried to memorize all the things that my father taught the Advanced Level students on that trip. He talked about lycans that are used for measuring the acid rains, some trees called “Athhonda” that are the biggest ferns in Sri Lanka, and about many other interesting things in nature. As years passed I traveled again and again exploring various locations, ecosystems and I grew up with that knowledge.

In 2004 I sat the Ordinary Level examination. After that I had to stay at home until Advanced Level commenced. I was so confident that I would pass and qualify for the Advanced Level in Biology stream. I wanted to choose Biology stream because I loved nature a lot.

At that time I was also good at crafting things. Once, I created Vesak lanterns and I wanted to make them smaller. Then I tried again and again. Finally I ended up with a design of a half millimeter Vesak lantern. But I couldn’t present it anywhere, because I did not have any idea how to present it to people. In 2007, I sat the Advanced Level examination. Unfortunately I failed. I realized that I am not good at memorizing things.. The retrospect led me to changing the stream to Mathematics.. In 2009 I retook the examination in the Mathematics stream.I passed with good results.

From 2008 to 2010 I worked as a part time computer teacher in KSF collage, Moragoda. In the meantime from 2008 to 2011 I worked as a computer hardware technician at Tulip Computers, Ambalangoda. I was able to improve my knowledge and gain many experiences before starting my higher education as an undergraduate at the South Eastern University of Sri Lanka. In 2014, I earned my bachelor’s degree in Physical Science..

During my university life I took the opportunity to start a few societies; not in the university but in the Ampara area. One was called “Galoya Stage” created as a non-profit platform for arts, literature and handicrafts. I was a co-founder of that society. Unfortunately, it went defunct as I left the area after earning the degree. The other notable society is an Astronomical Association called “Sky Lovers”. We used to do some night camps for school children who were eager to learn about the night sky. I am the co-founder of that society too. I also took the roles of secretary, program creator, planner and coordinator of the programs. We still do programs on demand in order to help school children and the public who are eager for knowledge..

Meanwhile, I have always loved nature and wildlife. One of my greatest passions is to explore, from the farthest of my memory lane.. With that, my passion for photography was born.

Let’s go back to my childhood one more time. When I was in grade 9,. I wanted to capture the things I saw. But I did not own a camera. After some years I brought a film camera. It was a Kodak KB10. I took some photographs with it. Most people nowadays might not understand this; but it used to be an expensive hobby. To capture more photos, I had to buy film, and then get the output printed by a studio.

In 2008 I bought a camera phone. It was a Sony Ericsson k530i. So I was able to capture some images with its 2 megapixel camera. Then, during my undergraduate time I was able to buy another camera. It was a Sony DSC-W570 compact camera. With the past experience with a mobile camera, I had the skill to shoot something. Around the same time I was able to be active on the Internet. With the compact camera I started to take several shots and upload them to the Internet. It was my turning point.. With this, I started learning photography by myself. I bought my first DSLR, Nikon D90 in the beginning of 2014. It was the final semester of my university life. So I had to wait to play with the DSLR for 6 months. It widened my learning curve. All done by myself and with the support from social media friends and YouTube.

Today, I own a Nikon D90, Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens, and a Nikkor 55-300mm Lens. Step by step I entered wildlife photography. The reason might be my love for nature and wildlife. As the time passed I became more interested in photographing small things. So I dug into the Internet and found out that it is another area called Macro Photography. I got more curious and started exploring the world of Macro Photography as well. Along this journey, I made some of my DIY gear. For example, I used a cardboard roll as an extension tube. It wasn’t easy and my physics knowledge was the only support. On another occasion I learned the lever mechanism of Nikon Camera apertures. Some time later I bought a manual extension tube set from eBay. First I did not know how it works, but figured it out soon and was able to click awesome shots. By seeing my work on Facebook, one friend gifted me an automatic extension tube Thanks to this friend I continued enjoying macro photography..

In September, 2015 I started pursuing another area of photography. So I attended the Hegoda School of Photography for an introductory level photography course. In August 2016 I earned my diploma in photography. During that time, Mr. Hegoda showed me the art of photography..

At the same time I was so fortunate to receive another lens as a gift. It was a Nikkor 50mm 1.8G. I also brought a Tripo 950 Speed light. It was the time to say goodbye to the Nikkor 18-105mm and 50mm to welcome attached extension tubes. Now I own a Nikkor Micro 105mm 2.8 lens.

In the beginning of 2017 I started another chapter at the Institute of Multimedia Education to learn about the science behind photography. Even today, I still learn and explore the scientific background of photography.

At the same time I was doing these studies I traveled to so many places in Sri Lanka. I have written detailed articles about those places on my blog.

Honours and Awards
 
44TH ANNUAL COMPETETION AND EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHY 2022 - THE NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC ART SOCIETY OF SRI LANKA
2022
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2022
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2022
State festival of Photography - Department of Cultural Affairs
2021
  • 2nd Place & 3rd Place - Animal Behavior Category
  • Merit - Nature Category
  • 02 Merits - Animal Portrait Category
  • Merit - Animal Behavior Category
  • Merit - Macro/ Micro Category
2018
  • Merit - Wildlife and Landscape Category
SPECULO'21 - “Rajans Photography” the Official Photographic Society - Dharmaraja College, Kandy, Sri Lanka
2021
  • 1st Place - Open Nature Category
  • Merit - Open Nature Category
Nature E-Photo Contest - Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science (SLAAS)
2019
  • Merit- Nature Category
"Nethadara" Annual Nature and Wildlife Photographic Competition and Exhibition - Nature Team - University of Moratuwa
2017
  • Second Runners-up - Open category
Commemorate World Environment Day - Base of Enthusiasts of Environmental Science and Zoology (BEEZ),Faculty of Science, University of Colombo.
2016
  • 2nd Place - Theme of "Go Wild For Life"
  • 2 Merits - Theme of "Go Wild For Life"
Monthly Competition - BBC Wildlife Magazine
2021
  • Prize Winner - March Issue
“Soba Seya” All Island Photography Competition – organized by the Ministry of Environment
2021
  • 02 Merits - Nature Category
International Photography Contest 35AWARDS – Moscow, Russia
2019
  • Thematic Contests - 16 Certificates
  • Annual Contest - Top 70 Sri Lanka photographers and Reached to the 2nd Stage of voting
2020
  • Thematic Contests - 15 Certificates
  • Annual Contest - Top 35 Sri Lanka Photographers, Top 200 Macro Nomination, Top 150 Macro Photographers
2021
  • Thematic Contests - 14 Certificates
  • Annual Contest - Top 35 Sri Lanka photographers, Top 200 Macro Photographer and Reached to the 2nd Stage of voting
2022
  • Thematic Contests - 06 Certificates
V Golden Turtle Photo Competition Moscow & St. Petersburg, Russia
2020
  • Finalist - Macroworld Category
XVI Golden Turtle Photo Competition Moscow & St. Petersburg, Russia 
2022
  • Finalist - Animal Behavior Category
VII Nature Photography Contest by The Stewardship Network 
2022
  • Category Winner 

World Cultural Arts Organization (WCAO) & North America Photography Association (napa) 
2021
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Newspaper Articles
  • Sannasa - January, 2017 - About Devils Staircase, Ohiya
  • Sathhanda - November, 2016 - About Super Moon
  • Sathhanda - August, 2016 - About Kadadora Temple, Kothmale
  • Sathhanda - December, 2016 - About Nonpareil Estate - Balangoda