Advice needed - trip to Sri Lanka & Maldives

biggles1979

biggles1979

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Ian
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Hi,

I am lucky enough to be traveling to Sri Lanka and the Maldives in a few weeks time and am looking for some tips on getting the best out of both me and my camera (Nikon D3100).

Has anyone here got any tips they would like to share with a newbie like me?

Thanks in advance,

Ian
 
Ian

You'll love Sri Lanka (never been to the Maldives), if your into birds there are loads to see, so take a pretty long zoom, I managed to see 4 out of the 6 types of Kingfisher that live in Sri Lanka, amongst others were Sea Eagles, Egrets, Fruit Bats, Commorants, Rollers etc.

Have a go in a Tuk Tuk, there wild, and fun if not hairaising. The rock a Sigiryi (thats not spelt correctly) is awesome.

One of my favorite holidays ever.

PS the guys that fish sitting on sticks are mainly down the South, where there is a massive nature park.

Phil
 
Did both for our honeymoon 2 years ago - loved both places for very different reasons.

Photography wise I'm still fairly inexperienced (bought my DSLR just before we went on honeymoon), so don't really feel able to offer any general advice. I managed with my kit lens and 55-250mm lens. The photo's aren't going to set anyone's pulses racing but I'm happy with them and I don't think I overly suffered by not having anything longer than 250mm. Photo's are on my flickr if you want to have a look (link should be in my sig), inlcuding pics of some of the birds mentioned above.

Happy to answer any direct questions though about my trip or Sri Lanka and the Maldives

BTW, you don't mention if it is your honeymoon/holiday/or business, but if its the former - remember why you are there and whilst its nice to take top notch photo's - don't let them get in the way!
 
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Are you staying in one place or travelling around. Be interesting to see where you are going.
We went just after the Tamil Tiger troubles finished in 2009 and travelled around. Really excellent place and the locals are very friendly. You'll meet a lot of poor people. Take some colouring pencils, toothbrushes etc to give to the kids.

If you go up the sigiriya rock, take a guide (one of the guys at the bottom) and pay them some money - it's their only livelihood. 200 Rupees to the pound. Check out the monks porn halfway up using old staircases from the london underground.

Lots of large kingfishers and you can get close, plenty of other animals around.
My pics at:
http://www.pbase.com/byker28i/srilanka
 
Its a Holiday (although it does mark our 7th anniversary) and the wife is keen for me to get some good shots as well seeing as its not the kind of trip we can afford every year!

We will be moving around Sri Lanka but mainly in the central areas and will be going to the rock fortress you mentioned - getting really excited!

I am just wondering if I will have any issues to consider with it being bright skies to ensure good exposures when doing landscapes? I have been out on the moors yesterday playing around and found it quite tricky to get the detail of the landscape and the sky (I know I will never get it perfect and might need to do some merging of images). This got me wondering; if its clear blue skies will I get the same/better/worse effect than when it is cloudy & bright (as it was yesterday)?

I have got a polarising filter in preparation for the brightness and reflections from the water for shots in the Maldives - would this help with the bright clouds also?
 
Can I suggest you make sure to go to the elephant sanctuary in Sri Lanka? It has been a while since I went there but there were several elephants that had lost legs as a result of stepping on landmines during the civil war. If I remember correctly the elephants are taken down to the river twice a day for a bath and I have to say it is highly entertaining. You may even get a chance to help in scrubbing them down. When I went, I reckon there were at least 25 - 30 elephants who would walk down for a bath including calves. It will provide a fantastic photo opportunity.

Further to this, I would also recommend taking an underwater camera of some description when you go to the Maldives, even if you don't plan to do any diving. There is some fantastic sealife on the house reefs.
 
I will be keeping an eye on this thread, my mate has just booked his honeymoon for next year to do the same trip.

He has just bought a camera to take along, he has got a samsung nx100 and is going to buy a 50-200mm lens.
 
Thanks for the encouragement, looking through the pictures that giantwolf and Byker28i have taken - I am itching to get out there!
 
Brilliant island holiday, so many things to see, do and photograph:-

  • Working elephants on the roads south of Columbo and elsewhere.
  • The elephant orphanage as mentioned above, in Burawela.
  • Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, if you are fortunate you could see elephants in ceremonial dress outside the temple.
  • The Kandy Botanical Garden, lovely area of orchid greenhouses.
  • The Kandy Ceremonial Dancers.
  • The Hill Club at Nuwara Eliya - stay the night for a fascinating experience of the 'old colonial days'!
  • The tea plantations - watch the tea-pickers, the 'factory' processes and taste what tea was really meant to taste like!
  • Koggala Beach, with the stick fishermen and turtle hatchery.
  • Seafood restaurants at Hikkaduwa beach.
  • The Hindu Temples.
  • The railway line walkers, generally with umbrellas.
  • Take a train ride.

Enjoy, but remember that Sri Lankans will see you as a mobile ATM!
 
oh and watch out for the driving in Sri Lanka... never before have I seen a bus overtaking a bus, overtaking another bus on a blind bend!

They're also a safety concious bunch; I remember passing a chap on a motorbike wearing his helmet, with is wife (presumably) on the back wearing her helmet and inbetween a young girl no more than the age of 5... with no helmet! :thinking:
 
Got back from the Maldives a month ago just as the monsoon was kicking in.

I believe its VERY wet at the moment.

Wouldn't bother me I cant get any wetter 18 Metres underwater
 
Byker28i said:
If you go up the sigiriya rock, take a guide (one of the guys at the bottom) and pay them some money - it's their only livelihood. 200 Rupees to the pound. Check out the monks porn halfway up using old staircases from the london underground.
Click to expand...

LOL you dont need a guide just follow the pathway past the mirror wall and up a rickety staircase, there's only one way up and down, the guides probably earn as much you do, and probably they'll give you a sob story to prise your wallet open, and dont be taken in by beggars anywhere in Sri Lanka or any country you visit theres lots of scams they try to pull on you.
 
giantwolf said:
oh and watch out for the driving in Sri Lanka... never before have I seen a bus overtaking a bus, overtaking another bus on a blind bend!

They're also a safety concious bunch; I remember passing a chap on a motorbike wearing his helmet, with is wife (presumably) on the back wearing her helmet and inbetween a young girl no more than the age of 5... with no helmet! :thinking:
Click to expand...

Helmets are quite rare. As for the driving after a couple of days you get used to it. Everything is done on the horn. A beep to tell you they are there, a beep to tell you they are coming, a beep to say thanks. Their beliefs are that every life is sacred so when the overtakes start drivers just back off or move over to make room. There's no road rage, it's just the accepted norm and seems to work. Only saw one accident in 16 days travelling 3/4 of the country.
 
From Gramps post above, there's several elephant orphanages. I think we went to one, past 3 or 4.

Kandy is great. We were lucky to be there during the tooth ceremony when they have nightly parades (end of Jul) and the temple is interesting. Make sure to have a good walk around the lake and spot the bats and Monitors waiting for them to drop. The TucTuc drivers are very friendly, one let me have a go :D

We had lunch at the Hill Club, very nice old colonial . If you don't buy tea in the hills then it's quite cheap in some shops along from the turtle hatchery.

A train ride is a must. There were no doors so I sat outside on the step, taking photos as we went. Apparently it was an express, on a local I could have gone on the roof.

You'll have a great time. Wish I was going back.
 
Forgot to mention in the Kandy Botanical Garden, you can also see the flying fox fruit bats as they roost there during the day there are well noisy and mooosive, and they fly during the day occasionally, later that night we went to the culture evening, and we saw a moooosive flock of them fly over going in search of fruit trees, we stayed in the Chaaya Hotel Citadel Kandy 4+ star, fabulously placed hotel on the banks of the river Mahaweli
 
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Hi guys,

Trip was brilliant and we did go to pretty much all the places and hotels you mentioned, although the best room was at the jetwing blue... wow!

Here is a bunch of my pics, not gonna win me any awards but I'm not looking for critique (any tips always gratefully received though).

Sri Lanka:
https://picasaweb.google.com/102267...&authkey=Gv1sRgCPLM-PaS6MezEw&feat=directlink

And the Maldives:
https://picasaweb.google.com/102267...&authkey=Gv1sRgCJri0rXNxN-ebw&feat=directlink

(posted from my phone so not sure if links are clickable)

Cheers, Ian
 
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Serious issues in the link for me, some script running that the browser doesn't like, pity would have liked to see them.


[edit - works ok in Safari just not in IE - looks like you had a great time]
 
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Links opened for me....

Had a quick browse thru the Maldives set - all thats missing is the hotel description, flights etc.... :eek: Sorry I thought for a min there I was looking at a holiday brochure :p

Some good captures you have, seems that you had fun - more I see of these pic's of the Maldives the more it makes me make that booking :thumbs:
 
Oh wow these pictures brought back memories!!! I went to Sri Lanka and visited Mount Sigiriya, Kandy, the elephant sanctuary, botnanical gardens, the tea plantation, Colombo and that place with the fire walkers, although we were on the front row and it was burning my legs! Absolutely loved that country.

The Maldives is just amazing. Did you get chance to go to any of the local islands with locals and schools etc? I did and really enjoyed that as again the people are really nice.

Enjoyed looking through them photos!
 
We were about to go to a local island when a storm blew in and everyone decided to go to the bar! Not enough time/space to re-book the trip but we aren't too upset.

The blues of the water were stunning! Weather was a bit unsettled for the first few days but then just got better and hotter everyday, we still have the smiles on our faces.
 
It's well worth taking a train up into the tea plantations. Amazing views and the train ride is an experience in itself.

Lovely tea too!
 
My best bit of advice - remember to let your camera acclimatise before you take it outside and start shooting! Most places indoors will be air-conditioned. When you step outside, the heat and humidity will hit you very quickly, and your camera will fog up. If you can, leave your camera outdoors somewhere before you want to go out and start shooting for at least half an hour.

I went to the Maldives in May this year - http://www.flickr.com/photos/photoplod/sets/72157626956049814/ - it's a stunning location, and you'll have no end of opportunities for photos.
 
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