Yala National Park Sri Lanka Travel Photography

[dt_gap height=”10″ /]Yala National Park Sri Lanka Travel Photography

We decided to try a Taxi down the escarpment and onto the plains far below to Tissamaharama where most people spend the night before an early morning safari expedition into Yala National Park.  Yala has the highest density of leopard on the planet but is still a huge park (378 sq miles) and chances of a sighting were very slim.  We hired a private jeep and guide that would take us into the park arriving a little earlier than most to beet the crazy Sri Lankan queueing system.  We did manage to get near the front of the second queue of jeeps at the parks gate awaiting the 6am opening.  Once inside, jeeps raced by us trying to get prime positions for any wildlife viewing.  Luckily our driver was great and didn’t get sucked in to the mad rush.  Our luck was in as the first stop near a watering hole we managed to get prime viewing of a leopard (not the best shot sorry as we were a long way off).  The magic moment was soon spoiled however as jeeps were jockeying for position.  In the mayhem that followed we were soon totally hemmed in with jeeps all around us, the ones behind having no view at all with drivers and guides getting very agitated.  By this time the leopard had enough and slunk into the long grass for a nap – who can blame him?  About 30 minutes later we’re on our way to explore some other areas of the park.  Some of the animals we saw included Water Buffalo, Wild Boar, Monitor lizards, Chameleons, Mongoose, a lone Bull Elephant, strutting Peacocks, Dear, Crcodile and Monkeys – can anyone spot the Elephant shaped rock?  The bird life was amazing, with Owls, Eagles, Indian Rollers, Pelicans, Sunbirds etc.  We managed sightings of three of Sri Lankans 7 Kingfishers – the Common, Pied and White Throated and also 3 Bee Eaters which I’ve always wanted to photograph – the Green, Blue Tailed and Chestnut Headed.  The beautiful Orange bird with the long tail is an Indian Paradise Flycatcher, we also saw an Asian White version which was also stunning but couldn’t get a shot unfortunately!  The next stop on our tour is the coast and Tangalle………..

For a further look at our images of our Cardiff, South Wales landscape and travel photography, please have a look at our other Blog Posts and if you have any questions about our services don’t hesitate to leave a comment below or contact us.

Vale Resort Wedding Photography

[dt_gap height=”10″ /]Vale Resort Wedding Photography – Maria & Gerard’s Special Day

Maria & Gerard’s Wedding Day at The Vale Resort, Hensol was always going to be fun & emotional, bringing two Nationalities together in the Welsh countryside!  The weather obliged with the typical Welsh rain, but it definitely did not dampen anyone’s spirits and we followed the sound of laughter to the room at the hotel where Maria was getting ready along with her Mother, Sisters and nieces!  Joanne from MAC Cosmetics was applying beautiful make up to the bridesmaid, Maria’s niece Patricia and Annie MacCormack was working her magic on Maria’s hair, it was all go!  We photographed the activity in between capturing the all important items that were contributing to the day such as Maria’s stunning ‘Dylan Queen‘ dress, her unusally coloured & pretty ‘pink’ Sarah Bridal Shoes, her gorgeous hand tied bouquet of baby pink & white roses supplied by I Love Lily Florist, Patricia’s beautiful ‘While Azulea’ green dress and the ‘piece de resistance’ – the something borrowed! – beautiful earrings that Maria’s cousin lent her.  We went to find Gerard, his brother and Mum & Dad to take a few photographs of them prior to the ceremony in the conservatory, using the chairs that were beautifully dressed by Liz Jones from Totally Co-ordinated.  Gerard’s brother Steven was his Best Man and they looked super smart in their Moss Bros grey suits with ties the same colour as Patricia’s dress, as did both Gerard & Maria’s Dads!  After the ceremony the room was transformed to serve the Wedding Breakfast, but we were able to use one end of the room to photograph the two families by which time the rain had stopped for us to take Maria & Gerard outside for some photographs of them and their friends!  Just before the wedding breakfast we photographed the whole wedding party in the foyer of the hotel, before they enjoyed a beautiful meal!  The cake was a particularly special as two dragons – a Bride & Groom – had been created by Designer Cakes by Janet to don the top tier, very cute!  They cut this just before the First Dance, where Maria danced with Gerard and her Dad and the DJ -Mark from Wedding DJ Cardiff got everyone on the dance floor immediately afterwards where they stayed for rest of the night!

If you’d like to get in touch or view more weddings from Cardiff Wedding Photographers Andy & Sacha of A.L.S Photography please visit our contact and blog pages and feel free to have a look around.