About

I’m a wildlife photographer born & based in Sri Lanka and spent my childhood in different parts of the country,  due to my parents’ commitment. I had the privilege of living in different parts of the country until I was settled in my home town Katunayake. I started my nursery education in Kandy with grade one at Kingswood College Kandy, Sri Lanka and thereafter shifted  to Wesley College Colombo, Sri Lanka, where I completed my entire school career.  I completed my Bachelors’ Degree in Sciences  and Completed my Master Degree in Education Leadership . 

Nature is part of my life and I do love spending time with the nature. My photography career started in the year 2006 when I started capturing images of flowers from the Nikon digital camera for power point presentations which gave me the interest on nature photography. Thereafter, I started capturing images with a digital point shoot camera and later I bought a Fujifilm HX 30 Digital camera. My wildlife tours started in 2012 when I was taken to Yala National park by my uncle, Nirmal Fernando who was & is my biggest inspiration in Wildlife Photography. Thereafter, I continued to capture images on animals whenever time permitted. Later I started using my first Nikon DSLR camera, Nikon D3200 and later shifted to D7200 & D750 with Nikon. After buying my first telephoto zoom lens (Sigma 150-500mm), I shifted to Nikon gear with NIKKOR 500mm, 70-200mm, 105mm Macro & 16-35mm wide angle. I have been involved in wildlife photography for the past 9-10 years but I was able to invest more time and commitment from around 2016 onwards.

Over the past year, I was able to take part in many international competitions and was able to be among winners many times. Highlighting few,

• Category winner under Macro category at the Wild lens Wildlife photographer of the year 2023
• Category winner under Wildlife in the garden category at the International Garden Photographer of the year 2023
• 3rd Place under Nature & Wildlife category at the Mono vision Black and white Photography awards  2021.
• Honorable Mention under Nature & Wildlife at the Monochrome awards 2020
• Highly commended at  the International Fine Art Photography awards(FAPA) 2021
• Honorable mention at the Vienna International Photo Award 2021
• Honorable mention at the International photography awards (IPA) 2021
• Many awards from international salons and circuits.

  Capturing the beauty of flora and fauna in Sri Lanka is one of my favourite hobbies. Over the past years I was able to capture may species across the country such as Big cats, Mammals, birds and insects. Through this website, you will see the different aspects of Nature & Wildlife photography.

  Enjoy photography and Experience the difference..!

  Avanka Fernando