Sri Lanka, where I fell in love with elephants, curry and Fujichrome Velvia 50!

My planned photoshoot in Sri Lanka aimed to take in a fantastic mix of culture, history, people, food, landscape, wildlife and beaches. What I hadn’t been prepared for (and that’s saying something – I undertake thorough and extensive research and preparation for all my photoshoots!) was the often overpowering colour and vibrancy of the country and the charm of its people.

Behind the beautiful coastline I discovered jungle, plantations, waterfalls and great temples, golden statues of Buddha and an abundance of wildlife. I spent 16 action-packed days travelling around this natural paradise, taking in and photographing one of the most diverse islands on earth. My favourite experience? Meeting a six-month old elephant and being so excited I forgot to take a photo – that’s a rarity!!!

I came home with over 2,000 images on 35mm transparency and so began one of the biggest editing challenges of my career! My final selection of 20 images was presented to senior lecturers at Plymouth College of Art and helped me gain a distinction in my Photography foundation degree.

After the tragic events of the Boxing Day Tsunami many of my images took on a new meaning and poignancy, and I decided to organise an exhibition and silent auction of my images at the Copthorne Hotel Plymouth. The proceeds from this event went to a Rotary project to rebuild a village in the hard-hit SE of Sri Lanka.