As a self-taught photographer, I'm humbly proud that I won the national awards under the tea-drinking culture category in the National Tea Awards - Randiya Seya 2017 competition for this photograph named "The strongest bonds made over a cup of tea".

Ten years ago, while working as a graphic designer for Sri Lanka's first daily deals company, I was always super excited to see the latest compact digital camera deals they launched throughout the year. As I had no knowledge of the technical features or what was best for me, whenever a new deal launched, I used to email the deal link to my experienced photographer friend to ask his recommendation whether to buy it or not. I had done this probably more than ten times within one and half years, and every time I was disappointed by his answer, which was a big "NO". Every time, he came up with a reason or more to justify why I shouldn't buy the one I wanted to buy. Yes, he kept doing it till I finally decided to buy my first DSLR camera. 

I dedicate this post to thank Chamila Peiris, the most humble photographer I know, for stopping me from limiting myself to a compact camera. For opening up my curiosity to explore and learn more until I realized what I truly wanted.