Ranul Thantilage — Wildlife Photographer, with a Passion for Digital Forensics
Here’s a long weekend, let’s head to Yala, hopefully we can catch a sight of the elusive leopard. Two days of tracking at the Yala National Park and we come back disappointed for the most part. But the excitement is still there. The next holiday we’d try another park. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we can be one with the wild and enjoy the sights of animals in their natural habitat?
Ranul Thantilage does just that.
“In wildlife photography the key is — you should never be a guest to the wild, you should always be their friend. Sometimes for the best shot to be captured I’ve had to spend days following the same animal and had to blend into their surroundings, so that they don’t see me as an outsider”
Ever since he was a kid of less than 10 he’s been accompanying his parents who have been nature documentary producers for over 30 years. Au naturel Ranul got exposed to various high end cameras at home at a very young age. Year on year he had the opportunity to explore different national parks and scenic locations hidden in the depths of forests in Sri Lanka. This is when his love for nature and wildlife photography burgeoned. Some traits and passions clearly get passed down in the genes!
Many of us recall the insightful TV series, Wild Asia. This series was directed by Ranul’s parents and there was a need for aerial footage of wildlife. At the time, Sri Lanka only used helicopters for the purpose. Ranul took it upon himself to make a difference. He thought about the impact a low flying helicopter would have on the wildlife and how much it would change the natural behavior of the animals. A firm believer that fauna and flora also have the right to live and should always be protected, UAV drones started featuring on his reading and research list to overcome this barrier. In 2013 upon his advice, his parents brought down a professional drone, the first of it’s kind in Sri Lanka to be used for aerial footage of wildlife.
Aged 16, Ranul started capturing aerial footage of the island and currently owns one of the largest collections of wildlife related aerial footage of Sri Lanka.
How does he manage this while being a full time student at APIIT?
Yes, Ranul is in his final year of the BEng (Hons) Computer Networks and Security and is currently preparing to submit his dissertation on Volatile Memory Analysis. Having joined APIIT in 2013 through our Foundation Programme, the first two years were the most difficult to manage. Lectures and assignments for almost 4-5 days of the week, he had to limit photographic tours to the weekends. But being the wildlife enthusiast that he is, given any break, Ranul would head to Yala and Wilpattu on off road expeditions; Especially on the tracks that us laymen don’t get to traverse.
In his experience, he’s not always been able to leave the wild on the day he expected to. Uncle Murphy will play a hand at something, and you get stuck in the deep jungle for a couple of days more than expected. However, he’s always managed to get to lectures and submit assignments on time.
Having spoken to Ranul about his future plans, he says
“I’d never drop photography or aerial filming. Whatever I choose to do after my degree, hopefully in the lines of digital forensics, I will always go back to the wild and keep following my passion in wildlife and nature photography.”
My conversation with Ranul left me in slight envy of his experiences. The thrill of being deep in the jungle, following the sights and sounds of nature and tracking a herd of elephants or a lonely leopard just to capture that right moment is not one anyone can experience.
Ranul’s photography leaves me re-living some of his experiences and yearning to be a part of it.
You can experience the same at his website : http://www.thenatureaperture.com/ or follow him on instagram at @thenatureaperture
