• Ashane Marasinghe on the photograph that is in the spotlight 

Ashane Marasinghe’s photograph of a leopard sticking its tongue out has gone viral, with many mainstream media outlets and social media pages sharing the image. The photograph, titled “Oh my tongue” was selected as a finalist of Spain’s The Nature Photography Contest 2023, under the funny nature category.

Speaking to The Daily Morning Brunch, Marasinghe said the feedback the image got was unexpected. He never thought the image would go viral, but said he feels the reason so many liked the image was because it shows leopards in a funnier or more comical light, as opposed to the usual images of leopards.

A quick capture

Going into detail about how the photograph was captured, Marasinghe said: “While exploring the Wilpattu National Park one evening, we spotted two cubs walking down a pathway. We were watching them from our jeep. One of the cubs went off the path and into the forest. The other cub followed it, but while the first cub went right inside, the other cub came back towards the jeep and started grooming itself, sticking its tongue out. I was following its movements through the viewfinder and so was able to quickly capture the moment.”

Marasinghe went on to explain that there are behaviours or movements that leopards typically display. A photographer must be aware of these. “When we see a leopard on a pathway, for instance, we can assume it will make a turn or do something. We thus follow the leopard through our camera throughout, because these movements often last just a few seconds, so we must always be ready to capture them.”

He went on to say that with this particular cub, he felt like it would come back out, instead of going deep into the wild. “When there are two leopards, usually one follows the other, but this cub was a bit mischievous. We saw them playing, and while the other cub was a bit shy, this one wasn’t. So I felt that it would come back towards us, which is why I was watching him through the viewfinder, and was able to quickly capture that moment.”

Recognition

Marasinghe shared that he has submitted his work for a few other international competitions, including Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPY) and Wildbird Photo Competition. The results of these are still pending, and will be announced in the future.

“When we are placed in international competitions, the photographer’s name is carried along with the name of their country. In an international competition, I believe they look into the photographer’s country. With this image, they will see that it’s from Sri Lanka and look into where it was captured. This will give them an idea of the biodiversity in Sri Lanka and the number of national parks in the country, and will increase their chances of visiting Sri Lanka,” he said.

Marasinghe explained that Sri Lanka has a high leopard density, which increases the chances of leopard sightings, compared to other countries. “I do think we can develop and promote tourism through photography,” he added.

This, however, isn’t the first time Marasinghe’s photography has gained him recognition. He has won several awards in the past in over 30 countries, including a gold at the State Festival of Photography Sri Lanka 2017, finalist award at the Big Picture Natural World Photography Competition 2021, presented by the California Academy of Sciences in the United States, and Magical Nature category winner at Slovenia’s Nature Photographer of the Year 2021.

Following a passion

During a previous conversation with The Daily Morning Brunch, Marasinghe explained that although born and raised in the suburbs of Colombo, he grew up surrounded by nature. “My passion for nature and wildlife began even before I left school. I used to watch wildlife documentaries, and I had a collection of animal pictures as well. But I didn’t have a childhood dream to be a photographer,” Marasinghe said.

As he grew up, he developed a curiosity for the subject, and his mother bought him his very first DSLR camera. “I wanted to know how to operate the gear and the basics of photography. This was when I joined the National Association of Photographers Sri Lanka (NAPSL) in 2013 and started a short course in photography and then followed the Diploma in Advance Photography at NAPSL in 2014. Initially, I did all kinds of photography genres and eventually, I moved to wildlife photography.”

Since 2013, Marasinghe has made his way through the wilderness of Sri Lanka, and said: “Day by day, I learnt new techniques from experts in the field and mostly, I learnt the behaviour of the animals and observed them and behaved as a responsible human in the wild.”

His passion will undoubtedly take him to great heights in wildlife photography, and speaking about what he is currently working on, Marasinghe shared: “Wild Sri Lanka is organising its annual photography exhibition and we are working on this at the moment. In addition to this, we also carried out several conservation projects in the past few weeks, and are currently working on building treatment cages that will be handed over to the Wildlife Conservation Department.”