- The locally made brand for the wild celebrates their fifth anniversary
Wildlife photography is an emerging hobby in our part of the world, and with the field growing, the need for equipment has arisen. The more people picking up the hobby, whether in a casual capacity or in a greater pursuit of excelling and developing a skill set, they are all in need of some basic equipment.
Considering that the industry is relatively new in Sri Lanka, there’s very few, maybe even none at all, when it comes to quality locally produced brands that supply these necessities. There is now an emerging market for these “supporting equipment”.
To bridge this divide between the rapidly growing consumers of these items and the lack of supply, Ceylon Big 5 was launched in 2017 by Saman Halloluwa, who, speaking to Brunch, shared that as a wildlife photography enthusiast himself, he felt this glaring hole in the market. “To get the highest outcome or do the wildlife photography correctly there is a need for some support equipment, but the problem is there were only a few local providers in Sri Lanka at the time and so we created Ceylon Big 5, which has since become a local provider that satisfies these needs,” he explained.
He shared that, primarily, Ceylon Big 5 is a brand name that provides supporting equipment and products to ease the task of wildlife photography. He said that while they started as a small-scale business in January of 2017, with one of his friends coming up with the thought of “why don’t we just do it ourselves”, a thought that seemed wild at the time, considering that as Sri Lankans, we are all quite accustomed to accepting our circumstances. However, Halloluwa shared that they did not simply let it be a thought and decided to put it into action. While they started from a few products those first few years, now they have since expanded their brand beyond what they ever would have thought possible five years ago.
Ceylon Big 5 offers a number of flagship items including their bean bag, which is a product that helps wildlife photographers stabilise their camera as they wait for their subject. They offer three unique sizes for these bean bags. They also provide a dust cover which protects your camera and lens from dust, and Halloluwa shared that dust is a major problem for cameras and lenses when they are exposed to our specific terrains. They also offer a rain cover which protects the camera and lens from the rain and mist as that too can be incredibly damaging to these sensitive equipment. Additionally, they also produce leech shocks, hide mesh, bean pillows, and bird mats as just a few other products available for a number of different purposes. Halloluwa also added that they also provide a lens bucket to pack the camera lenses when going out to take the photos in the wild; however this was produced on a client’s request. He added that they have a number of new products including the personal pack, herbal towel, hat, and a cap.
He also noted that a main reason for Ceylon Big 5’s success is their price range, as it is affordable for the high-quality product they will receive. The reasonable pricing and hands-on, readily available service have been the key elements contributing to their longevity and success in the industry, he said.
Ceylon Big 5 also offers customised products; they are flexible in designing products on clients’ requests. “If a customer requests a product in a different shape and size beyond the standard size, we commit to make and provide that customised product to them if we can make it,” he noted.
Ceylon Big 5 is patronised by some of Sri Lanka’s most skilled and notable personalities in wildlife photography. Considering their success so far, Halloluwa shared that they hope to expand their range and also start producing hiking and camping gear, noting that this new product range can be expected soon, around mid-February.
“We are happy to say now Ceylon Big 5 is a famous brand name for people in the wildlife industry in Sri Lanka,” said Halloluwa, adding that he believes that their success is entirely owed to their loyal customer base and the wildlife photography community which is incredibly close-knit and so supportive.
