A REGIMENTAL sergeant major has retired from the armed forces after 23 years, and is now pursuing a career in professional photography.

Steve Armon, who previously lived in Brecon and now lives in Hay on Wye, finished his long career in the army, in which he worked as a sniper, training snipers in Sennybridge.

He described the first time he picked up a camera, with the army in Northern Ireland: “I did a course in the Army doing a surveillance job in Northern Ireland in the 90s, taking photos of bad guys. That was the first time I picked up a camera.”

Whilst this was his first encounter of photography it wasn’t for a long time afterwards that he really found his passion for it: “I didn’t take a photo for about 10 years, and one of my soldiers had a camera, and I picked it up and took photos of a missile in the air - I just sorta caught it still

“Then I caught the bug from there.”

Whilst his long term plan is to grow roots in the area, making money from selling his photographs, Steve has also been involved in a few other projects since leaving the army in November last year.

Spending January and February in Kruger National Park in South Africa, Steve was in charge of training park rangers, teaching them to track and detain poachers, working mostly to prevent rhino poaching, but also preventing elephant poaching. He used his skills acquired during hid time in the army to assist the park rangers. He will soon be going back out, this time to Cameroon, to train more anti-poachers.

He does this alongside the group Veterans for Wildlife. The aim of this charity is to empower veterans to aid in the prevention of wildlife crime, and they do this by deploying skill and experienced service personnel, such as Steve, to help develop the skillset of and operational effectiveness of anti-poaching park rangers. As well as helping with conservation projects at a grassroots level, this programme offers an opportunity for veterans transitioning into civilian life.

Steve is also working as a military advisor for the BBC, helping to ensure that programs produced by the BBC are accurate, and giving them continuity, to prevent outtakes and bloopers.

He will soon be working on the fourth series of the BBC television drama ‘Our Girl’, in which Michelle Keegan plays Lance Corporal Georgie Lane. He will be advising the BBC on the military aspects of this program. This was a position which he was apparently head hunted for. He will spend three months in this role, and is set to be going back out to South Africa in order to film this.

In his photos he shows some of his experiences, both in South Africa, and back at home in Brecknockshire. His photos are inspired by a love of the outdoors, with shis photos showcasing the outdoor world. He says: “For me it is all about being out in the hills and country side. Capturing it and putting my spin on how I see the world.”

One of his photos exhibits a rhino which Steve worked hard to keep safe from poachers during his time in South Africa. However, most of his photos instead focus on Steve’s home, showing the area around the Brecon Beacons, and highlighting some of the landscapes our rural community has to offer.

He shows the area at some of its most beautiful moments, looking over the hills which characterise this part of Wales, with the sun setting

Commenting on his journey from the army to pursuing a career in photography, Steve said: “My previous career sent me all around the globe but unfortunately not always seeing it in it’s best light. Now I enjoy doing it under my own terms and I try to travel and capture as much as I can.”

“I am lucky enough to live in the Brecon Beacons national park so I am often found overnighting in my Sprinter van and getting up nice and early for sunrise or waiting for the sun to set before heading home to edit.

“In my mind there is no better head space than when walking with a bag full of lenses and kit (and coffee) after making a plan to capture an image I have had in my head. I suppose its my place of Zen! Oh and accompanied by a good playlist!

“Always keen to learn and also teach what I know, I really want to take my passion and make it my living. A long way to go yet I understand but I see the future being fruitful and I look forward to learning a lot on the way.”