An Army photographer from Shropshire has scooped a top prize in an annual Army photography competition.
Sergeant Deklan (‘Dek’) Traylor, 28, who was born in Llandrindod Wells and went to Church Stretton Secondary School and Ludlow College, was awarded first place in the ‘Professional Soldiering’ category of this year’s Army Photographic Competition for a photo he took of an Army exercise in Kenya.
In the summer of 2017 Dek was tasked to cover Exercise Askari Storm, an infantry based exercise in Kenya.
He said of the photo opportunity: “Whilst out there we had particularly bad weather with a lot of storms and torrential rain between spells of blistering hot sun.
“The photo was taken on a live firing range in the middle of the exercise. During live firing you are restricted on movement so that you are not in the line of fire. I took this shot to try and show the emotion and dedication of British soldiers.”
Dek, of the Royal Logistic Corps, was posted to Donnington-based 11th Signal and West Midlands Brigade as an Army photographer. Earlier this year he was posted to an instructor role at the Defence School of Photography based at RAF Cosford, training the next generation of Army photographers.
Outside the Army, Dek’s main hobby is auto-grass, an off-road motorsport, where he is an accomplished driver having taken part in several regional and national championships.
The Awards Ceremony for the Army Photographic Competition will be held today (17th October) at the Imperial War Museum in London.
Photograph: Copyright for ‘Askari Storm’ by Sergeant Deklan Traylor