Every picture tells a story: Tammy Louise Mountain

Today we meet Tammy Louise Mountain, of Blaenavon, who started taking photos during the first national lockdown.

“I was a member of Blaenavon Joggers and to keep us all fit we started playing a bingo game,” said Ms Mountain.

“We would all have to go out and find five specific things and post the pictures to our messenger group. 

“I did get carried away with it and it became normal for me to go out walking within Blaenavon and take photos of the wildlife and historical landmarks and post them on social media.” 

At the time she was studying a law and criminology course at Open University and she used wildlife photography for “escapism” and “mindfulness”.

“I have since joined wildlife groups on Facebook and regularly post on them and I have started to become fairly knowledgeable with some insects,” she added.

“Now the lockdowns are over I have gone back to work fulltime in an office role - but I still get out walking most days with my dog Oscar.”

Blaenavon Joggers is no longer active, but she runs with her friends three times a week, and enjoys taking photos on her Samsung Galaxy S20.

Here are five of her favourite photos...

This one makes me happy as Oscar looks so chilled out -  with the Sugar Loaf in the background.

This one makes me proud as it's a rare photo, but also sad to think people hunt these beautiful animals.

This picture makes me laugh as I am known for taking pictures of the sheep in Blaenavon; my partner Viv took this picture of me as sheep flocked to me

This photo of a dragonfly is special to me as its the first photo I  was really proud of and I think it gained me some recognition for insect photography

This picture inspires me to keep looking for the weird and wonderful nature has to offer, especially insects