© James Sharp

James Sharp, who used to work in the armed forces, plans to raise funds from his wildlife work by allowing visitors to bid for framed prints.

The exhibition, backed by Amateur Photographer, will take place at the Dalby Forest Visitor Centre near Pickering in North Yorkshire from 2-24 August.

James, who now works in the forestry industry, told AP: ‘I have used cameras throughout my life, starting with the Olympus OM-10, then moving onto a Nikon FE, which I still use.

‘My father took me out on photo trips… and my grandfather took me into his darkroom to learn about processing.

‘I don’t earn a living from photography. I am a keen enthusiast, but I have a few years behind me.’

In The garden at my fathers summer house in North East poland There was many insects visiting the flowers on this day, but the aim of this shot was to use the contrasting yellows as the theme, with the flower and blurred background, but missing the butterfly. I had to wait for best part of the day to get the right insect on the right flower and it was a one chance shot with the type of butterfly not returning to the flower, but favoured by the Red admiral type of butterfly and more agressive than this one. I have not been able to identify this insect at time of submission. Location: North East of Warsaw ( 20 miles from city) Camera used Nikon D90 Lens used Sigma 135 - 400 APO Settings: f6.3 at 1/400 sec at ISO 200 Additional Kit: Manfrotto tripod Alterations in Adobe: Slight sharpen with radius and contrast adjustment and tempature© James Sharp

These days James uses a Nikon D7100 and D7200, with Sigma lenses, and says he loves to photograph wildlife – visiting places such as Poland for shots of small birds like the nuthatch.

There will be nine images on display at the Dalby Forest Visitor Centre and anyone can make a bid by handing in a form at the customer service desk.

Each of the winning bidders also will receive a one-year digital subscription to Amateur Photographer.

The visitor centre is located at Low Dalby, Thornton-le-dale, North Yorkshire YO18 7LT. Tel: 01751 460 295.

For further details visit www.jamessharpphotography.com.

For information about Dalby Forest Visitor Centre, see HERE.

Background Story: In my fathers front garden there was a good variety of insects visiting the flowers, the aim was to photograph as much colour with in the photograph giving a higher contrast to the insect using the white fringe to promote the insect more than the flower. I am led to believe this insect is commonly found in this area of Poland. Location: North east of Warsaw, Poland, (20 miles from City) Camera Used: Nikon D90 Lens Used: Sigma 135 - 400mm NON OS Lens Hand held, no tripod used Settings: 400mm, F 8, 1/640sec at ISO 200 Manual setting. In Adobe i have made slight adjustments to contrast, sharpness, tempeture and curve© James Sharp