GALLERY We set the challenge and Suffolk's photographers have answered the call.

WE set the challenge and Suffolk's photographers have answered the call.

The Evening Star has been inundated with pictures from all over the county and beyond, most of them filled with the joy of summer with others harking back slightly further to spring.

Our own photographer Simon Parker helped to set the ball rolling by setting a good example for amateur photographers with his stunning shot of sun shining through the clouds at sunset at Wattisfield near Diss.

But the amateurs have proved their worth as well. Alan Thompson, of Redwing Close, Ipswich, caught one of the best celebrations of nature we've seen yet with his photograph of a fine specimen of a deer.

Valroy Vinyard, of Bloomfield Street, Ipswich, also sent in a picture and said: “This is a squirrel disturbed whilst trying unsuccessfully to steal some nuts.”

Robert Sheppard, of Malvern Close, Ipswich, took the opportunity of snapping a shot of a gull taking a rest on a light pole while 14-year-old James Ford sent in a picture of four baby wrens in their next in his garden in Bacton.