Interesting question, this one, Ian .... I shall be interested in the replies also ....
Me, I'm a freelance graphic designer, so I work on an Apple Mac all day long, colouring in and playing with pretty pictures ....
I'm in a fortunate position too, in that I love my work (most of the time!) and also, being self-employed, it gives me the freedom to occasionally do whatever I want to. If the day is slow and I find myself waiting for that phone to ring or an email to arrive, I very often jump in the car and drive out to a local country park with my camera. I'm lucky in having the Shropshire countryside literally minutes away from where I work .... there's a lake, a country park, and the famous Ironbridge Gorge within 15 minutes drive.
I've always been keen on the outdoors, and, with regard to an earlier thread on these forums, I honestly think it all started when my Dad took me fishing - when I were just a lad (said in Yorkshire accent!). I used to sit there with my little rod and soon became aware of the masses of wildlife all around me and became fascinated by the various animals, birds and insects I would encounter ....
As I grew older, and gave up on the fishing, I got into birdwatching as my way of experiencing the outdoor life, and of course, being out watching birds allowed me to maintain my interest in all other wildlife at the same time. I think the advent of digital photography rekindled my slightly slumbering wildlife fascination and has encouraged me to go out more, but this time being able to record my finds has fired my enthusiasm again, and being able to download the pics onto my computer as soon as I get back to the office is so exciting - wondering if the pics have come out okay - of course, a lot haven't, but that's the joy of digital - somewhere in amongst the rejects you come across THE shot .... and makes it all worthwhile!
I look forward to reading other people's stories on here ....