The Big Four Oh

Time for the Big Four-Oh

Oh no! :(

Yep, it's that time in my life to have my chance at being fourty on the 4th October. I have to be honest; I'm not that thrilled about the idea!But then what can you do. Time stops for no-one and it really doesn't help to stress about it. Nevertheless...

My thirties were quite probably the best years of my life. During that decade I met my gorgeous wife Wendy who I later married on the 9th September 1999. A couple of years later we had our first child Michelle and then 14 quick months after that our second child Laura-Ashley.These three ladies are the light of my life. Rest assured they can all be very trying at times but I still love them to bits and I hope that they know it?

Work wise my thirties were also a fantastic decade as our company Mindkey grew from strength to strength. When Richard (my partner) and I started Mindkey in 1998 there were just the two of us and three junior programmers fresh out of college. Mindkey is now a thriving company of 50+ staff members and still growing. It's been a thrill and a privilege to be involved with everyone that has made this such a success and long may it continue. Like all things in life there have been some significant challenges managing it along the way but that has been part of the fun.

But of more significance for readers of this blog/journal I discovered a passion for photography.Thanks to some inspiration from two friends; Johann and Mauritz I acquired a Canon 20D. It was actually meant to be a present for my wife Wendy *ahem* - yes well we know how that worked out didn't we (at least she is using it more and more these days?).That was the beginning of the end in terms of managing any kind of budget! I now have too many cameras and lenses to count and I'm still passionate about taking photos although finding the time in a hectic life is the real challenge.I really enjoyed Digital Photography as you got this immediate feedback and it was really quick and easy to learn from your mistakes. I also really enjoyed spending the time in front of the PC learning applications like Photoshop and understanding how RAW works and all that jazz. I remember when I first fired up Photoshop I was in awe and thought there's no way in hell I will ever learn this program. But gradually and with the help of a lot of books and online tutorials I grew to love the flexibility and power of this amazing application.I began spending so much time playing around with photo's that all other PC interests began to wane. No longer did I want to play games; it was much more fun fiddling around with photo's; posting them on sites like deviantArt or OutdoorPhoto and getting crit and meeting like-minded individuals.

What am I doing for my birthday? Well when Wendy asked me what I would like to do; I easily and instantly replied: "Just some time out to go and take photo's is all I ask for?" :)
So tomorrow (3rd October) I am off to Pilanesberg Nature Reserve which is a couple of hours drive from Johannesburg where I intend to spend the whole day (hopefully) being out in the bush with just the animals and me (and my camera of course). Hold thumbs that I can come back with some great photo's for us all to enjoy.

Take care
Ian