Then one day he decided to take along a camera to capture some of the spectacular scenes he enjoyed en route.

He knew next to nothing about photography and admits he never even took pictures on holidays.

But something had stirred in him and he began to get more and more interested in snapping away.

Six years later he is a highly-rated self-taught landscape photographer who has published a popular book depicting Rutland Water and sold plenty of prints of his work.

"It came out of nowhere really," recalled Chris, who lives in Langham. "I had a camera for years but never really used it.

"There must have been something latent in me to take photographs. After a while I decided to concentrate on Rutland Water as a subject to train myself."

His early photographs were taken with a cheap old-style SLR Canon camera with film. Accompanied by his trusty German long-haired pointer, called Bri, Chris spends hours at reservoir landmarks such as Normanton Church, the Hambleton peninsula, Lax Hill and the nature reserve shooting the scenery.

His personal favourite is a sunset snapped near Mowmires Reach just off the track from Normanton Park Hotel, a striking shot of silhouetted trees lit up by dazzling oranges, reds and pinks.

"My favourite location at Rutland Water is the south shore between Manton and the sailing club because you have a view of the north shore, Lax Hill, the nature reserve and the woods," said Chris (52), who has two children.

"With landscape pictures, eight-tenths of it is the timing. The composition of the photograph is also very important and that is something you learn."

Chris, who used to play rugby for Oakham RFC, switched to using a digital camera 15 months ago.

Though he says it is trickier to get the exposure and the colour right with a modern camera, the processing of his pictures has quickened up considerably and he can now view them on a computer just hours after taking them.

Chris remembers exactly the moment when he realised he had the talent to develop a hobby into a career. "I was getting more and more frustrated with my pictures to be honest," he recalled.

"Then I took this lovely morning shot east of Hinman's Spinney, with a flock of birds in the distance, and I thought 'that's really good'."

The fruits of his work are displayed on line at www.chfi.co.uk on his own website.

Copies of his book, entitled Moods of Rutland Water, are available at bookshops throughout the county.

Chris has now branched out into taking pictures of private gardens solely for the owners and holding courses for budding photographers at his home.

He is also considering compiling a second book showing scenes from Rutland's 54 villages.

He is clearly loving his second career. "It's quite nice to hang your own pictures on your own wall. It's even nicer to think they are hanging on someone else's wall.

"As a finance director I didn't actually produce anything but with photography I am producing something which people want to keep."