Photos to Inspire
One Inspiring Image: 'A Walk in the Rain'
By DE Staff
Oct 15, 2007

A Walk in the Rain" © Charles Tribbey

Our single inspiring image for mid-month if "A Walk in the Rain" by Charles Tribbey, whose personal journey is also inspirational.

About the Image
"This photo is part of a day of images created with a friend/model of mine, Ashley O'Hara; it was one of the last glamour/artistic nude shoots that I did in Alaska before moving back to the lower 48 after 8 years. The location is in south central Alaska, this particular area always gave me the feeling that you were entering an magical place.  The model, Ashley, is something of a fairie creature herself, bringing her into this idea seemed only natural, like bringing a wood nymph back to her home. You would think seeing the path she is walking on, that this is a groomed garden, but in reality, its purely wild. The image itself is shot with a 16mm fisheye lens, bending the background into the image, forcing the viewers eyes to the woman, yet still leading you further down the path."

About the photographer
"I look back now, I was 14 years old when I got my first 35mm SLR, a Pentax ME Super, from my mother. It seems that I carried that thing with me wherever I roamed. My father was a true shutterbug and inspired me even further. It seems I've always been around cameras/photography for much of my life. My passion for photography really took off in high school when I took a darkroom photography course in my senior year.  From then on, I was always involved in some way with photographic work. I worked on yearbooks/newspaper in college, eventually burning myself out on school, dropping out of college and going to work for a camera store. Within three years, I was the manager of one their stores/photo labs. During that time I met my wife, and we've been married for 18 years as of August.

"After that, I took a  short break from the camera industry, but continued to shoot on my own, pursuing my own personal style.  This is about the time I discovered I had great love for art of the human body, and endeavored to combine it with my other great passion, photography!  In February 1999, my wife and I moved to Alaska, with no jobs, no place to live, and a  dog.  Falling back on previous experience, I went to work for Qualex, doing overnight commercial processing for a couple of years. In 2001, I went to work for Alaska Stock Images in Anchorage, as a image tech. This is where I really learned Adobe Photoshop. I worked day in and day out with other professional photographers, and made great friendships with others who shared the same passions I did. Shooting stock is awesome—in what other industry can you find inspiration in all that you do and live—everything is a subject! In 2005, I lost my father to a heart attack. It was at that point in life I decided that I should do what makes me most happy, so I combined my two greatest loves, the beauty of the female figure and photography. Of course, I still shoot stock as well for variety.  In September of 2006, we returned to Colorado to be closer to family. Presently we reside in Edwards, Colorado near Vail, high in the Rocky Mountains."

Technical Data
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel
Lens: Zenitar 16mm/2.8 (manual focus)
Exposure: ISO 400, 1/200@f/8
Lighting: Natural daylight, filtered through overcast, rainy skies
Processing: the image was shot in RAW, processed with Adobe RAW, pretty much straight forward processing. One of my inspirations is the artist, Steve Hanks. I wanted to produce a watercolor-style finish for this image to give it more of a fantasy feel. Through the Adobe website, I found an action that produces a beautiful watercolor effect. Thus how this image is finished.
Model: Ashley O'Hara, Anchorage, Alaska.

You can view more of Charles' work at http://www.cgtphoto.com


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