Ivory Flame with Feathers © 2020 Patty Hankins
I’ve recently added a photograph of figure model Ivory Flame to my website at https://beautifulflowerpictures.com/store/ivory-flame-feathers/
It is available matted to 11 X 14 and 16 X 20
I recently submitted a project to Lenswork magazine’s Seeing in Sixes book project. It was not selected for publication. So I decided to share the photos with you today rather than just having the project sitting on my hard drive. The idea behind the Seeing in Sixes book is for photographers to create a series of six photographs that make up a project.
“I think we dream so we don’t have to be apart for so long. If we’re in each other’s dreams, we can be together all the time.” ~ A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
Meet Andrew, a typical stuffed panda from the 1980s. By the mid-2010s, Andrew was living a quiet life on a shelf in the Washington DC suburbs. And then, one of his people took up wet plate photography and needed an exposure test model. And suddenly Andrew had found his calling in life. He’s black, he’s white, and he’s happy sitting still for as long as takes to get the image.
Shortly thereafter, Andrew’s people started working with models. His role as the exposure test model was more important than ever. Now he was helping make sure the models looked their best under the lights.
As Andrew started working with the various models, he became good friends with several of them. Recently, he has allowed his people to catch a few behind the scenes photos of his life as a panda about town with these wonderful women.
Always a Gentleman with BlueRiverDream © 2017 Patty Hankins
Anticipation with Rebecca Lawrence © 2017 Patty Hankins
Christmas Dreams with Rebecca Lawrence © 2017 Patty Hankins
Hi There with Marzipanned © 2017 Patty Hankins
Snuggles with Keira Grant © 2017 Patty Hankins
Who Knew with BlueRiverDream © 2017 Patty Hankins
As Bill and I do more sessions with models I’m planning on adding more photos to the Secret Life of Andrew the Panda series. The best place to see them as I create them is in my Instagram feed at https://www.instagram.com/hankinspatty/
As many of you know, my husband Bill’s recent photographic projects have involved creating tintypes with several of the local models. (You can see his work on Tumblr at http://lawrencesview.tumblr.com/). As you scroll through his blog, you’ll see several photos of a stuffed panda. This is Andrew – our exposure test model. One of the challenges of working with wet plate collodian is getting your exposure correct. So Bill started creating a plate of Andrew as his first plate from any shoot. Andrew is, after all, the perfect test subject – he’s black and white and very patient. He can sit still for 10-15 second exposures without any problems.
So here is the tintype Bill created yesterday as the first plate of the day.
Andrew the Panda © 2016 William Lawrence
Frequently, we’ll have a model we’re working with pose with Andrew – for her first plate – so Bill can compare the exposure with the first plate and make any changes he needs to make in his camera settings.
So over the past several months, Bill has taken photos of several models with Andrew – and I’ll usually grab a photo of the model and Andrew with either my phone or my camera.
Well yesterday – I wanted to do something more than just take a quick photo of Andrew with a model. So I asked Rebecca Lawrence, the wonderful model we were working with, if she would pose for a few Christmas photos with Andrew. Needless to say, Rebecca and I had a great time taking the photos.
And while I don’t share my photos of models here on my blog very often, I couldn’t resist sharing several from this set. As you can see – Andrew had a wonderful time posing with Rebecca!
Andrew with Rebecca Lawrence © 2016 Patty Hankins
Andrew with Rebecca Lawrence © 2016 Patty Hankins
Andrew with Rebecca Lawrence © 2016 Patty Hankins
Andrew with Rebecca Lawrence © 2016 Patty Hankins
Andrew with Rebecca Lawrence © 2016 Patty Hankins
Andrew with Rebecca Lawrence © 2016 Patty Hankins
Andrew with Rebecca Lawrence © 2016 Patty Hankins
Andrew with Rebecca Lawrence © 2016 Patty Hankins
Andrew with Rebecca Lawrence © 2016 Patty Hankins
Andrew with Rebecca Lawrence © 2016 Patty Hankins
I would really like to thank Rebecca for all her help creating this fun set of photos. She took my idea of Andrew’s Christmas photo and turned it into a fabulous time for all of us 🙂