From The Editor: A Bee photographer's work garners more honors

Bryan Patrick picked up another Photographer of the Year trophy the first weekend in April, and a few days later The Bee's front page reminded us why.

Patrick's photos from the Olympic torch relay and protests in San Francisco on April 9 stood out as they often do: for storytelling and technical excellence, but even more for showing the news as you would have seen it had you been on the scene.

That's where Patrick loves to be.

He rode his bike dozens of miles that day in San Francisco, looking for the heart of the story. Along with the action, he found what he calls "the quiet moments." One image showed a young girl carrying a Tibetan flag past a line of adults holding Chinese flags.

"I try to stay away from the pack of photographers," Patrick told me the other day, "I try to feel the emotion of the event."

Patrick's latest prize was first place in the San Francisco Bay Area Press Photographers Association contest, where he beat out 140 other news photographers from newspapers, wire services and television stations in the greater Bay and Sacramento regions.

He has won top honors in that contest four times, along with many other awards in a 32-year career. When I asked him about his work, though, he got excited not about the prizes but about being on the job.

A Sacramento native and father of three, Patrick spent 16 years at the late Sacramento Union before joining The Bee staff in 1994.

At 51, he is one of 15 talented photojournalists on our staff, and his experiences and achievements mirror our best.

Like most veterans, Patrick rattles off a long list of stories he remembers for their drama and challenge: fires, disasters, sports wins, hardship and celebration.

He was among our team members covering fires in South Lake Tahoe and Southern California last year.

He's shot Super Bowls and Olympics and World Series along with other big-E Events, but he's probably spent more time in neighborhoods and away from the pack.

Like his colleagues, Patrick also is extending his reach through sacbee.com.

Photojournalism has moved easily onto the Web, and our news and feature photographs – single images, galleries and slide shows – have become some of our most popular material online.

Patrick's portfolio shows images from the lyrical to the searingly dramatic. You can find a collection online with this column at sacbee.com.

Even better, you can enjoy more fine work from Patrick and his colleagues every day in The Bee and on sacbee.com.

About the writer:

• Reach The Bee's editor, Melanie Sill, at (916) 321-1002.