CISCO - National Security Technology Piece

I shot this video for CISCO Systems and Ironbound Films in September in Tampa and St Petersburg, Florida, at the launch of the Republican National Convention and the encroaching Tropical Storm Isaac.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City from Richard Patterson on Vimeo.

I had the pleasure of working with Amy Lawday Productions of NYC in creating these intimate portrait films for the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program. The video series provides a look into the stories of some of the Big & Little “matches” that Big Brothers Big Sisters brings together in America’s oldest and most cherished mentoring program.

It was a day well spent.

ARTE News - Gas Fracking Story

In September, ARTE's NYC news correspondent Renaud Dumesnil asked me to shoot a piece on gas fracking in Dimick, PA, a town at the center of this controversial topic.  Our story began with an interview of Josh Fox, the film director whose award winning documentary Gasland shed a new light on this topic.  The following day we traveled to  Pennsylvania to see the process for ourselves and interview some of the people effected by the process.  It was an educational and compelling story of money verses nature.  The methods used to extract these natural gases submerged miles within the ground are potentially invasive to the land and use millions of gallons of water and toxins.  Gas fracking is being strongly considered for the Hudson River Valley of New York State.  This could be a pivotal moment for the ecosystem of the area and the watershed (supplying 90% of drinking water to over half the state's population).  I'm grateful for learning about this important topic through the lens and motivating my civic responsibility.

The video can also been seen here on ARTE's website: http://www.arte.tv/fr/etats-unis-victimes-du-gaz-de-schiste/6925594.html

1,000,000 and Counting

This past weekend, Fat Joe's PRIDE AND JOY - BEHIND THE SCENES video broke 1,000,000 views on YouTube / Vevo.

This is a milestone for me and although a laughing baby can giggle out one million impressions in less than a day, I'm still happy to break the mark in six weeks!

Fat Joe - PRIDE AND JOY - Behind the Scenes

I've enjoyed Fat Joe's music before doing the Roc-Away on the floor in 2004, so when I found myself prepping my cameras next to the accomplished Hype Williams, the director of Mr. Joe Crack's newest video "Pride and Joy," I thought the day couldn't get better.

The mood was very relaxed on set as Hype, Joe, and Kanye West caught-up and told stories from year's past.  Suddenly, the calm was thrown into full throttle as Busta Rhymes stormed onto the sound stage on his way to the airport.  Paying his respect to the song, he jumped in front of the A-camera (Sony F65 - such a beautiful camera) for his cameo appearance, nailed the performance, and flew out the stage door with the same intensity as his intro five minutes earlier.  As the day progressed, Hype and his crew easily moved through the shot list for the day... a line-up that included Ashanti, DJ Khaled, Jadakiss, Miguel, and Roscoe Dash.

I used my Canon DSLRs, a Glidecam x-22, and a Sony EX3 to capture the behind the scenes footage for the video.  The sunset intro shots of NYC were captured with a GoPro Hero mounted to a taxi on my way home to Brooklyn.  My post-production was done entirely on Final Cut and I used Magic Bullet for my color correction.

I hope you enjoy the video.

The First Lady and an Ambassador

May and July lead me to Washington, D.C. for two inspiring shoots.

The first was at the Lincoln Memorial where I was introduced to a true gentleman, Mr. George Haley.  I shot the video and interviews of Mr. Haley for Reader's Digest along side my friend, Jeffrey Salter, who made a series of compelling photography portraits of the 86 year old lawyer, diplomat, and younger brother of the Pulitzer prize winner Alex Haley.  The weather was nearly perfect and despite a long shoot day, Mr. Haley's biggest concern was our well being.  It was a real treat to meet him and hear his stories of the seven Presidential administrations he served.

Later in July, I was commissioned by the Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum to photograph the winners of the 13th Annual National Design Awards and a group of select high school students at The White House with Michelle Obama.  Dining on the Presidential chinaware was pretty cool (a definite step-up from the Ray's Pizza I ate the night before), but I'd have to say meeting the First Lady was the most memorable part of the afternoon.

Summer in NYC screams live music. This season I'm happy to announce I've been commissioned to produce, shoot and edit the LACOSTE L!VE concert video series in Williamsburg Park for the brand. The line-up is pretty awesome and I hope to see you at one of the shows. Watch out for the crocodiles! http://WWW.LIVELOVESMUSIC.COM/


Coming this month:
Jane's Addiction - August 17th
Antibalas, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - August 18th  
My Morning Jacket - August 19th 


See you upfront by the stage.