California wine divides into two camps—the established commercial routes of Napa and Sonoma, and the wild west of everything else. As we broaden our wine-drinking horizons, we learn that low-key pioneers with bold, confident dreams are not just a memory of the early days of the gold rush. Enter the wine-soaked world of Michael David winery in Lodi, California, the reputed “Zinfandel capital of the world”.
10/13/2008
Bob Durell starts photo business
Bob Durell, the long-time Los Angeles Times photographer who worked in the Sacramento and San Francisco bureaus and was laid off last month as part of the newspaper's downsizing, reports he has opened his own freelance photography business and has already worked on jobs for news, corporate and political clients in Sacramento and the Bay Area.
Durell says his background in photojournalism has come in handy having taught him to fade into the background at a shoot so that his subjects feel and look "genuine and spontaenous. I know people respond more favorably to those types of images than the stiff, posed shots that I see so often passed off as candid in campaign mailers and on websites." He says that the pace of freelancing is easier. "For the newspaper, often I would have to email photos within 10 minutes of taking them. Now, when a client asks me if they could possibly get the photos within a day, it seems like I'm on vacation." He says he's doing well "but I'm never too busy to take on more clients" and shares his Web site, http://www.robertdurellphoto.com/, and his phone, 510 520 3105. Contact: Durell, rdurell@sbcglobal.net.