In 2002, Ellen Zaslow hired me to photograph Larry Ellison and Norbert Bajurin, the commodore of the Golden Gate Yacht Club. Julian Guthrie had written a profile about Oracle Racing’s move from the grand St. Francis Yacht Club to the blue-collar Golden Gate Yacht Club down the street. She developed the story further into a book titled, The Billionaire and The Mechanic (Bajurin runs a radiator shop).

When making a portrait, its easy to get stuck on a desired result, to get overly concerned with making your subject look good. The problem with that is you can miss the sublime moments that occur while waiting to capture that garden-variety smile.