Eye for viner things in life.

Byline: Sherri Buri McDonald The Register-Guard

CROW - Walking between tidy rows of grape vines - her canine companion, Pugsley, at her heels - Rachell Coe stops and bends to shoot close-ups of a bud about the size of a Tic-Tac.

Coe is working. But it's no 9-to-5 job. She's photographing pinot noir vines at Sweet Cheeks Winery for the stock photography Web site she launched three months ago.

Anyone can go to her site, Vinografia.com (veen-oh-grah-FEE-ah) and download pictures from the 350-photo archive for as little as $2 a photo, with no royalties. People use the photos to dress up their newsletters, magazine articles or Web sites.

In the short time the site has been up and running, it already has generated some sales - mostly low-resolution downloads, probably for use on Web sites, Coe said.

But she's encouraged by the response Vinografia is getting. Coe said that after she sent out announcements last month, she received a call from "Wines & Vines," one of the industry's top trade magazines.

"That's huge," she said.

Jane Firstenfeld, staff writer and copy editor of the glossy magazine, based in San Rafael, Calif., said "Wines & Vines" doesn't use stock photography that often. "But when we need it, we really need it."

Firstenfeld said the magazine has run wine-related photos from stock photography services, such as Shutterstock, based in New York City. But often there's not enough information about the photos' content and origin to be able to use them.

"Our needs are always very specific," she said. "If we're illustrating a story, we need to know where the vineyard is and what kind of grapes are being grown."

Coe meticulously lists those details - and more - for each of her photos. "On Vinografia it has to be exact," she said.

The photo site is an offshoot of Coe's Web and graphic design business, 4 the Grapes, which she founded last year to serve clients in the wine industry.

As part of that business, Coe has designed Web sites for local wineries Silvan Ridge, Secret House and Abacela near Roseburg. She also helps update and improve the Web sites of Sweet Cheeks, Benton-Lane, Chateau Lorane and Noble Estate.

Prior to founding 4 the Grapes, Coe was Web master for 1 1/2 years at King Estate, and she has run her own Web design and graphics businesses since 1997.

Coe, 38, has degrees in history and cultural anthropology from the University of Oregon, but she said her computer and photography skills are largely self-taught.

Her work receives high praise from local wineries.

"She has an eye for what the wineries want to convey," said Lorrie Normann, general manager at Sweet Cheeks Winery. "Most of all we're trying to create a warm environment - a place where people feel comfortable - but we're serious about the wine and about what Oregon wines are doing."

Benton-Lane Winery, near Monroe, used to have a Web consultant in California, said Lisa Fisher, office and tasting room manager. But it was difficult working with someone out of the area, so the winery now contracts with Coe.

"She does a nice job," Fisher said. "She's very reasonable. Some people are high-priced that don't give anywhere near the dedication and quality that she does."

Coe said she doesn't charge the wineries for the photos she shoots for her online archive. She does charge, however, if a winery wants her to do a bottle shot in her studio or to photograph a specific event.

For now, Coe's Web design and graphics business provides the steady income, and Vinografia is the fledgling start-up. But Coe said she'd like to see the stock photo site become the income generator.

"It could be a cash cow because it would be making money while I'm not even there," she said.

Coe took almost all the shots herself at Oregon vineyards and wineries. She wants to expand the photo archive, however, by displaying the work of other photographers, especially in California and Washington. The details are still being worked out, but Coe said she's thinking of splitting the proceeds from each sale 50-50 with the photographer. The cost of the royalty-free downloads range from $2 for a 500-pixel photo to $84 for a 30-inch by 40-inch poster.

Coe's start-up costs have been modest. She initially invested $500, and recently shelled out $600 for a Web site solution for stock photography.

To help market the site, she pays Google, a Web search engine, $60 a month for boxed ads linked to key words that she chooses. That has brought targeted visitors to the site. Last week, for example, Vinografia had 73 visits, and about 75 percent of those hits continued past the site's home page, Coe said. Half of the visitors viewed at least six or more pages, she said.

So far, the largest investment Coe has made in Vinografia is her time. Between her two businesses, Coe works long hours, including weekends.

"I work from the time I crawl out of bed and get the kids out to school, until 1 a.m. sometimes," she said.

Coe and her husband James, a supervisor at Peterson Pacific Corp., have two sons.

Coe said her unconventional hours work for her family because she often takes sons Nick, 10, and Deke, 9, with her on photo outings.

"Any pictures they take that are good enough to be on the site, they'll get a percentage," she said.

Coe said she enjoys the variety in her work.

"I get to be the nerd at home and do the graphics, and then I get to come out here and take photos," she said. "I love what I do, this is my hobby."

RACHELL COE

Who: Web and graphics designer based in Eugene

What: Launched Vinografia, a stock photography Web site on grape and wine industries

On the Web:www.vinografia.com