Behind the Lens: January - February 2021

Feb 14, 2021
Feb 14, 2021
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Behind the Lens is a photo column that explores the thoughts and mechanics behind images of the community taken by Decatur Daily photojournalists.

These photos resonate with the photographer, either through the story behind the shot or the image itself.

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One morning last month, as I was driving into Decatur to start my work day, I noticed two men wading waist-deep in the water between the U.S. 31 causeway and the railroad bridge. Although they were quite far away from where I could take a picture without getting in the water myself (I don’t have the appropriate gear for that), I decided to try.

Through a 300 mm. lens I could see that they were hunters. I saw guns and other gear on a tree stump and also decoys for ducks a bit farther away. However, they were not doing anything relevant at that point, but just talking and walking right and left. Not a very exciting scene for a picture to say the least. My hopes of photographing something cool were crushed, and I was ready to leave when I saw that a train was coming from town.

The water that morning was so still that I thought the colorful containers would make a good reflection, changing the whole scene dramatically. So, I waited and got this image of Winston Shelton (although at the time I didn’t know his name) standing in orange water as he turned to look at the passing train.

Suddenly, the failed hunting picture turned into an image not about hunting but about color, composition, reflection and uniqueness.

About the series: Behind the Lens is a photo column that explores the thoughts and mechanics behind images of the community taken by Decatur Daily photojournalists. These photos resonate with the photographer, either through the story behind the shot or the image itself.

About the photographer: Jeronimo Nisa, who is originally from Spain, has been a photojournalist with The Decatur Daily since 2008. He earned a master’s degree in photojournalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He previously worked in Italy and South Africa.

Jeronimo Nisa/Decatur Daily

As I was leaving my eye doctor’s office in Madison on Tuesday morning, the predominantly fuchsia color of a field right across the street caught my attention. I was really surprised that those little wildflowers, which we usually see only in early spring, could survive in the below-freezing temperatures that we’ve experienced so far this month. I thought that maybe it was an optical illusion since I had just put on new sunglasses for the first time and my eyes needed to adapt not only to the new color of the lenses, but also to the new prescription.

I was about to take the glasses off to check the colors with my naked eyes when I noticed a group of deer toward the far side of the field. “OK, definitely there must be something wrong with my eyes,” I thought. Granted, seeing deer from a road is nothing unusual, but right there? In the middle of Madison? I mean, my doctor’s office is not in the outskirts of town, but right on Madison Pike, one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares.

Needless to say, I turned back into the parking lot, got my camera out of the car and approached the small herd very slowly and carefully. I couldn’t believe my luck: deer on a fuchsia carpet. When will be the next time I get the chance to photograph something like this? Probably never.

While I photographed from the sidewalk, the animals were just grazing, but then I decided to venture into the field to change my angle in order to have more flowers in the foreground. It was then that the deer got startled and began to gallop toward the woods. I felt bad that I had interrupted their undoubtedly delicious wildflower breakfast, but not so bad that I was able to get a much more dynamic picture.

About the series: Behind the Lens is a photo column that explores the thoughts and mechanics behind images of the community taken by Decatur Daily photojournalists. These photos resonate with the photographer, either through the story behind the shot or the image itself.

About the photographer: Jeronimo Nisa, who is originally from Spain, has been a photojournalist with The Decatur Daily since 2008. He earned a master’s degree in photojournalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He previously worked in Italy and South Africa.