Telling the good story with photos

Southeast Missourian photography staff take readers into the lives of area residents in our weekly photo essay.

This story now materializes on a photo spread in the Good Times section, but has until recently been located on the section's cover page. More often than not, the Weekend Edition's main front page image also comes from this story.

But how do these photo essays come about?

Planning for each week's story often starts weeks in advance. First and foremost, we're looking for stories highlighting life in our community. But the story must have interesting visual elements to fill the newspaper real estate dedicated to the story.

In recent months, the stories have ranged from a profile about Jefferson Elementary School principal Leigh Ragsdale to one about local fighter Nathan Stearns making his professional MMA debut, from a telling of "our love affair with doughnuts" to an instant-film portrait series "celebrating Feb. 29 (leap day) birthdays."

Some stories are photographed over a period of time in an effort to obtain the best storytelling images. Other stories are photographed in one or two visits with a subject.

It was the famous war photographer Robert Capa who once said, "If your photographs aren't good enough, you're not close enough."

Emily Medlock receives a kiss from her son, Phoenix Young, 2, at the conclusion of the Cape Central High School Class of 2019 Commencement on Sunday, May 12, 2019, at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau.Kassi Jackson ~ Southeast Missourian

We also want to get close to our subjects -- literally and figuratively. Sometimes that means spending the day with a person to be there when those storytelling moments take place.

But this looks a little different in the time of COVID-19. Being physically close to people isn't an option while practicing proper social distancing, but we're still documenting our community from a greater distance.

Most of our stories are happy stories, but we're interested in many stories about the human condition. Good photojournalists capture moments, good and bad, and give readers a better understanding and appreciation of the community.

AM Vets Outdoors founder and Air Force veteran Bill Coomer, aka "Wild Bill, of Cape Girardeau looks out of a blind during a snow geese hunt Saturday, March 14, 2020, in Ware, Illinois.Jacob Wiegand ~ jwiegand@semissourian.com

The photography in this spread and accompanying online photo gallery are a look back at some moments from those recent photo stories.

If you or someone you know has an interesting story to tell through photography, email photo editor Jacob Wiegand at jwiegand@semissourian.com.