Library features are a recurring task for the photo staff. Most stories the writers are doing about the local libraries don’t have a specific event attached to them, so we will show up and just try to find a good feature. When I was assigned to get a library photo last week, I went straight for the children’s section at the American Fork library. 

Cute kids at the library usually make for good features and I snapped away at a few families, not feeling too excited about any of the images but knowing they got the job done. As I was about to leave, I looked at the time and decided I could spend another few minutes so I walked upstairs. I saw a young man working on his laptop. Click. I saw a few people sitting in the comfortable chairs reading. Click. But then I walked back to the very corner of the library and there, bathed in warm sunlight, with the shadows of tree branches projected on the blinds behind him, sat Bob.

An old man with a wrinkled face and grey hair, Bob Sheldon sat reading a newspaper, his tweed jacket draped over the side of the carrel desk. The light reflected off the newspaper and onto his face as if lit by a studio softbox. I approached, explained what I was doing, and asked if I could take his photograph. He obliged, and paid me no mind as I snapped off about 50 frames, trying different lenses and angles. Sheldon told me he comes to the library every day to read the newspapers. 

With that, I was on my way, happy to have left with something a little different from most library features and something worthy of the large, A1 centerpiece spot the photo ended up running in the next day. It was also a nice reminder that spending an extra five minutes to investigate what’s around the next corner can really pay off.