I've taken an interest in photographing libraries. Click here to view some of my favorite images from libraries throughout the United States. During my recent road trip through the Capital Cities of the Southeast, I visited the Nashville Public Library.

Often times, photography isn't permitted inside libraries. I believe the reasoning is that some library patrons are not comfortable being photographed and that the photographer can be a distraction in an otherwise quiet and peaceful setting. I usually just start shooting and hope that I won't be approached. In the case of the Nashville Library visit, I was fortunate to shoot for about 20 minutes before being told that photography wasn't allowed without a permit.

I asked how to go about getting a permit. The public relations employee was very helpful and issued a permit within about 15 minutes. She said I now had full access to photographing the library--provided that I agreed not to sell any of my images. I agreed to those terms.

Now that I had permission to shoot, I could take my time and set up my tripod in a number of interesting locations. One of the more interesting areas is the main staircase at the back of the lobby.

Library StaircaseStaircase in the Nashville Public Library at 615 Church Street in Nashville, Tennessee on December 1, 2014

For the longest time, the problem with composing this photograph (and many others to follow in this area) was that a man was standing next to the piano while reading. Given that there are comfortable chairs and reading rooms everywhere--I assumed that he would soon move out of the frame to another location. So, I photographed other sections of the library instead--the main lobby, the large reading room, some closeups of artwork, etc. When I returned to the staircase area about 45 minutes later, the piano man was still standing there!

I set the tripod up for this image about 15 feet from where he was standing--while he's standing at the back of the piano facing the camera. Yet, he still doesn't move! Of course, I have no right to ask him to move--so it's a waiting game.

After quite some time, he eventually moves to an area right of the frame and places the book on a railing--and keeps reading from there. I was then able to capture the above image along with several others in this general area.

Library StaircaseStaircase in the Nashville Public Library at 615 Church Street in Nashville, Tennessee on December 1, 2014 Photography can require a lot of patience at times. Either that, or a lot of time in Photoshop removing unwanted elements!