Slow speed candids in crowds

Gear:

• Tripod – you need a sturdy tripod such as Vanguard's Alta Pro 284CT you need to keep your camera as still as possible.
• Remote release or camera's self-timer – Helps ensure the camera is perfectly still.

Technique:
A crowd of people is not a hard subject to find. In fact, head out to any town's High Street on a Saturday afternoon and you'll find yourself right in the middle of the bustle of shoppers as they move from store to store. Then, if you combine this movement with slow shutter speeds, you'll soon have a collection of fascinating shots that feature directional lines of movement.

You can capture creative blur by either your subject moving, you moving the camera or both. For this scenario it's the people who are moving so the camera needs to be kept as still as possible so a tripod is a must.

How much blur you capture in the shot will  depend on what shutter speed you're using and how fast your subject is moving. For example, if you take a shot of someone sprinting and a person walking slowly using the same shutter speed the results will be very different. Try starting with a ¼ sec then increase if you think there's too much blur or slow the shutter speed down even more to exaggerate the effect.

The longer shutter speeds could mean your shots end up over exposed so you'll need to compensate for this by reducing the size of the aperture and by using the lowest ISO possible. If it's still too bright try fitting a ND filter to cut down on the amount of light passing through your lens to the camera's sensor.

Find the tripods and bags to suit your needs at www.vanguardworld.com