Walk on by

Alistair Campbell gets creative with slower shutter street shots

For the most part, my camera settings for street photography remain pretty similar. I shoot wide-open, leave my ISO around 1,000, and use the highest shutter speeds possible. You can quickly become bored of your own work and style, though, so sometimes you need to freshen things up. If I get jaded, I can try a number of options to get me out of the rut: I’ll switch to another lens, pop on a filter, or try to shoot left-handed.

One of the aesthetics that gives me an entirely different look is shooting the variable shutter speeds I’d never typically use day to day. When we talk of slower shutter speeds, I tend to think of anything slower than about 1/30 sec; this is usually when you start to see some motion blur in your images (depending on the speed of the subject). Personally, I’ve found that around 1/4 sec is the sweet spot for me – it’s enough that you can just make out the subject, but also abstract enough to give it a new feel.

You can either shoot in Shutter Priority or take care of everything yourself. If you’re comfortable shooting manually, you can place a reasonable bet on having a low ISO of around 100-200 and leaving it, then set your shutter speed to 1/4 sec; that just leaves you having to change the aperture accordingly as you move from place to place.

If your camera or lens has an image stabilisation option, it’s best to turn this on to keep the static areas of your shot sharp. Shooting at lower shutter speeds can be difficult; sometimes you can find a wall or bench to lean on. Try holding your breath as you release the shutter.