Using slow shutter to get rid of people

Last week I visited my girlfriend in NY. It was a great trip and I was able to get some really nice photos. On the way, I had a layover in Chicago and while I tried to find my gate I stumbled upon this really cool hallway. Just think, neon lights that stretched nearly a football field or more with abstract translucent walls. Problem was there were so many people walking around it was hard to get a good shot. And it was dark. The lights only came on in short bursts. What to do? Slow shutter to the rescue!

Tripod is key - When i first walked in the room I thought to myself "How cool!". Everyone was busting out their camera phones, but I had my new 5D! Haha...so I busted it out and the first shot sucked...this is what I got. Not a good pic in my opinion. I couldn't get the lights to "pop" just hand-holding and the people were killing the composition. What to do? Tripod! I threw my camera on a tripod, which i had with me (a small one that fits in my carry-on), lowered the ISO (100) and stopped down to a small aperture (f/11) resulting in a shutter speed of 3.2 seconds. I moved to a center location, recomposed and the shot above is what I got. I photoshopped some of the highlights and shadows to bring out the lights, but by lowering the shutter speed all the people blurred away even in a busy airport. Hope this helps and be sure to bring your tripod on your next trip! I know it helped me out :) check out a better quality version on my porfolio site...www.morganmessina.com