View of Half Dome from Sentinel Bridge, Yosemite National Park.
(Night. Full moon. 6 minutes. Lit by moonlight.)
Photo: "Nurses Station"
Nurses station in Building 17 at a Pennsylvania State Psychiatric Hospital. The hospital was designed by Wilson Brothers and Company between 1878-1880 and was the first institution in the United States to recognized female physicians.
Photo: "Central Power Plant"
Building 121, the central power plant, was constructed in 1918.
The Mare Island Naval Shipyard was the first US Navy Base on the West Coast. The land was purchased in 1853 and shipbuilding was commenced in 1854. During WWI and WWII, the base was responsible for the construction of dozens of ships, including destroyers, battleships and submarines. The base closed in 1996 as part of the Base Realignment and Closure Program.
Photo: "Lurking"
Prior to the February Yosemite trip, I purchased an LED lantern with (4) removable, battery powered panels. Not only is the lantern great for camping, but the panels are small, light weight and can be individually carried around and used for light painting.
This was my first shot testing out their functionality. A ladder would have been helpful when painting the higher branches of the tree, but this was essentially the effect I was aiming for. I am anxious to continue testing and improving this method.
Yosemite National Park, California.
(Night. 80 seconds. Lit with (4) LED panels.)
Photo: "Shelton House"
Moon rise at dusk over the Shelton House, building used for administrative and patient care, at a Connecticut psychiatric hospital, designed in the Colonial Revival style by Walter P. Crabtree. The hospital operated from 1931 until 1995 and at its peak, housed over 4,000 patients.
Photo: "Medial"
Dawn inside Noble Hall, an East Coast psychiatric hospital theatre designed in the Colonial Revival style and constructed in 1908.
Photo: "Reflected"
Yosemite National Park, California.
(Night. Full moon. 6 minutes. Lit by moonlight.)
Photo: "Scrub Down"
Patient tub inside Building 14, a medium security ward at a Pennsylvania State Psychiatric Hospital founded in 1876.
Photo: X-Ray Vision
Third floor hallway inside the crumbling Hudson River State Hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York.
Photo: "Yosemite"
Half Dome, Yosemite National Park.
Night. Full moon. 3 minutes. Lit by moonlight and LED light.
COAST Flashlight: TX10 Review
I recently received the COAST TX10, a medium output multi-color LED flashlight. Overall, this is a great light, perfect for light painters since there are 4 colors available within a single light. It's also light weight and small enough to fit in a pant or jacket pocket while out taking photos.
Features
- 73 lumen white LED
- (3) AAA batteries
- Impact and water resistant
- Battery Life: 8 hours
- Dimensions: 3.95" x 1"- Very lightweight (3.9oz)
Construction
While holding the TX10 in my hand, it feels solid and smooth, but also very light. The body has a texturized surface, making the light less slippery and easier to hold. At the back of the flashlight there's a place to attach a small wrist strap (not included with the light). I attached a strap to try it out, but mostly used it to help dig the light out of a pocket or bag.
The TX10 has 4 buttons that act as switches to turn each of the colors on and off. What I like about these switches is that you can turn one color on, or use all colors simultaneously. Unfortunately, when it's dark there's no way to distinguish between the buttons for the different colors; all the buttons are the same size and feel the same. (I wish there was a textured button for the white LED.) This definitely makes it more difficult to use a specific color of this light in the dark without mistakenly turning on and off a wrong color before finding the one you want to use.
The flashlight runs on (3) AAA batteries and has a run time of about 5-6 hours in 40 degree weather. Battery life improves slightly in warmer temperatures.
Capsule that holds the (3) AAA batteries.
Left to right: Coast HP7, Coast TX10, Quark Single AA Tactical XP-G S2 and NiteCore EZ AA.
Output/Beam
The front element of the flashlight contains 6 LED's and has 4 colors: white, red, green and blue. When using the white mode, 3 of the LEDs become lit (2 adjacent outer LEDs and the center LED). For each of the other colors (red, green and blue) only one LED is used. This makes the white light on the TX10 brighter than the other colors and gives the white a broader, smoother beam. You can also use more than one color at a time, for example, you can mix and match all the green and red to get orange or blue and red to get purple. The downside of this particular use is that because the colors have to come from different LEDs to blend, the colors do not blend very smoothly, unless the light is quickly painting a subject.
The beam of the white LEDs is very smooth even at close distances. There's a slight hot spot in the center, but I find the hot spot helpful when navigating and using the light at night. For night photography, moving the light while painting seems to elimate the hot spot for the most part, especially when 5 or more feet from the subject. The blue LED has the narrowest and least smooth beam, while the green and red are very similar and more smooth.
The white beam also seems to have a very blue/purple hot spot compared to my other lights.
Left to right: Coast TX10, Quark Single AA Tactical XP-G S2 and NiteCore EZ AA.
White LED beam focused on building from 20ft away.
Recommended Uses
- Photography: Fairly bright, best used for close-to-camera and/or detailed light painting. Multi-colors are also good for navigating and searching for items inside a camera bag.
- Night Navigation: Red LED is good for navigation at night (won't ruin your night vision) and isn't visible to the human eye over long distances.
- Tactical: Multi-color LED uses: Red won't ruin your night vision. Green is often used in covert operations as it's harder to detect unless looking right at the beam.
- Hunting: Multi-color LED uses: Many animals aren't alerted or spooked by a green LED. Red won't ruin your night vision. Blue works for detecting blood.
Sample Photos
Night. 50 seconds. f/8. ISO 200. Cave walls lit using white LED on TX10. (Painted for approx 20 seconds.)
Night. 50 seconds. f/8. ISO 200. Cave walls lit using blue LED on TX10. (Painted for approximately 45 seconds.)
Dark space. 30 seconds. f/11. ISO 100. Lit at 3 angles, with white, blue and green LED on TX10.
Night. Full moon. 120 second exposure. f/9. ISO 200. Left face of structure lit with red LED on TX10 flashlight for about 20 seconds from 15ft away.
Photo: "Abandoned Docks"
Halted 494 plot housing project in Bethel Island, California. The project was scheduled to have been completed in 2008.
Night. Full moon. 3.5 minutes. Lit by moonlight.
Follow up: Photography at Alameda NAS
I received a response regarding photography at Alameda NAS.
"Photography and filming are allowed on streets and sidewalks as they are public property. If you are in the parking lot of a building then that would be considered private property and that is not allowed. We get a lot of photography etc. on the property so the security guard was probably just taking extra precaution. I will be sure to remind our security that they should only stop people when they are located on private property."
For those of you considering shooting here, parking your car in a parking lot designated for a public park and staying on the sidewalks and streets will hopefully not lead to contact with a security guard.
Photo: "Room With A View"
Room on the top floor of the male ward at Hudson River State Hospital years after the 2007 fire damaged most of the ward.
Photo: "Bay Bridge Construction" + Photographer Rights
Eastern span of the Bay Bridge, showing construction of the new span.
(Night. No moon. 65 seconds. f/16. Lit by ambient light.)
Last night, a few hours after I got off work in Alameda, I ended up here on Treasure Island photographing the new span of the Bay Bridge. However, my intention last night was to shoot at the Alameda NAS, to get the last few shots needed for my Coast flashlight review, but my evening was cut short when a security guard told me I was not allowed to take photos of the buildings. It started a debate about how I was on public property and not breaking any rules by photographing the buildings. He kept spewing rules he had obviously been told by someone who hadn't been educated about the law and though he was being very kind about it, I was getting very annoyed. Since I was alone and it was after 10pm, I wasn't in the mood to wait around for the Cops to show up if I continued to shoot, so I agreed to leave. He did give me the business card of the management company for most of the buildings on the base. I will be contacting them regarding the ridiculous "rules" they have made-up in regards to the photography of their buildings.