I’ve been getting ready for a trip to Yosemite to do some photography in the back country. I’m planning to do sunset shots around the lakes in the higher elevations. I also want to try to do some night sky shots of the stars since they should be really clear and bright. What I failed to realize was that I’ll be hiking a few miles into the forest before sunset, but didn’t think about how dark it will be when I head back to the car when done. So, after doing a little research online, I went out and bought a headlamp to wear for the night time hikes.

One thing I never would’ve thought of while purchasing the headlamp was that you don’t necessarily want a bright white light when hiking at night. What is suggested by most people online are red led lights. The reason for the red is that it acts like a night vision light source and isn’t so difficult for your eyes to adjust to the night sky when you turn it off. This is great not only if you’re hiking back to the car in the pitch of night, but also if you need to make adjustments to your camera’s settings and just need a little illumination. The lamp runs on three AAA batteries and is water resistant. It also has a really long battery life at most settings. The headlamp can be found at most sporting good stores. Click here to see the headlamp I purchased and its specifications. Oh, and if you are wondering about the brightness of the headlamp, well, let me put it to you this way: Don’t look at it when you turn it on. It is blinding!