That trick of taking photos with a flash first to map out dark hallways in malls actually saved me from stepping into a collapsed floor in an old Ohio plaza.

I was walking through the lower level of the dead Lincoln Mall near Cincinnati when my flashlight beam just disappeared into a big black void ahead, so I pulled out my phone, hit flash and snapped a quick pic, and the image showed a jagged hole where the tile floor just dropped into nothing below. Anyone else use camera flash as a cheap way to spot hazards before moving forward?

2 comments

2 Comments

piperwhite10d ago

Totally stealing that trick for next time. The flash thing works way better than youd think because light scatters off dust and debris in the air, so even if the hole swallows the direct beam, the flash picks up the edges of the void in the reflection. Ive done something similar in abandoned warehouses where regular flashlights just wash out against dirty walls and you cant tell whats floor and whats shadow. The camera compresses the dynamic range too, so darker areas pop out more in the picture than they do in real time. Honestly feels like cheating once you realize how much detail your eyes miss in low light situations.

norathomas10d ago

Man, that detail about the flash picking up the edges of the void from the reflections is wild. I guess I never really thought about how the light bounces off dust and stuff in the air, but it makes total sense. It sounds like you've done this a bunch to know it that well, which is both kind of awesome and also terrifying. That trick with the dynamic range too, I would have never guessed a phone camera could spot things your own eyes miss. Honestly, it feels like a superpower you should only use if you're brave enough to see what's really in the dark. That's some scary but smart thinking right there.