LEGALDR Loc: Southern California

I recently had the pleasure of attending the bat mitzvah of my granddaughter and the reception in the evening. The photographer was terrific and was kind enough to answer all of my questions while he shot his pictures and I shot mine. While he was taking a series of family group pictures in poor light, I noticed that he was using a flashlight (torch for those in the UK), and shining it on one person in the group. I asked why. He told me that it made focusing easier. I now carry a small flashlight in my bag. Incidentally, his pictures came out great. My pictures were also pretty good.

Happyclicker Loc: West Mids, UK

My D7000 camera has it's own focus light built in to the body but it can distract subjects like people and animals so do I tend to disable it. The torch option is a good idea if your cam does not have this feature tho'

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Yes, you definitely want to turn off that red light in certain situations, like if you don't want to draw attention to yourself.

NegativeBLUR Loc: Dallas, Tx

Funny, although it was directed at landscape photography I just read an article yesterday giving the same tip. It was an article written by a photographer who does landscape photography at night with NO ambient light and uses a flashlight to get his focus before doing a 5 minute or more long exposure shot. Interesting.....and you can find it here:
http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/landscape-photography-at-night-the-essential-guide/