I just discovered an interesting new use of the spell Magelight. When you cast magelight on an NPC the ball of light hovers in front of his or her head and stays with them when they move around. If you cast it on your follower you will have a human flashlight that follows you around! Considering Skyrim doesn't have a ton of really dark areas, the use for this is limited but it is useful in the occasional dark dungeon or if your vampire only travels at night.

Yeah. But the Follower is always behind you.

Or, you know, just cast Candlelight.

Wow, did not know that does basically the exact same thing

Hopefully I didn't sound sarcastic, Candlelight costs less than Magelight.

I personally don't like the candlelight/magelight spells.
the brightness doesn't go very far.
and bright lights in skyrim actually make it harder for the player to see darker areas.

I just give my followers torches if I can.

This might be obvious but did you know you can distract enemies with magelight if you're sneaking?
It's similar to the effect you hit a wall with an arrow, except the enemy tracks the magelight orb as it flies by.

When i first saw that spell in the game I was hoping to do something like what Dumbledore casted in the inferi cave at the beginning.. The light that goes around the room looking for that crystal island.. (I am talking about the movie obviously)..