Darkroom injury (minor): anybody else hurt themself in a dark darkroom?

PrairiePhotographer · Feb 16, 2023

Yesterday I dropped scissors on the floor after cutting 35mm film for loading into a spool. When bending down to pick them up, I hit my head on the edge of my work table. I cut my forehead; it turns out it isn't a bad cut, but I was bleeding.

Has anybody else suffered a darkroom injury? And any hints as to what problems to anticipate to idiot proof my darkroom would be appreciated!

VinceInMT · Feb 16, 2023

It wasn’t in the dark but, in 1976, I was developing some color film using a C-22 kit from Tetenal. The developer came in two glass vials and the tops had to be snapped off. I’d etch around the narrow neck with a file first and then use the supplied plastic cap to break off the top of the vial. I’d done this many times without incident, however, this time the vial broke lengthwise and sliced into my left thumb. I bled like crazy. I was in the army then and and stationed in a remote area of Germany and we didn’t have any medical facility where I was. The closest one was some miles away on an airfield and the duty driver wasn’t available so I did first aid and let it go. It healed up but I couldn’t bend my thumb at the end joint and ended up in Frankfurt for surgery to take out a chunk of bone that was preventing the joint from moving. When I returned to my barracks the next day, I unwrapped the bandage and took of photo. I can post it on request.

Craig · Feb 16, 2023

I lay everything out on my enlarger bench before I start. It's arranged in the order I need things and I work from left to right. I also stand against my bench, so that if anything falls, it's onto the work surface, not the floor. So far never had an incident in 30+ years of darkroom work.

Craig · Feb 16, 2023

VinceInMT said:
I can post it on request.

No, definitely not!!! (I'm rather squeamish)

Cholentpot · Feb 16, 2023

I'm a bit of a klutz. Don't even know where to start.

Banging of head is traditional at this point. If I have a darkroom session without smashing my head into something it's a failure.

Odd ones? I was slitting down some 70mm Plus-X Aero to 120 size and didn't pay attention to the edges of the film. It has sprockets and once you slit it down those sprockets turn into teeth. And being that the film is on an untearable base it basically becomes a very flexible toothed saw.

The scar on my palm isn't too bad.

Vaughn · Feb 16, 2023

I had a sink over-flow and when I rushed in to turn off the water and unplug the sink, I did the classic slip and ended up on my ass in the water.

Sirius Glass · Feb 16, 2023

I prefer to stay injury free in the darkroom.

mshchem · Feb 16, 2023

I'm always bumping my knees on things. I have Thomas safelights for printing that helps a lot. Still I try to go slow.

Nodda Duma · Feb 16, 2023

I had a bit too much gin and tonic during a darkroom session one night — singing my head off to like REM or Pearl Jam or something even —, and was so badly hungover / ill the next morning that my wife insisted I get a COVID test. I’m sure she knew, and it was punishment for being an idiot. Anyways, my head hurt pretty bad.

MurrayMinchin · Feb 17, 2023

Nothing darkroom related, but if I had a dollar for every mosquito bite I got while changing 4x5 sheet film holders in a tent with my arms stuffed in a changing bag...

ooze · Feb 17, 2023

Head-to-head collision with my Focomat 2C. Hurts quite a lot. I often swing the head 90 degrees out of my airspace when working with the other enlarger next to it.

It hasn't happened yet, but I always have this concern when I change a gel contrast filter in the dark: They have very sharp corners and I sometimes close my eyes when handling one, lest it flip from my fingers hurtling straight into an eye ;-)

Pieter12 · Feb 17, 2023

No, but 10 days ago I tore a calf muscle lifting a dry mount press I had just purchased.

Frank53 · Feb 17, 2023

It was about 40 years ago, not in the, but with the lights on. The Liesegang Rajah was old already, but the spring that kept the heavy head in place was still very, very strong.
So I took off the head, to change the condensor, but forgot the secure it. At the same time the remaining part hit me on my chin with a force that would have brought down a professional boxer.

koraks · Feb 17, 2023

Frank53 said:
The Liesegang Rajah

That was my first 4x5" enlarger! Cool. I think it's in a landfill somewhere now. I sold it on to someone else and they dumped it when acquiring a Durst. Why they didn't just donate or sell it to someone else, I'll never know. Lazy I guess. It's a shame because despite being old, it was a very usable enlarger indeed.

As to accidents - I bump my head, legs etc. into stuff all the time

Frank53 · Feb 17, 2023

koraks said:
That was my first 4x5" enlarger! Cool. I think it's in a landfill somewhere now. I sold it on to someone else and they dumped it when acquiring a Durst. Why they didn't just donate or sell it to someone else, I'll never know. Lazy I guess. It's a shame because despite being old, it was a very usable enlarger indeed.

As to accidents - I bump my head, legs etc. into stuff all the time

It belonged to a friend, who owned a silk screen printing business next to where I lived and we put it in my darkroom because I did some work for him sometimes.

koraks · Feb 17, 2023

Nice. Yours is in better nick than mine was, and I didn't have the repro lights that you seem to have on yours. I actually regret having sold it in hindsight; I thought I was doing the guy I sold it to a favor (I sold it at a token price, just shy of giving it away), and when I learned he carted it to the junkyard I felt sorry about the whole thing. Sure, it was his decision to make, but kind of a waste of a perfectly usable 4x5" condensor enlarger. Had I hung onto it, I would have made a LED light source for it for color work. It lends itself quite well to that sort of thing. It's a nice and compact 4x5" machine. Heck, if I come across another one some day, I might just take it home.

Ian Grant · Feb 17, 2023

Vaughn said:
I had a sink over-flow and when I rushed in to turn off the water and unplug the sink, I did the classic slip and ended up on my ass in the water.

One could ask why was your donkey in the darkroom

Ian

Rick A · Feb 17, 2023

Nothing major, but I used to smack my forehead against my enlarger when printing small prints until I figured out using a longer focal length lens for it.

pentaxuser · Feb 17, 2023

PrairiePhotographer said:
And any hints as to what problems to anticipate to idiot proof my darkroom would be appreciated!

Well once something drops or cannot be found due to disorientation in the dark, the best advice is to move the light affected article to a light-tight box or drawer which is large enough to be within reach and different enough so as not to be confused with anything else. Then and only then move very slowly to towards the light switch or better still have a small torch on your person to see your way to the switch

Then find fallen object and re-arrange everything once again and start all over

Now all of the above constitutes a dull as dishwater answer but may work The only alternative I can think of is an expensive IR light on your head then as the film villain, usually with a foreign accent
and a glazed fanatical look on his face, says just before he meets his sticky end, courtesy of the hero : "I am invincible"

pentaxuser

faberryman · Feb 17, 2023

I may have injured myself in the darkroom. If so, it must have been a minor injury because I have no recollection of it. Unless you drink the chemicals, working in the darkroom is not a dangerous activity.

Chuck_P · Feb 17, 2023

I bump my head on the enlarging head when I bend down to look through the grain focuser. I need to make larger prints.

BAC1967 · Feb 17, 2023

My darkroom is also a cluttered laundry room, it's only a matter of time.

Ian Grant · Feb 17, 2023

Frank53 said:
It was about 40 years ago, not in the, but with the lights on. The Liesegang Rajah was old already, but the spring that kept the heavy head in place was still very, very strong.
So I took off the head, to change the condensor, but forgot the secure it. At the same time the remaining part hit me on my chin with a force that would have brought down a professional boxer.
View attachment 329907

The drop table is interesting, it's similar to what I used in two darkrooms. I had a Durst M605 alongside a Johnsons V45 with a wider moveable section. It's such a simple cheap solution for making large enlargements.

Ian

Donald Qualls · Feb 17, 2023

A year or so ago, I clipped my finger with the very tip of the scissors I was using to cut the leader off a roll of 35 mm film while loading it into the tank. Good scissors, I hardly felt it.

Frank53 · Feb 17, 2023

koraks said:
Nice. Yours is in better nick than mine was, and I didn't have the repro lights that you seem to have on yours. I actually regret having sold it in hindsight; I thought I was doing the guy I sold it to a favor (I sold it at a token price, just shy of giving it away), and when I learned he carted it to the junkyard I felt sorry about the whole thing. Sure, it was his decision to make, but kind of a waste of a perfectly usable 4x5" condensor enlarger. Had I hung onto it, I would have made a LED light source for it for color work. It lends itself quite well to that sort of thing. It's a nice and compact 4x5" machine. Heck, if I come across another one some day, I might just take it home.

To be honest, I took this picture from the internet, because mine went back to the owner long ago, but looked exactly like the one on the photo.

Darkroom injury (minor): anybody else hurt themself in a dark darkroom?

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Darkroom injury (minor): anybody else hurt themself in a dark darkroom?

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