do you close your eyes when you load film onto a reel

[Jeff Bradford]

I definitely do close my eyes when starting a roll. Once it is started on the Hewes reel, it's so easy I can do it with my eyes open.

 

[albada]

I load my films with my eyes open and I turn off/on the radio that's at my feet with my right big toe. I hate commercials so when a "message" comes on the air, I silence the incoming BS.

Also, the glow from the radio's tubes might fog your film, so it's a good thing you turn it off.

Mark Overton

 

[CamShaw74]

I don't close my eyes but I do 'zone out' and visualize what I'm doing in the bag.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I found that closing my eyes helps for loading film on reels or sheet film holders.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

Yes. It's really stupid. But maybe I don't want to know about any light leaks in my darkroom?

 

[David Brown]

To answer the OP question: sometimes, maybe …

My college minor was in education, a course of study that led one to a teaching certificate in my state. To that end, I do have a bit of a background in pedagogical methods. Add to that my practical experience, and I have one observation about teaching that I hold to (admittedly from anecdotal evidence).

That is: The easier it was for one to learn to do something, the more difficult it is for that same person to teach that skill to another.

I never found loading film to be difficult. (in almost 50 years of doing it) In the past year, I have begun teaching basic darkroom, and have discovered (to my bewilderment) that the single most difficult thing to get the beginning students to be able to do is to load film on reels. Plastic or steel, doesn’t matter. And, because of the axiom stated above, I don’t know what to do about it! I can only show them how it’s done, and then am flabbergasted that they cannot do such a "simple thing"!

 

[eddie]

I'm not only pretty sure I close my eyes, I'm almost certain I turn them skyward ( just in case I'm tempted to open them to see nothing )

 

[Photic Visions]

I use a changing bag. I routinely remove my glasses (without which I'm blind as a bat) just before inserting my arms. I keep my eyes open, though. Am I weird or what?

 

[RalphLambrecht]

i guess the title says it all ..
i used to but noticed tonight my eyes were wide open in the dark
what about you ?

You have to, otherwise, it's not really dark in the darkroom.

 

[nsurit]

it helps me to visualize what I'm doing rather than trying to see what I'm doing.

 

[macfred]

it helps me to visualize what I'm doing rather than trying to see what I'm doing.

I agree !

 

[mrosenlof]

I have a dedicated darkroom. eyes open. looking at all of the glow-in-the-dark bits around me.

 

[pdeeh]

loaded a roll earlier this morning, changing bag, 35mm. I didn't close my eyes, but I did take my glasses off

 

[LAG]

loaded a roll earlier this morning, changing bag, 35mm. I didn't close my eyes, but I did take my glasses off

Pretty close, though, even if they were on, you would not have been able to see yours hands ...

 

[pdeeh]

even if they were on, you would not have been able to see yours hands ...

they are xrayspex. I got them from an ad in the back of a 1960s comic.
so obviously I didn't want to risk fogging the film.
However I put them on again when I want to see a lady's bra under her dress.

 

[LAG]

However I put them on again when I want to see a lady's bra under her dress.

(If only you could see further) ... talking about taking things off, I always take my wrist watch off when I handle the changing bag

 

[Sirius Glass]

they are xrayspex. I got them from an ad in the back of a 1960s comic.
so obviously I didn't want to risk fogging the film.
However I put them on again when I want to see a lady's bra under her dress.

Yes, I have wondered exactly why you have no interest in seeing what is under the bra.

 

[Larry the sailor]

I can't tell, it's dark in there.

 

[benjiboy]

"do you close your eyes when you load film onto a reel?"
No, only when I'm having sex.

 

[Kawaiithulhu]

I visualize my environment best with my eyes open and my kinesthetics work better with eyes open, especially in blackout conditions.
In daylight using a changing bag the same thing, I can "see" what I'm doing better when my eyes are open but fail at doing it with my eyes closed.
The weird part is that while I'm concentrating on the hidden activity I'm not really "seeing" the lit world.

Probably just personal quirks because I'm familiar with the working spaces and learned the spatial arrangements with my eyes open.

 

[Cholentpot]

I use toy Spynet Jakks Pacific, I bungee them to my head. Very narrow field of view, only 1 camera so no depth perception. Still I love them, has a focus wheel, I can read perfectly well in the dark. There's two sets of illumination leds. I taped over the near ir set because they give off very dim red light. The pure ir leds won't touch regular film a bit.
It's not cheating, for me it keeps me in the game, and I've never screwed up anything since I got them. I'm 60 and I want to be doing this a long time. For me it was a real miracle. I wear glasses under the goggles, that works too.
Takes some getting used to but for around 50 bucks it works fine. Kodak has been using stuff like this for ages.
If you look under my posts I've talked about this before, there's a lot of options, but for a toy around 50 bucks these work great.

Well, there's my answer if I ever want to bulk load 120 film.

 

[mshchem]

"do you close your eyes when you load film onto a reel?"
No, only when I'm having sex.

In high school my darkroom served as a groovy make out pad. Wasn't really comfortable, but it had a lock. I would keep old crappy prints and soak them in water to show my Dad we were really printing . I wasn't fooling him, he knew my lovely girlfriend wouldn't let me go to far. A 1A red safelight was perfect to set the mood.
I need to corner my wife sometime, I would need to turn off the sodium vapor safelights, too bright . I'm sure I still have a 1A filter. I remember a sign in a camera store "Go into a darkroom with a girl and something is bound to develop "
Mike

 

[LAG]

In high school my darkroom served as a groovy make out pad. Wasn't really comfortable, but it had a lock. I would keep old crappy prints and soak them in water to show my Dad we were really printing . I wasn't fooling him, he knew my lovely girlfriend wouldn't let me go to far. A 1A red safelight was perfect to set the mood.
I need to corner my wife sometime, I would need to turn off the sodium vapor safelights, too bright . I'm sure I still have a 1A filter. I remember a sign in a camera store "Go into a darkroom with a girl and something is bound to develop "
Mike

Thanks for sharing this Mike, very funny! It would be a great idea to start a new thread to share these kind of good memories ... I'm sure most of us didn't need a wetting agent those days

 

[Harry Stevens]

I sometimes close my eyes do but I also listen to the film loading as well which is a very useful thing to do when tacking steel reels.

 

[benjiboy]

In high school my darkroom served as a groovy make out pad. Wasn't really comfortable, but it had a lock. I would keep old crappy prints and soak them in water to show my Dad we were really printing . I wasn't fooling him, he knew my lovely girlfriend wouldn't let me go to far. A 1A red safelight was perfect to set the mood.
I need to corner my wife sometime, I would need to turn off the sodium vapor safelights, too bright . I'm sure I still have a 1A filter. I remember a sign in a camera store "Go into a darkroom with a girl and something is bound to develop "
Mike

I learned to load film into spirals in the dark the same way I learned female anatomy, the Braille system! ,
Ouch, my wife just read this over my shoulder and kicked me.