Quirks!

[Sirius Glass]

I keep my eyes open when in the darkroom or using a changing bag. I tell my students, who are struggling with the bag, to keep them closed. It seems to help ... and stops them from being distracted by their phones!

That is my experience. For some reason the brain is wired to "see" better in a darkroom or with a changing bag then with the eyes open. It works and I use it.

 

[drkhalsa]

Whilst developing film, how many of you close your eyes whilst loading a reel in the dark?

I often do close my eyes. I take my glasses off, too.

 

[MattKing]

My very first developing sessions involved see-sawing film through the chemicals in the dark.
Eyes wide open!
I was too young to wear a neck tie, unlike the demonstrators in the printed instructions

 

[Sirius Glass]

My very first developing sessions involved see-sawing film through the chemicals in the dark.
Eyes wide open!
I was too young to wear a neck tie, unlike the demonstrators in the printed instructions

The tie makes all the difference! Without a tie what will you drag through the trays.

 

[grahamp]

In the darkroom, I think I keep my eyes open. With changing bags, I close them to allow me to concentrate on touch. I also tend to close my eyes if I am trying to start a screw in a space where I can't see it - same reason.

Of course, leaving the eyes open does make the luminous timer seem like a searchlight after a few minutes (it isn't and it does not point at the bench anyway).

When I have taught people, I give them the options and let them pick. It's the result that counts.

 

[Kilgallb]

I saw a documentary on the brain a few years ago. A man blind since birth had an operation and could see. He still closed his eyes before he crossed a street in heavy traffic. He was unaware he did that. It seems his brain learned to cope using only sound.

 

[Philippe-Georges]

- I close them as it makes me feel (in the tactile sense of the word) better, but don't ask me how this can be.
- Closed as it makes me feeling more relaxed and helps concentrating.
- Eyes closed as then I have the feeling I can HEAR better when the 120 film cracks or jumps one turn of the spiral.
- With the IR viewer, which has only on eye piece, both open.

 

[Brendan Quirk]

In the darkroom, after you first turn of the lights, there can appear to be some sort of afterglow; enough to make you think there is a light source somewhere. Given a few minutes, this will go away (if the room is actually totally dark). Closing your eyes can somehow make you feel more secure that the room is actually dark. I can think of no physiological reason for this, (the closing of eyes, not the afterglow, as that is normal) so assume it is psychological.

I no longer close my eyes.

This is my experience...

 

[Rick A]

In the darkroom, after you first turn of the lights, there can appear to be some sort of afterglow; enough to make you think there is a light source somewhere. Given a few minutes, this will go away (if the room is actually totally dark). Closing your eyes can somehow make you feel more secure that the room is actually dark. I can think of no physiological reason for this, (the closing of eyes, not the afterglow, as that is normal) so assume it is psychological.

I no longer close my eyes.

This is my experience...

That's why I close my eyes just prior to turning off the light. I wait a couple of seconds and open them and no glow. I also close my eyes before turning the light back on, saves on the light flash. This works especially well when I print, it allows me to adjust to my safelight more quickly.

 

[nosmok]

Heck, I close my eyes when I'm trying to load a metal developing reel in the changing bag, while I'm sitting in a fully lit room! Since I can't see what I'm doing anyway, closing my eyes seems to increase focus on the task in hand.