Close your eyes in the darkroom

[sergiob]

I see better (thru my hands) with my eyes closed in total darkness. I guess that shutting ones eyes activates more the other senses.

[Vlad Soare]

Why or why do people (including me) have a habit of pressing their eyelids shut when in the darkroom, as if closing your eyes will make it darker?

I don't know about other people, but I've never done that. I always keep my eyes open in the darkroom.

FWIW, I can see my hands, dimly, in a totally dark room too. I just thought there were still enough photons in the near IF flying around to allow my eyes to just make out a silhouette. I'd love to hear a good explanation of this.

Your darkroom may not as perfectly dark as you think.
During the night I can't see anything in mine, not even the faintest trace of my hands, no matter how long I wait for my eyes to adapt. At a certain time during the day, when the sun is in a certain position relative to a nearby window and direct sunlight falls on my darkroom door, I can see a faint outline of my hands after about five minutes (by which time I also begin to see a tiny bit of light coming from under the door).

[John Kasaian]

I find that if I do open my eyes, I get distracted by all the little places where the darkness is leaking out. This is distracting. I prefer to close my eyes, pretend all those leaks went "away" and get down to work.

[E. von Hoegh]

I find that if I do open my eyes, I get distracted by all the little places where the darkness is leaking out. This is distracting. I prefer to close my eyes, pretend all those leaks went "away" and get down to work.

John, you need to be careful of those dark leaks. I once slipped and fell in a puddle of dark and bruised my coccyx.

Keep those plastic thingys in your outlets, too. If you think dark is slippery, you've never tried to walk through puddles of electrons.