Close your eyes in the darkroom

[cyrus]

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? Is this some sort of biological phenomenon? :confused:

[Peter Mounier]

Have you asked others if they do that?
I open my eyes wide as if opening wider will help them adjust to the darkness, so I can see if there is any light coming in my darkroom, or emanating from a strip outlet or a glowing dc converter.

Peter

[bob carnie]

Never close my eyes in a darkroom.

[false_Aesthetic]

I totally do it when I process roll film but not when I do sheet.

I think it comes from practicing rolling film in a classroom with my eyes closed before I ever walked into the darkroom.

[Richard Wasserman]

I always close my eyes—helps me see in the dark.

[Andrew O'Neill]

I keep my eyes open. Another question would be, why do people close their eyes when they're smooching...

[Roger Cole]

I didn't know anyone did this. I don't. As far as I'm aware, I neither close them nor try to open them wider.

[Eric Woodbury]

People close their eyes in the darkroom so they don't see the light leaking under the door.

[Steve Smith]

I close my eyes when loading a film in a changing bag!


Steve.

[Scott Walker]

I close my eyes when I load film for some reason

[BrianShaw]

People close their eyes in darkrooms becuase they are afraid of the dark.

People close their eyes while smooching because it is the polite thing to do.

But why do some people close their eyes when using a changing bag in a light room?

[Sirius Glass]

People close their eyes in darkrooms becuase they are afraid of the dark.

People close their eyes while smooching because it is the polite thing to do.

But why do some people close their eyes when using a changing bag in a light room?

To shut out distractions so that they can better visualize what they feel with their hands.

[BrianShaw]

Ummm.. Steve, which scenerio were you referring to: changing bags or smooching?

[Jim Noel]

I think the action helps some people visualize, especially when rolling film on a reel.

[Heroique]

My faint GraLab timer steadies me and my open eyes.

It also chases away the goblins.

[Vaughn]

My faint GraLab timer steadies me and my open eyes.

It also chases away the goblins.

How funny! I posted a reply about keeping my eyes open so I could keep an eye on the GraLab timer -- but the post got eaten by a cyberdog or something.

Anyone else "see" their hands in a totally dark room? No detail at all, but I can sense where my hands are and some of that sensory info maybe leaks over into the visual; probably because the brain's visual center is crying out any information it can grab. Might be connected in a minor way to the phantom limb syndrome that happens to amputees.

Or it might be I have spent way too much time in totally dark rooms, loading and unloading film holders, and sloshing trays around..:rolleyes:

[Wally]

I close my eyes over the trays so no chems splash in them.

[John Kasaian]

I close my eyes when loading/unloading film holders. I don't know why other than thats how I practice with the lights on.

[John Koehrer]

It's OK to close you're eyes in the darkroom.
Make sure you've turned off the lights first!

[jon.oman]

I don't close my eyes. But I too, think that I can see my hands if I wave them in front of my face. I keep looking for the light that may be leaking in.......

[Richard M. Coda]

I used to do it but I kept walking into things. Started keeping them open and I still walked into things! ;) Honestly I used to do it, now I keep them open.

[jayabbas]

Avoiding strong light before entering the "dark" by closing my eyes allows a good amount of adjustment quickly. This helps my levels of visual purple increase quicker so seeing like a cat in the darkroom happens. Working in color printing darkrooms usually means no safelight or a supremely dim wratten series 10 filter. In short order I usually see like a mole and am amazed at how much dark escapes and is replaced by bits of unwanted light.

[cyrus]

I think the action helps some people visualize, especially when rolling film on a reel.

OK this makes sense.

I used to catch myself closing my eyes in the darkroom, even though it was already dark. I could not explain why I was doing it - it seemed like I was trying to force away any light leaks by sheer will power.

Since then I regularly catch others doing the same thing - esp beginners. There must be some sort of psychological explanation for it

[Doremus Scudder]

Closing one's eyes when working in a changing bag in a light room is common. It shuts out sensory input that is not needed for the task at hand and allows better concentration.

It's somewhat instinctive (it has a scientific name, which I can't seem to remember or locate now...), and transfers into the darkroom, where, when one is performing tricky manual tasks that one can't see (as in a changing bag), one closes one's eyes to eliminate extra sensory input that isn't even there!

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.

Best,

Doremus

[BrianShaw]

I'd love to hear a good explanation of this.


You have a glowing personality.

It is your "aura".

There is radioactivity in your drinking water.

Vivid imagination.

... and many more explanations. ;)

[Preston]

I was unloading some holders yesterday using a changing bag in a lighted room. I had my eyes closed. At some point in the process, I opened my eyes while manipulating the film and found that I instinctively focused on an object across the room. Weird.

--P

[Jay DeFehr]

I keep my eyes open in the dark room and "pretend" I can see. I think Vaughn's on to something regarding a potential mechanism. And I think people close their eyes while smooching because objects in their field of vision are too close for focusing, and it's an unpleasant sensation (the lack of focus, not the smooching).

[cyrus]

As far as seeing your hands in the dark: I think we tend to underestimate the amount of light that actually leaks into a darkroom, and we further underestimate our ability to see in the dark, particularly in the periphery of the field of vision.

[cyrus]

And along the same lines, I once noticed that three 1-gallon sized clear plastic jugs of distilled water I kept in my darkroom were literally glowing in the dark. Now, New Jersey is famously polluted with industrial waste, but I never thought our water would actually glow in the dark. I was really worried - after all, I drank some of that water! Turns out, there was a small light leak right behind the clear plastic jugs.

[Tony R]

Yes, I too close my eyes, but only for a fraction of a second before I turn the the lights off, then immediately open them - my eyes seem to adjust more quickly to the safelights.

Tony

[WayneStevenson]

When I don't need them, I turn them off. ;)

[John Jarosz]

I keep my eyes open. But does the following happen to anyone else: After some time in the dark I start imagining that I can see objects I'm working with. There is no light. But I begin to think I see my hands, or the sink faucet as kind of a noisy digital-type dark fleeting image.

I have mentioned this to other photographers and some do agree that this happens to them too.

[evan clarke]

Oihn and I disussed this a couple weeks ago..I see things too. I keep my eyes open in the dark but wear my glasses while loading film..how nuts is that?!

[Steve Smith]

I see things too. I keep my eyes open in the dark but wear my glasses while loading film..how nuts is that?!

No more daft than a girl I knew who had to put her glasses on when I spoke to her so she could hear me properly!


Steve.

[cyrus]

I keep my eyes open. But does the following happen to anyone else: After some time in the dark I start imagining that I can see objects I'm working with. There is no light. But I begin to think I see my hands, or the sink faucet as kind of a noisy digital-type dark fleeting image.

I have mentioned this to other photographers and some do agree that this happens to them too.

You probably ARE seeing them, but only peripherally. There's probably enough light to allow your night vision to work, and night vision works best when seeing things from the "corner of the eye". In humans, because of the arrangement of the rods and cone receptors in our eyes, we can see things in the dark better when not looking directly at them. The cone receptors which are best suited to seeing well-lit things (in color) are in the center of the fovea (the back of the eyeball), and the rod receptors which are best suited to seeing things in poor lighting are located around the cone receptors.

In the dark, you may not see something if you look at it directly (because the image is reflecting onto the cone receptors in our eye, which aren't much use in the dark) but can see it (outline form, no color) peripherally (because the image reflects off the rod receptors which are not in the center.) And once you see something peripherally, you naturally then try to look at it directly and so it seems to disappear again, leaving you to wonder what the heck you just thought you saw.

[Vaughn]

No more daft than a girl I knew who had to put her glasses on when I spoke to her so she could hear me properly!


Steve.

I resemble that remark. Being able to see facial expressions, lips moving and hand/body gestures is a big part of communication. Plus without glasses, us bats get bombarded with relatively useless visual information that makes it even worse than getting no visual info, so when not wearing glasses it is easier to shut one's eye and listen than to keep the eyes open.

Vaughn

PS -- Cyrus, the "ghost" image I see of my hands in the complete darkness is seen straight on -- not peripherally.

[E. von Hoegh]

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? Is this some sort of biological phenomenon? :confused:

When I'm loading film in holders, or onto developing reels, I close my eyes. If I leave them open, it seems to tell my brain that there is/should be some sort of visual input. Closing them allows me to get a bit more feel. I don't press them shut, just shut them gently. I keep them open for all other darkroom tasks, particularly printing:D

[E. von Hoegh]

I keep my eyes open. But does the following happen to anyone else: After some time in the dark I start imagining that I can see objects I'm working with. There is no light. But I begin to think I see my hands, or the sink faucet as kind of a noisy digital-type dark fleeting image.

I have mentioned this to other photographers and some do agree that this happens to them too.

It's surprising how sensitive dark-adapted eyes are. True pitch darkness is pretty hard to come by.

[cyrus]

I
PS -- Cyrus, the "ghost" image I see of my hands in the complete darkness is seen straight on -- not peripherally.

I'd guess that's probably the ghost image initially recorded by your mind when you see your hands peripherally, then the brain takes over and fills in the details when you look at it straight on. The senses and the brain are really weird things when deprived of input, like you said. Are you old enough to know about those sensory deprivation chamber experiments with LSD?

[Vaughn]

... Are you old enough to know about those sensory deprivation chamber experiments with LSD?

Only my own...;)

[Bob McCarthy]

It's surprising how sensitive dark-adapted eyes are. True pitch darkness is pretty hard to come by.


I feel that I can see my hands in front of me in the fuzzy, digital way someone mentioned.

But when I move my hands, nothing moves in my faux vision.

The mind does play tricks....

bob

[E. von Hoegh]

Are you old enough to know about those sensory deprivation chamber experiments with LSD?

Mescaline was good too.;)

[Tom J McDonald]

I close my eyes when I brush my teeth.

[SteveH]

I do the same. I think that since as a sighted person you are trying to rely on other senses than sight, closing your eyes tells your brain to start thinking spatially rather than visually.
We have more than 5 senses. Proprioception is our spatial sense, our awareness of where our body is in space. A person with little or no proprioception could not clap their hands or touch their nose without looking. Closing your eyes probably helps to mentally 'activate' this sense.

As for the 'ghost' image of your hand; I think its a similar thing as I have noticed that too. It could be psychological - your brain creating a slight visual residue based on its proprioceptual information.
I have done a few 10 day meditation sessions where you spend most of the time sitting with your eyes closed. I found after a week or so I felt I could 'see' the room I was in, probably from a heightened spatial and aural awareness.

Just my theory
cheers
Steve

[Black Lightning]

I have developed the habit of keeping my eyes open looking for light in places where it does not belong.

[Michael Clark]

When developing film, if I close my eyes I will node off and overdevelop the film.
Mike

[joselsgil]

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? Is this some sort of biological phenomenon? :confused:

Cyrus,

I don't close my eyes when in the darkroom as you need to have them open to focus when making a print. Besides that, with the red or amber safe light on, you can see what you are doing and where you are going. Are you referring to keeping your eyes closed when loading film in the dark?
I was taught way, way back in high school to close your eyes when first learning to load film onto developing reels. Since you learn to do this in a light classroom, you close your eyes to mimic being in the totally dark film loading closet/room. Later in collage, I learned that if you keep your eyes open in total darkness, you tend not to blink and this tends to dry your eyes causing irritation on your eyes. The longest time I spent in total darkness loading film onto reels, was 1 hour. I was loading 18 35mm reels for a nitrogen burst development tanks. After one hour in total darkness, you tend to loose your perception and depth. I was so happy just to see the faint glow of the GraLab clock when I exited the loading room.
As for closing one's eyes when kissing. I think that started when our ancestors had to kiss ugly cave women.

Jose

[UberSquid]

Some people will experience a slight vertigo type sensation if they keep their eyes open in complete darkness. Your brain uses multiple inputs to create it's image of the world around you. Fluid in your ears senses motion and changes in physical position that you then correlate with the visual input with your eyes. If the two don't match up then your brain starts trying to adjust and you get into vertigo. (Anyone who has ever taken flight training will attest to this!) I feel that I move more smoothly in the dark with my eyes closed since I'm not trying to fight conflicting sensory inputs. Ever notice that people who are feeling nauseated tend to close their eyes?

As to the ghost images, I just read an article about some blind people actually having vision, it's just not processed the same. It may be something similar, your brain is taking those inputs that it still has, touch, motion, memory and creating a very hazy image in your mind. It is an interesting topic, maybe one that would be worth investigating on a clinical level.

[ljsegil]

Open. It's too pretty looking at all the little green lights on the GFI outlets.
LJ

[Scratched Glass]

The only time I closed my eyes for a long period in the darkroom was after I smashed my head into one of the enlargers where I used to work.

[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.