Printing Your Art

It has been said that pictures hasn't been realized until it is put into print.  In today's age, it is so easy to shoot the pictures, share them with friends and family online, but most pictures never actually make it to print.  But really, even a 4x6 sitting in a photo album isn't doing your art justice, how many times do you actually pull out that album and look at it?  Or show your friends?  Chances are, not very often.  Your best work should be hanging on your walls, framed on your coffee tables, not lost on your hard drive or in a closed photo album.  The problem is, how should you go about printing them?


The truth about why photographers hold printing rights...

Usually when you hire a photographer to capture an event like a wedding, or a studio session, their contract states that you must order all prints through them.  There is a lot of negativity about this.  I've heard things like "this is just a way for them to scam us out of money."  Of course, the residual income is something any business person would like to capture, but that's not the whole story.  In fact, this isn't even the main issue.

The main issue is simply this: if they control the printing rights, the customer is assured of getting high quality prints!  A good photographer takes pride in their work, and doesn't want to see their pictures get printed without an appropriate level of quality.  There is a huge difference in a print from a low quality (an inexpensive) printer like Walmart, compared to a dedicated printer that has very expensive and well calibrated printers and quality assurance processes.

The contrast and detail that you can lose from budget printers is astounding when you see two identical prints from two providers side-by-side, making it clear why they are so cheap.  A photographer doesn't want to have their art work cheaped out on when printing, because:
1) the customer will not be as happy with it, and
2) their friends and family who see those pictures will not be impressed with the quality and assume it is a flaw with the photographer, leading to a potential loss of business.

It's like buying blu-ray movies and watching them on the old cathode ray tube television in your parent's basement.  If you've spent hundreds of dollars on a professional photographer, don't cheap out on the prints!


What to consider when printing...

We are getting to the point where it almost doesn't make sense to have your own printer.  Ink is very expensive, and the ink dries out fast, meaning if you don't use the printer, the ink is just drying up, making the actual cost per sheet sky-rocket if you aren't using it daily.  Outsourcing your print jobs, for most people anyway, often makes sense, so you need to consider if the convenience of being able to do it yourself outweighs the typical loss of cost and quality.

If you are printing out small pictures, up to 5x7, then a budget place like Walmart, Costco, or London Drugs is usually good enough.  Any bigger than that, and chances are you plan to use the picture for something special, so paying a little extra for quality becomes something worth very strongly considering.

Please note that I won't be recommending any quality printers, because this depends on your printing purpose and desired format, and the best places change over time.


Printing formats...

1. Metal
I recently had my first metal prints done.  I'm not talking about the metallic photo paper made by Kodak, I'm talking about prints done on a piece of aluminium.  The first time you see a print on metal, it is like nothing you've seen.  It's kind of like seeing HD TV for the first time.  There are several different ways to do metal prints each having their own best uses (i.e. glossy for nature, satin for portraits, sheer for high key, etc.) so it is important to do your research for best results.

2. Canvas
Another popular format for fine art prints is canvas.  These are prints done on a muslin canvas (the material, not the religion) and stretched onto a wood block frame.  These prints, even more than with metal, work much better when they are printed very large, otherwise you lose a lot of detail.  But they give you a lot of flexibility on sizes and framing options, and stand out on your wall as a gallery ready print.

3. Books
The digital age has made it extremely easy to create your own custom book and have it professionally printed.  You can use pre-set templates, or design your own layout.  This is a great way to put an entire event into one book, with a more customized look than a standard album.

4. Speciality items
We've all see the customized coffee mugs, mouse pads, and place mats.  The options here are as extensive as your imagination, pretty much everything you could want is available in one way or another.  Again, quality here goes a long way, so depending on what your gift is for, you may want to consider paying a little extra for something that will look good last you a long time.

With all of these options, including just large prints on "old fashioned photo paper," you will want to make sure you do your research and know what you are getting for your money.  You may even want to talk to your photographer to make sure you really are getting the best deal.  In fact, your photographer my even know how to get you discounts!

Just remember this: cheaper is not always a sacrificing worth taking. You truly do get what you pay for.

If you have any questions about any of this, feel free to contact me.  And remember to like me on Facebook!

Manual Exposure Challenge!

Spring has sprung!  The birds are chirping, the snow is melting, it's time to dust off that camera gear that has been sitting in your closet, and start getting it ready for the BBQ season and those family days by the lake!

To help us all brush up on our skills, I'd like to propose a challenge!  One of the best ways to improve your skills is to learn how to use your camera in anything other than its automatic mode or any of the auto subsets.

Let's take a look at the image above, which was taken of a Canon Rebel.  The green box indicates that you are letting the camera choose everything for you.  All of the modes below this setting are simply subsets of auto, for example "portrait" or "action."  All these subsets do is tell the camera that it can still choose everything for you, but it will lean towards a certain shutter speed or aperture setting.  Even P (Program mode) and A-DEP (Auto Depth of Field) gives exposure control to the camera.

As a serious photographer, out of all of these settings, there are only three modes that we should care about.  They are Shutter Priority (Tv on Canon, S on Nikon), Aperture Priority (Av on Canon, A on Nikon), and Manual (M).

CHALLENGE!  Everyone reading this should take their camera out, put it in Manual mode, and challenge themselves to get as many perfectly exposed pictures as they can in 1 hour.  Don't cheat by using auto ISO, either!

By the end of this article, you should have enough tips to at least get you started on shooting entirely in manual mode.  You may just surprise yourself at how easy it can be.


Elements of Exposure

Before I continue, let me step back and briefly cover a very important topic.  In photography, there are three elements of exposure.

1. Shutter Speed is the length of time the shutter stays open.  The longer the shutter stays open, the more light is allowed to reach the camera's sensor.  Typically, with action shots we want a fast shutter speed to freeze motion.  But there are also times when we want to slow down the shutter to add a bit of motion blur, for example with waterfalls.

2. Aperture is how wide the opening of the lens is during the exposure.  The wider the opening, the more light is allowed to enter.  Aperture is what controls the "depth of field" in your shot.  That is, how much will be in focus.  The wider the opening, the narrower your depth of field will be.  This is measured by the f value on the lens.  The smaller the f-value, the wider the opening on the lens.  The bigger the f-value, the smaller the opening on the lens.  This may seem backwards at first, but the way it is measured is simple:

f-value = (focal length of the lens) / (diameter of the opening)

For example, if you have a 100mm lens, and the opening of the lens is 25mm, you will be at f/4.  However, if you zoom in to 200mm and keep the opening the same size, you will now be at f/8.

3. ISO or previously referred to as ASA, is the sensitivity of your film or sensor to light.  It will take more light at a low ISO to properly expose an image than it will at a higher ISO.  However, higher ISOs are more prone to noise (or grain if you are using film).


All three of these values mix together to get a specific exposure value.  Any time we want to adjust one of these elements, we need to compensate by adjusting one of the others.  For example, let's say we know that we are getting the correct exposure with the following settings:
Shutter speed: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 400

Now let's say that we want to increase our shutter speed to 1/200 sec, but we don't want to change the exposure.  In this case, we must compensate by also adjusting one (or both) of the other two settings.  One example, would be to simply double the ISO.  Since we are letting in half as much light by the shutter speed staying open half the time, we can make the sensor twice as sensitive to the light it is getting.  So one solution would be as follows:

Shutter speed: 1/200 sec
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 800

These two settings will result in exactly the same exposure value, except with a faster shutter speed.  Since this isn't a lesson on exposure (exposure is a huge topic on it's own) let's move on...


Sunny 16 Rule

For someone starting out learning to shoot in manual, this is the greatest tip you will ever hear.  When you are outdoors, on a sunny day, if you put your camera at an aperture of f/16, your exposure will be correct if your shutter speed is the inverse of your ISO.  For example...
Shutter speed: 1/100
Aperture: f/16
ISO: 100


Shutter speed: 1/200
Aperture: f/16
ISO: 200

Shutter speed: 1/400
Aperture: f/16
ISO: 400

All of these settings will produce the perfect exposure value for a sunny day.  I said it was easy, right?

Now what if we want to use a different aperture?  Well, this is where math comes in again.  Any change in aperture will require compensation from one of the other values.  But, since this isn't a lesson on calculating exposure, these calculations are out of scope.

What if it isn't sunny?  Are there other rules?

Yes!  We can include the following as well:

• Snowy/Sandy f/22 rule
• Overcast f/8 rule
• "Slightly" Overcast f/11 rule
• "Heavy" Overcast f/5.6 rule
• Sunset f/4 rule

For each of these conditions, the same principle applies.  As long as the shutter speed and ISO are inverses of each other, using the aperture defined in the appropriate rule above will get you a pretty good starting point for getting the right exposure.

Conclusion ... and your challenge!

You now have the tools you need to put your camera in manual mode and get some great shots!  So here is your challenge.  Take an hour, put your camera in manual, get outside.  In that hour, try to get at least 20 pictures worth sharing.  I would be happy to see them!

How to Isolate and Remove a Green Background in Photoshop

Compositing is a great way to expand possibilities in your photography.  One of the most important techniques in creating a composite is by removing your subject from the background.  Petro Vlahos, the creator of the blue screening (same technique used for green screens), which enabled everything from the delivery of weather forecasts on TV, to dancing penguins in Mary Poppins, died this month at the age of 96. With this in mind, I thought I would share a great technique in how to isolate a high key background (blue or green) so that it can be removed, leaving only your subject standing in front.


Get a High Key Monochrome Backdrop

Green and blue both work well.  Any fabric will do, but typically people will use either seamless paper (a large roll of paper) or a muslin.  The benefit of the seamless paper is that, as the name suggests, there are no wrinkles.  Paper is great for portrait shots, but because the paper can rip easily, it is considered to be disposable.  Muslins on the other hand, are very durable.  They can be easily washed and reused for a long time, making them cheaper long term.  However, they show wrinkles.  Which can be a good thing, or not, depending on the look you are going for.

Personally, I use muslins.  Especially for composites, the wrinkles won't matter, so a muslin will end up being cheaper than seamless paper.  But, painted plywood or bedsheets will work as well, if you can get the right size and color.

I'm not going to discuss the details of setting up and shooting the picture in this article, so let's start from the point where we already have a picture loaded up in Photoshop.

Convert to LAB Color Mode

First thing you want to do, is convert the color mode to LAB.  This is done by going into the "Image" menu, then going to "Mode" and finally select "Lab Color"

What is LAB Color Mode?

By default, the image will be loaded up in RGB mode, or Red Green Blue.  This is essentially how your screen will display the image, all colors are made up by varying the intensity of the red, green, and blue channels.

LAB mode however, works differently.  According to Wikipedia, LAB color mode is "a color opponent space with dimension L for lightness, and an A and B for the color opponent dimensions  based on non-linearly compressed color space coordinates."  If that doesn't make sense, don't worry, it's not really that important.  All we need in this mode is to duplicate the A channel, which depicts the position of the colors between red and green, and we're done here!  So let's continue.


Once you are in LAB color mode, you will see the L/A/B channels in your channels tab.

Since in this case we are working with green, we want to duplicate the A channel (which as mentioned above, is based on the intensity of red vs. green).  To do this, simply drag the A channel down to the "New Channel" icon at the bottom of the window.  You will end up with this...

Now that that is done, we no longer need to be in LAB mode, so we can switch back to RGB mode.
(Image menu -> Mode -> RGB)

Isolating the Green

This is where the magic happens.  Photoshop has a blend mode called "Overlay," which I end up using a lot. What overlay is, is a combination of the "Multiply" blend mode, and the "Screen" blend mode.  Multiply will darken the darker parts of the image, while Screen will lighten the brighter parts of the image.  By combining these two blend modes, we are quickly able to isolate the green on the A channel we duplicated from our LAB color mode.

Step 1: Ensure that the a copy channel is highlighted.  Your image will look something like this:

Step 2: Fill with white, using overlay.  From your edit menu, select Fill.  Then make sure you are filling with white, with a blend mode of Overlay and an opacity of 100%.

You will get an image that looks something like this:

Step3: Fill with black, using an overlay blend mode and 100% opacity.

You will get a result similar to this:

Step 4: Fill with black again.  :)  Same as step 3 above.  Below is a sample result:

Step 5: Fill with white again!  Same as step 2 above.  Below is a sample result:

Note that you must do the fills in this order!  White, black, black, white.  If you do it in a different order, the results will not be as clean.


Step 6: At this point, with the exception of a few blemishes  you will notice that the background is pure black, and the subject is pure white.  You will probably want to zoom in and fix the areas that didn't result in pure white on the subject using the regular methods.  Remember, our goal here is to get pure white on pure black.


Step 7: Hold down Control (Command on the Mac) and click the "a copy" channel.  This will make the channel you just created the active selection.

Step 8: Enable the RGB channel again, and then go back to the layers tab.  Also, make sure the layer is NOT a background layer (if it is, drag the lock on the layer to the trash bin).

Step 9: Apply the layer mask by clicking on the layer mask icon at the lower corner.  The result will be similar to this:

And you're done!  You are now free drop on any background you choose.

Conclusion

With a few simple steps, steps that can even be recorded into a custom action and automated, we can quickly strip out a high key monochrome background, making compositing very easy!

If you've found this article helpful, please visit my Facebook Page!

How to Get Closer Macro Shots Without Breaking the Bank

A charging fly.

Macro Photography.

How else can you walk around a dump and come back with 100 extremely unique pictures worthy of printing?  This is a style of photography that opens the door to an infinite list of possibilities.  The most boring of scenes can be made interesting.  But what if that standard macro lens just doesn't get you quite close enough?  Well, there might be a solution to consider.

Tip of a ball point pen.

What is a macro lens and what is so special about it?

A lot of camera lenses these days have the word "macro" on them somewhere, which doesn't really mean anything at all.  All it is telling the user (or buyer) is how close you can place the lens to a subject, and still be able to focus.  That is, your minimum working distance between the camera's sensor and the subject.  But this doesn't make it a true macro lens.

So what is a macro lens?  Well, it is a lens that let's you focus close enough to the subject so that the image being captured on the sensor is at least life size.  Let me explain...

Take an old roll of film, and hold it against your computer screen in front of you.  If you are shooting with film, or have a full frame sensor in your digital camera, whatever is enclosed inside that 35mm film frame will be the entire picture taken with a 1x macro lens and its minimum focusing distance.  So really, you could take a picture of an old negative with a macro lens, and it will take up the entire frame.

Another way to think of it is, if take a picture of a page in a book with a film camera, have the film developed, and then put the negative from that picture directly on the book where you took the picture, the image on the negative and the original page in the book will be exactly the same size.

Most macro lenses on the market today are 1x life size lenses.  They are probably the most common "specialty" lens you can buy.  However, they can only get so close.  What if you want to take a picture of an ant?  Or a mosquito?  Or a flake of snow?  You could crop the picture down and hope your camera captured enough detail, which is usually okay for posting on the internet, but probably not good enough to print out.

You could buy specialty lenses like Canon's MP-e 65mm 1x-5x lens that will focus up to 5 times life size!  But then you are stuck with a very expensive lens that you will use once or twice, otherwise it will just be making your bag heavier.  So what else can you do?


Extending the 1x Macro Lens

First, let's talk about how a macro lens works.  The reason it can focus so close to a subject is that the element closest to the camera body is suppressed deep within the lens.  The greater the distance between the lens element and the camera's sensor, the closer you can get to your subject.  So, what happens if you make this distance even greater? 


Step 1: Extension Tubes (Spacers for your Lens!)

Extension tubes are simple devices that simply act as spacers between your camera body and the lens.  There is no glass inside, they are just hollow tubes (except for the leads that allow the camera and lens to communicate).  Extension tubes allow any lens (typically over 50mm) to be turned into a macro lens for close up shots.  They sacrifice the ability to focus on things far away, but let you tighten up your working distance.  These are generally available for relatively cheap, and there is nothing stopping you from putting them on what is already a macro lens, thus letting you get even closer than 1x life size!


Step 2: Extenders (AKA Teleconverters)

An extender is effectively a zoom multiplier.  There are two standard sizes for most brands.  A 1.4x extender, and a 2x extender.  The biggest downside to using these devices is that you lose light.  The 1.4x extender will lose 1 stop of light (therefore an f/2.8 lens will become an f/4 lens) and the 2x extender will lose 2 stops of light (an f/2.8 lens will become an f/5.6 lens).  But realistically, for macro shots, you would likely be using an aperture smaller than f/11 or even f/16 in order to control your depth of field, so this really isn't much of a downside at all.  But it will increase the magnification of your lens, getting you even closer to your subject!

Note: Most extenders state that you can't use them with macro lenses due to the position of the elements, but by putting extension tubes between the extender and the lens, this is no longer a problem.


My current setup

So here it is.  My current set-up for extreme close ups:



My current set-up

• Canon 5D Mk3
• Canon 2x Extender
• Promaster extension tubes (come in a set of 12mm + 20mm + 36mm = 68mm)
• Canon 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS
• Basic LED ring light (to keep the shutter speed down)

Results?

These are the results.  All of these pictures are un-cropped (just re-sized) taken straight from the full frame camera.


Just the lens at 2:1 (half) life-size

Just the lens at 1.5:1 life-size

Just the lens at 1:1 life-size

Lens + extension tubes at maximum magnification.
Achieves roughly 1.68x magnification.

Lens + extension tubes + 2x extender at maximum magnification.
Achieves roughly 3.38x magnification.

Summary

As you can see, if you already have a 1x macro lens and want to get even closer, you don't have buy a rare and expensive speciality lens to achieve these results.  By simply adding an inexpensive extension tube to your kit, and possibly an extender as well for even more impact, you can increase your maximum magnification by a very noticeable amount.  Although I wasn't able to quite reach the 5x magnification of Canon's MP-e lens, I was able to get similar results for a whole lot less money.

Do you REALLY need that fancy new camera to get the best photos?

Picture by Mark Bass.  Find me on Google+

A recent conversation I had sparked me to think about the actual value of expensive camera gear for the average person.  It's not a surprise that after a big event in a person's life like, for example, having their first child, it is pretty common to have the urge to rush out and buy high end cameras and gear to capture those first valuable memories of life.  But will taking out a second mortgage on your home to finance the best camera gear result in better pictures?

In short ... no.

I have heard several times in the past, people say "that is a great picture, you must have a really nice camera!"  Every time I hear this, I think of a quote by professional photographer Scott Bourne: "Thanks, I got my camera at the same place Shakespeare got his pen."  I admit that yes, I do have a fairly nice camera.  But that is largely because I am a gadget head, and I like control over the process.  But outside of creating artistic images, I am beginning to use it less and less to simply capture memories.  The reason for this is simple.  You can create images that are just as impressive with virtually any camera, including basic point and shoot cameras, and yes, even that camera in your phone.


Myth 1: A good camera makes a good picture...

Here's a secret ... a camera doesn't make the picture.  The photographer makes the picture.  A good picture comes from composition and experience.

Picture taken by Lisa Bettany using an iPhone 4.  Check out more of her work at http://mostlylisa.com/

Although it is easy to say "I would be better if I had better gear," but in most cases this simply is not true.  Even the cheapest camera today is better than anything the great photographers like Ansel Adams had in their day.  I have even heard of professional wedding photographers trying to prove a point by trading their top-of-the-line professional cameras for an inexpensive point-and-shoot camera for an event, just to show that they can still do better work than most without all the fancy gear.

Picture taken by Trey Ratcliff using a Samsung Galaxy Nexus.  Check out more of his work on Google+

Myth 2: More megapixels is better...

Here's the thing about megapixels ... the more pixels you cram on a sensor, all other things equal, the worse your pictures will look.

At the most basic level, photography is about capturing light.  There is really not much more to it than that.  In the film days, the light would have to be burned into the film in order to capture the picture.  Digital sensors aren't much different in that regard.  What people have trouble understanding is that the more pixels on the sensor, the smaller the each pixel is going to be on the camera's sensor.  The smaller surface area for an individual pixel means that less light will hit that pixel, which also means that it will be less sensitive to light.  The less light it is able to record, the more the camera will need to amplify the light signal in order to compensate.

Think of a stereo.  The more you turn up your amplifier, the more noise you will get from the speakers.  The amplifiers used in cameras suffer from the same affliction.  Except in this case, the noise is visual, and will appear similar to the grain that we used to get when we used high ASA film.  So, keeping all other things equal, increasing the pixel count will result in noiser, lower quality pictures.


But don't I need more pixels if I want to print out the picture?

How big do you want to blow up the picture?  Have you ever had a problem with not being able to blow up a picture big enough when captured on film?

Film is comprised of vertical and horizontal fibers.  When blowing up the picture, these fibers have the same effect of digital pixels.  If you blow it up enough, you will eventually get pixelation, just like with a digital picture.  Standard film is equivalent to 10-12 megapixels in the digital world.  Therefore, if you have a 12+ megapixel camera, you have already surpassed film's ability to print your pictures onto wall sized posters.

Also consider this ... a 1080p HD TV has a resolution of 1080 x 1920. 

1080 x 1920 = 2,073,600 pixels.

A high definition TV is about 2 megapixels.  I have a 1080p projector in my basement, projecting onto a 106 inch screen, and the pixels are barely noticable from a foot away.  If a 2 megapixel image looks good blown up to 106 inches, imagine how big you could blow up a 10 megapixel image...

Don't let megapixels fool you.  They are meaningless.


Okay, so what is the advantage of an SLR then?

Yes, SLRs have the potential of caturing sharper images with less aberations.  This is true.  But the question is how noticable will this be to you, and how much is the very small improvement worth to you?

The real advantage of an SLR is control.  But to take advantage of this control, you need to understand the technical side of photography.  You need to understand light, you need to understand all elements of exposure, and you need to know how all adjustments relate to each other.

If you buy an SLR, and put it in automatic mode, you are throwing your money away.  You should have just bought a point-and-shoot for a fraction of the price.  However, if you want the control, and are willing to screw up every now and then, then an SLR is a great choice.


What is the best camera for me?

As the saying goes: "The best camera is the one you have with you."  These days, you can take excellent pictures with the camera in your phone, and this truely is something you have with you.  And the apps that are available for your camera phones now adds a lot of appeal.  Two things to watch out for though, is the delay (amount of time between pressing the shutter button and the actual image capture), and the shutter speed (amount of time the shutter stays open).  Too much delay will risk missing that moment, and slow of a shutter speed will result in motion blur and will make your images appear out of focus.  Neither of these are desirable.

However, if you like control, have an artistic mind, and also like learning about the technical side of how things work (and are also willing to drop far too much money), then an SLR may be for you.

Just don't let the marketting fool you into thinking more is always better...

All Wheel Drive ... Good or Bad?

Winter has finally hit up here in the cold white north.  Cold temperatures, snow, and yes ... bad roads.  This last week the talk among commuters around the water cooler has been how long it's taken them to get to work and all the cars in the ditches.  And yes, many comments like "I'm so glad I have All Wheel Drive" or "I really wish I had All Wheel Drive" are heard from afar.  But really, is AWD really what it's cracked up to be?  Should you trade in your Front Wheel Drive for a new 4x4 to get through this winter?  This article will discuss if AWD is really going to make you safer on the roads.

I have two vehicles.  I have a Front Wheel Drive Mazda 6 with a 5-speed manual transmission, and an All Whee Drive Lexus RX330 with an automatic transmission.  Both cars are equipped with winter tires in the cold months of the year.  Now, when asked, most people would expect me to say that I would rather drive the AWD SUV through the winter.  They are often surprised to learn that I strongly favor the Front Wheel Drive car in almost all conditions.


But why would this be?  First, let's explore what AWD does well.

All Wheel Drive is great in deep snow.  If you live in the country and have a long driveway, or you live in a subdivision that doesn't get plowed, then AWD is an asset for the few days after a deep snowfall, or until the snow gets packed down.  The morning after a heavy snowfall, having the confidence to drive through the fresh powder is definitely a benefit.

All Wheel Drive is also a benefit when accelerating.  This means that AWD is definitely more fun to drive in the winter.  And if beating everyone else off the line when the light turns green is your thing, AWD is for you.


However, none of this makes your car any safer.  As soon as you get out of your unplowed subdivision and onto the plowed roads, there are many more drawbacks that are often overlooked.  Now, let's explore what AWD does poorly

First, braking and cornering...  "But wait, I thought AWD handles better!"  This is a misconception.  The ONLY time AWD handles better is when your foot is on the gas.  It has zero impact when you are braking, and if you are trying to accelerate around a corner when you are already skidding, you need to go back to driving school.  Consider the "Friction Circle."  If you aren't familiar with the Friction Circle, you can read about it here.  Basically, if you start to skid, you need to reduce the load on your tires by either straightening your wheels, or braking/accelerating less.  Getting out of a skid by relying on AWD doesn't work in most cases.

In fact, a few years ago I took a Subaru Impreza for a test drive on an empty icy road.  I was expecting the AWD system in that car to impress me.  It didn't.  In a Front Wheel Drive car, when the wheels start to spin, you expect the car to understeer.  You can instinctively react to compensate.  With a Rear Wheel Drive car, you expect the car to oversteer.  You can instinctively react to compensate.  But with that AWD car that day, the car was spiratic.  When the wheels started to spin, sometimes it would oversteer, sometimes it would understeer, and sometimes the car would literally just go sideways as all four wheels fought to get traction.  In an emergency driving situation, this unpredictability is a huge concern.

Next, let's compare two identical vehicles, one with AWD and one without, since many cars and SUVs are available as a 2 or 4 wheel drive variant.  An AWD system is heavy and adds a lot of weight to the car.  So, the vehicle with AWD will be considerably heavier than the one without.  On slippery roads, weight matters.  As we've all learned in high school physics, the heavier the object, the more momentum it has, and the more force required to effect its speed or direction.  When you have to stop fast, you want the car with the least momentum.  When you have to react fast to avoid a collision, you want the car with the least momentum that needs to be overcome.  Period.

Next let's discuss the psychological side.  AWD gives you a false sense of confidence on the roads.  Many drivers get it into their heads that, if the car can accelerate faster, then it can brake faster too.  This is a huge problem, especially on highways.  Just because you can get up to highway speeds faster on an AWD vehicle, drivers often also feel they can switch lanes faster and hold higher speeds as well.  This is absolutely not true, and the reason why there are more AWD and 4x4 vehicles in the ditches along major highways than 2WD cars.  This false sense of confidence catches people off guard all the time.  All Wheel Drive causes more accidents than it prevents.


So what is the alternative?  What is better than AWD?  Simple.  A good set of winter tires...

Here is the problem with today's cars.  More and more cars are coming with "Performance All-Season Tires".  People typically see the "Performance" part and buy into the marketing thinking it means better.  When in reality, these tires are nearly as terrible as summer tires when the temperature drops below freezing.

Performance All-Season tires are designed to withstand high speeds, and are manufactured using a harder rubber compound.  When the temperature drops, this hard rubber no longer holds the road and makes driving in the winter dangerous.  Winter tires are designed with a much softer rubber compound that still sticks to the road when the temperature drops.  If you are still running all-seasons on your vehicle, especially "performance" all-seasons and you are concerned about your safety in the winter ... go buy winter tires.  Now.  The investment in your safety and your family's safety, as well as the safety of everyone else on the road, is well worth the expense.


Conclusion ... Although AWD is nice to have and is a lot of fun to drive on bad roads (if you like driving on bad roads), it does NOT make you any safer and it is NOT a replacement for a good set of winter tires.  So know your car, and don't fall into the trap of thinking that AWD is a necessary part of winter driving.

Fixing the Samsung LCD TV power-cycle problem.

If you bought a Samsung LCD TV in the 2007-2009 era, you may be experiencing a very frustrating problem with your TV.  Power cycling.  If you have a TV that is experiencing this problem, when you try to turn on your TV, you will hear your TV click on and off (and make the power-on notification chime if enabled) in repetition. Depending on the stage of your problem, your TV may or may not eventually turn on and stay on of you wait long enough (ours was taking several minutes before it would stay on), otherwise it will just stay in this cycle of powering on and powering off.  Very frustrating!

Now before I get started let me be clear, I like Samsung products.  They have some duds (Bell's version of the Samsung Galaxy S phone is horrid) which makes me wonder what they are doing at times, but for the most part their products, especially their TVs, are top notch.  As long as you do your research, despite a few screens that have this problem, I would still recommend Samsung TVs.

What causes this problem?  Simple.  Samsung wanted to save money on components, and cheaped out on some of the internal parts.  In this case, instead of putting in properly spec'd capacitors, they put in under-powered (less expensive) capacitors.  Eventually, these capacitors will blow, which usually happens right after the warranty expires.

If you were to get a repair man in to fix the problem, it would likely cost a couple hundred dollars.  Replace the TV?  At least $1000.

The good news however, is that with a little electronics know-how, and a little change from your pocket, this problem can be easily fixed.  The purpose of this article is to explain to anyone who may be unlucky enough to be experiencing this problem, how they can fix the problem themselves.  Please keep in mind that I did this fix on a Samsung 46" LCD, model number LNT4661FX.  Depending on the model, the components required may be slightly different.  In other words, I will not be liable if something goes wrong. :-)



Parts needed -

Before beginning, you will need to buy three new capacitors to replace the cheap ones in the TV.  All three of them are 1000uF at 10V.  You will want to replace these with three new ones with the rating 1000uF at 16V.  Any good electronics store will have these, I simply picked mine up at MRO Electronic Supply for 85 cents a piece.  Total cost including tax: $2.68.


Also, make sure you have a good soldering iron (at least 30-45 Watt), solder wick to clean off the old solder, and plenty of fresh solder to put the new components back on.  If not, pick these up at your local electronics shop as well.  $20 should get you everything you need.

Now, we're ready to proceed.



Doing the Repair -

First, find a clean, flat, staticless surface to lay your TV on, and lay it screen down.  Make sure there is nothing that might scratch or damage the screen.  Then proceed to remove all the the screws to remove the back panel of the TV.  On my model, there were 18 screws.  Then very gently remove the back of the TV to expose the electronics.  This is how it looks:

Back panel removed.

I'm always shocked when I see this much empty space.  I always expect to see a cluster of endless electronics jammed into the case, but I guess this comes from working with small electronics that are always getting smaller and smaller, yet we still want big screen TVs.

Notice the metal shield just to the right of center on this picture.  The electronics we want to get to are under this shield, so we need to remove it.  There are 7 screws holding this shield in place, remove them and the shield will pull off.

Board shield removed.

The next step is to carefully unplug all the ribbon connectors that are running onto the board.  There are 6 connectors, each will simply pull out.  Do this carefully to avoid damaging the connections.  You can see the ribbons running into the board in the images below.

Board with ribbons still connected.

TV compartment with board removed and loose ribbons.

Then the main board will need to be removed.  There are 6 screws around the sides of the board.  Remove them all, and the board will simply lift out.

Again, place the board on a clean flat table that you can use as a good work bench.  You will see the cluster of capacitors on one of the corners (bottom right in the image above).  You will probably see the offending capacitor(s) right away.  In the image below, you will see the blown capacitor that was causing the problem in my TV (it's the one that is oozing out electrolyte).  The capacitor next to it looks like it is about to pop as well.

Blown capacitor with oozing electrolyte.

Using your soldering iron and solder wick, remove the offending capacitors.  While you're in there, you might as well replace all three of the same specs, which is why I suggested buying three capacitors earlier in this article.  Make sure you know which solder connections on the back of the board are the ones that correspond to the capacitors you want to remove.

Back of board showing solder connections.

The following image shows which capacitors I removed.  Each of the circles on the board represent where a capacitor was.

Old 1000uF 10V capacitors removed.

Now it's time to put the new capacitors on.  Simply slide the new capacitors in, noting that the thick black line on the edge of the circle signifies the negative side of the capacitor.  Make sure that the new capacitors are not put on backwards.  Solder the components onto the board, and clip off the excess wire from the back of the board.  The image below shows the new capacitors mounted on the board after soldering.

New 1000uF 16V capacitors soldered on.

Now it's time to reassemble your TV!

-Slide the board back into place on the TV and replace all the screws.
-Reconnect all ribbons to the board.
-Slide the shield back into place and replace all screws.
-Replace the back cover of the TV.

Plug in the TV and test it out.  Make sure everything works.  And we're done!


It's as simple as that.  Very frustrating problem (one that really should have never happened) that can be fixed with no more than the cost of a morning cup of coffee and a little confidence with a soldering iron.

Good luck!