Fotobug - Elusive Image Photography

The thirteenth annual Black Hills Photo Shootout just finished this past September (2023).  Once again, Jim and Fred led workshops at this annual event. Jim's workshops included Wildlife of Custer Park, A River Runs Through It, Sunset at The Needles, and Cowboy/Cowgirl portraits after Dark.  Fred conducted a single workshop on macro and flowers at a Custer State Park Lake as he was flying out the next day to Oregon to visit his sister.

Be sure to check out our YouTube channel!  www.youtube.com/thefotobug

Michael Sidofsky is a commercial and travel photographer from Toronto who has a very interesting style.  Jim and Fred sit down to discuss his passion for photography and how he creates his interesting images.  Michael is coming out with a book in October 2023 "Wonder around every Corner" which will be available in all the major book sellers.  In addition we encourage you to check out Michael's website at www.mindzeyephotography.com.

The Handle is the latest accessory from Platypod.  This $69 "mini" tripod can be used on a tripod and even has a 3/8" bolt at the top which you can put on a ball head.  The base of The Handle is compatible with acrca plates.  At the top of The Handle there is a ring of 1/4" screw holes to attach additional accessories!

Jim and Fred have previously reviewed the Arsenal 2 for timelapse and for focus stacking.  But how well does the Arsenal work for it's primary purpose, automatically choosing camera settings and "Deep Color" processing?  Well, the guys take it out to the beach for a sunset to see just how well it works.

Peter Dazeley is a fine arts and commercial photographer based in London.  He is about to come out with a new book in October 2023 called Monochrome.  Peter discusses his new book with Jim and Fred as well as AI and even smart phone photography.  Monochrome will be available in all the major book sellers.  Please check out Peter's website at https://www.peterdazeley.com/.

Chip Weiner is an interesting Tampa based photographer who has appeared on The Fotobug podcast in the past when he worked for Creative Loafing.  Chip is now involved in a number of photography projects such as documenting changes in Tampa compared to images shot in the late 1800s to early 1900s.  He is also quite a food photographer and and portrait photographer.

Back in 2019, Jim was all prepared to go to Japan with Discovery Photo Tours and just a week before the trip was to take place, Japan shut down due to Covid and the trip was cancelled.  Discovery returned all the money collected and the owner, Ken Kaminesky moved back to Canada.  Back in late 2022, the Discovery website went live again and Jim was ready to sign up for two more tours, but unfortunately rising costs will like make the trips too expensive.  Jim invited Ken to talk about the photo travel business and other photo topics!  Hopefully he may be able to arrange trips in the near future, so please keep an eye on his website - www.discoveryphototours.com!

Jim recently returned from two weeks in Newfoundland.  Newfoundland is a great place for photography and wildlife and is easy to get to!  The Newfoundland people are friendly and full of charm and Jim can highly recommend adding it to your bucket list.  If you would like to see more, please go to the Fotobug YouTube channel www.youtube.com/thefotobug and while there, please hit that 'subscribe' button!

Heipi just completed a Kickstarter project for their new lightweight travel tripod and the Fotobug guys have got their hands on one!  Jim takes the new tripod out for a spin and reports on any positives and/or negatives.  The new travel tripod can now be pre-ordered from Heipi with a $40 discount at https://heipivision.com/ and should be available by August 2023.

Jim just returned from a photographic workshop in Borneo.  Within two days he had already photographed the Borneo Big 5!  The Big 5 are the orangutan, pygmy elephant, crocodile, hornbill, and the sun bear.  Jim shares an overview of the trip and more video will be posted to The Fotobug Youtube channel - www.youtube.com/thefotobug.  Please subscribe!!