15Mar

Update on my book: The BetterPhoto Guide to Exposure


Hello everyone! Just wanted to spread the word about how well my book is doing, and to thank you all for the wonderful support through your purchases, attending a book signing, and the great reviews! Me feel special.


MEDIA COVERAGE & AMAZON: The book was ranked at its highest today on Amazon (#9,068, up from #337,000 when it first came out!), #21 for How-to photo books, and in the top 50 photo books the past 8 weeks. Reviews on Amazon are coming in as well with two wonderful ones from A Obannon in NJ and the Midwest Book Review in WI – big thanks to both of you!). Add your own review when you can – the more reviews we receive, the better the book will do.

I also did a tv segment on The View from the Bay, two radio spots with ABC radio WKPT and Inside Digital Photo Radio, had a feature interview in East Bay newspapers, with many others discussing the book online, from Jain Lemos’ blog to Zoom Street (coming up in April). Popular Photography also ran an online “tip of the day” using an excerpt from the book. Listen to some interviews on our how-to site, PhotoGuru.tv.

BOOK SIGNING EVENTS: We had two great signings, one at Clayton Books and another at Borders Books – both in February. I have three upcoming events between March and June – get my sign on:

One in Las Vegas NV in two weeks (March 26th, Thursday @ 4pm at Casey’s Cameras), one in Walnut Creek CA (April 2nd, Thursday @ 7pm at Barnes & Noble), and another in Seattle WA (June 12th, Friday @ 6:30pm at Third Place Books).

Great locations for some fun signings – I’ll talk a bit about my photo career, how I came to write the book, show some images, discuss the content of the book, and answer some questions (and of course sign many books!). For more info, go to our events page on our site: http://www.seanarbabi.com/workshops_lecture.html

Want to buy a signed copy of my book? That will cost you big time. Actually you can easily by going to our site links (listed below) and click on the “Buy Now” link. If you have a specific request for what you’d like me to write (besides my signature), you can add the message there – such as “To the most amazing photographer who’s work I never reviewed”, or “To the greatest book purchaser in all the land!”.

Signed copy on my main site, SeanArbabi.com: http://www.seanarbabi.com/book_exposure.html
Signed copies through our PhotoGuru.tv site: http://www.photoguru.tv/store.html

PHOTO WORKSHOPS: I’m also teaching courses on Exposure on the web and in the field. If you combine all of the information in my book, with hands-on teaching allowing you to ask questions and interact with me (whether shooting in the field or getting critiques on your images), you’ll be well on your way toward improving your photo skills. People will bow as you walk by, camera in hand, and knowledge in brain.

I teach a 4-week course on Exposure almost every month at BetterPhoto.com (Better Exposure – How to Meter Light), and will teach live at two venues this year – Art Wolfe’s Digital Photography Center in Seattle WA (June 11-14th – Exposure A to Z: The Ins and Outs of Metering Light), and the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops in Santa Fe NM (July 27th –August 1st – The Art of Travel Lighting).

The past ten years, I’ve taught students in 25 countries and over 40 states around the US – a wonderful mix of beginners, enthusiastic amateurs, and just plain good ‘ol photo folk – sure, I few pain-in-the-rears in there, but I can handle ’em. For more info and new courses, go to our workshops page: http://www.seanarbabi.com/workshops.html


NEW BOOKS: Besides my tv show we’re working hard to get on air, I’m also working on two new books, hoping both come out in 2010. Yes, they’ll involve photography yet in different ways from my exposure book – no romance novel yet in my future. Keep an eye out!

Look forward to meeting you at one of my book signings or workshops, and thanks again!
03Feb

Photo Potpourri

A few fun february facts, images to check out, and items to think about in the photo world. By the way, here’s a fun image of the Na Pali coast in Kauai, I captured from a helicopter a few years ago while on assignment.


A piece of news I got from Calypso Imaging‘s newsletter (a great printer in the San Francisco Bay Area, although I personally use West Coast Imaging– awesome printer)- 18 years ago this month, Adobe shipped Photoshop 1.0. That was the first year of my career, but in February I was a few months away from graduating college at Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara. So although I had learned a ton about photography in college, by the time I graduated, a whole new world of digital was emerging – an aspect I had to educate myself on to keep up with the times. How Photoshop opened so many doors toward quality imagery. Now in the 11th version of the program (Photoshop 1-7, then the CS series, now at CS4), the software has morphed into something amazing and unreal – congrats Adobe.


Wanna see how unreal digital photography HAS become? Check out this 1,474 Megapixel shot of the President Obama’s inaugural address, created by David Bregman, combining 220 images together in a process / robotic camera mount called Gigapan. The final image size was 59,783 X 24,658 pixels or 1,474 megapixels. Nice shot David. Wow- I’ve gotta try it soon! (click on David’s name to review the shot)

A hundred and seven year ago this month, Ansel Adams was born (in 1902),

and although he past away 25 years ago, the impact he had on photography is not only beyond measure, but well beyond what any other photographer has done to date. I never had the chance to meet him, but I feel what he feels about image-making. Here’s a wonderful photo of Ansel, taken by an amazing photographer Jim Alinder (with permission – © Jim Alinder) – to see his work and gallery, go to: http://www.alindergallery.com/

Have a wonderful February all – keep an eye out for me on “The View From the Bay” in a week or so, Feb 23rd, at 3pm on ABC’s San Francisco TV station, KGO channel 7. Then my first book signing event in Clayton CA February 15th.
12Dec

Book Signing Events for my book – The BetterPhoto Guide to Exposure


In 2009, I’ll be holding a number of book signing events in California, Nevada, New Mexico, Washington, as well as other possible US locations for my book, The BetterPhoto Guide to Exposure (Random House/ Amphoto/ Watson-Guptill).


I’ll talk a bit about photographic exposure, share some experiences from various assignments around the world, take a few questions, catch everyone off-guard with a pop-quiz (just kidding), and sign books. It’s always a nice intimate settings where people can feel comfortable meeting the author to find out more about a book or a topic.

Bookstore locations will include Clayton Books (Clayton, CA – Feb 15th), Borders Books (Pleasanton CA – Feb 28th, and possibly in NV, NM, or WA), Barnes & Noble (Walnut Creek CA – April 2nd, NV, WA) and possibly at the Book Passage (Mill Valley, CA). I’ll also be in Las Vegas at Casey’s Cameras on March 26th or 27th.

Here’s a link on my main site to all book signing dates, locations, times and venues: http://www.seanarbabi.com/workshops_lecture.html

More dates will be added soon!

I’m very proud of the book, believe it will help many with their image-making skills, and it’s already getting great reviews on Amazon.com.

So mark your calendars, come out and join us, pick up a book to improve your photography (less than $30 – cheap!), and have me sign a copy for you!