27Oct

Kolo Content- write a book review, receive a free frame with your own image printed inside!

KOLO CONTEST for all my photo friends, fans, followers!  
 
 
I put this out to all my Facebook, Twitter, & Google+ photo friends last week, but no one has added a review for my current book, so I wanted to blog about it as well.

 
The first TWO people to post a review of my book on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Nature-Photography-Professional/dp/0817400109) will receive a coupon code for a free 11×14 Kolo frame.  You can personalize by adding a photo, which Kolo will print (at roughly 8×10), mat, frame (in the 11×14 frame of your choosing) and ship to your home- about a $50 value.  This is only valid for US and Canada customers.  
 
 
 
I printed one myself, a photo of my wife and I (taken with my iPhone), and I love the results. Check it out below: 
 
 
So if you’ve read my new nature photography book (The Complete Guide to Nature Photography- Amphoto/Random House) write a review now and win!  Here are details and links again:
 
 
I will see your name and will message you through Amazon – then email me your information and Kolo will email you providing a coupon code.
 
Pick your Kolo frame and personalize it by uploading one of your photos (the Dearborn or Holden frames to personalize): http://kolo.com/mykolo/shop/products/frames/

If you are interesting in purchasing one of my how-to photo books (great for holiday gifts), The Complete Guide to Nature Photography, or, The BetterPhoto Guide to Exposure, go here: http://www.seanarbabi.com/products_books.html

Thank you!
06Dec

My new book, The Complete Guide to Nature Photography

My latest book came out today – online and in US bookstores.


The Complete Guide to Nature Photography: Professional Techniques for Capturing Digital Images of Nature and Wildlife


It’s available in paperback (10.8 x 8.5 inches) and electronic versions (iPad, Kindle, Nook, ebook, iPhone).  It will be in many countries as early as February 2012 as well- China, Denmark, France, Russia, the UK, and so on.


Published by Amphoto/ Crown Publishing, a division of Random House, the book is 240 pages long (~50,000 words), packed with roughly 240 images in 10 chapters covering the gamut of nature and outdoor photography. As I did with my last book, The BetterPhoto Guide to Exposure, I followed a step-by-step approach to the art in order to help readers move easily through the process, with a lot of freedom to create.  I have also included an ‘assignment’ in each chapter to give readers a task to follow, helping them improve through the book.



I am very proud of the book and feel there’s a ton of content, ideas, tips, and tricks on how to improve your nature, landscape, wildlife, outdoor photography.  You can’t go wrong picking up a copy.  My last book received five star reviews on Amazon, as well as many great reviews on photo blogs, magazines, etc.  Many use it as a reference for exposure, and with this new book, it’s a great reference for nature photography- for preparation, exposure, composition, lighting, macro, wildlife, creative techniques, and more.


No book signings are set up at the moment- the industry is changing and it seems like bookstores aren’t as interested (of course unless you are J.K. Rowling, James Patternson, or Stephen King – and I ain’t there yet!).  Lots of interviews however and solid press – a New York Times interview, promotion on Red Room, interview on Scott Kelby’s iPad magazine Light It, Think Tank Photo, Nik software, and more- good stuff.

Thanks!
Sean

SIGNED COPIES: Call us at nine-two-five-855-8060, or email: studio(at)seanarbabi(dot)com
    

WHERE TO BUY     

ISBN-10: 0817400109     ISBN-13: 978-0817400101

Amazon (USA): http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Nature-Photography-Professional/dp/0817400109

Barnes & Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Complete-Guide-to-Nature-Photography/Sean-Arbabi/e/9780817400101

Random House: http://www.randomhouse.com/book/205038/the-complete-guide-to-nature-photography-by-sean-arbabi/9780817400101

Walmart: http://www.walmart.com/ip/16344511

Google eBook (for iPad, Android, iPhone, Nook, Sony, etc): http://books.google.com/ebooks?id=fHY6-tgeey0C&source=productsearch

Kindle version (Amazon): http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Nature-Photography-ebook/dp/B004SOQ0MQ


Amazon (UK): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Guide-Nature-Photography-Arbabi/dp/0817400109

Amazon (Japan): http://www.amazon.co.jp/Complete-Guide-Nature-Photography-Professional/dp/0817400109

Amazon (China): http://www.amazon.cn/The-Complete-Guide-to-Nature-Photography-Professional-Techniques-for-Capturing-Digital-Images-of-Nature-and-Wildlife-Arbabi-Sean/dp/0817400109

Amazon (France): http://www.amazon.fr/Complete-Guide-Nature-Photography-Professional/dp/0817400109

Powell’s Books: http://www.powells.com/biblio/9780817400101?campaign=RandomHouseOBL&PID=32442

Books a Million: http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Complete-Guide-Nature-Photography/Sean-Arbabi/9780817400101

uRead.com: http://www.uread.com/book/complete-guide-nature-photography-sean/9780817400101

Telegraph (UK): http://books.telegraph.co.uk/BerteShopWeb/viewProduct.do?ISBN=9780817400101

14Oct

Fall Outdoor Photography Tips

I just loaded this tip on the Perfect Picture School of Photography (PPSOP), and wanted to share it with all of you as well…enjoy!

FALL OUTDOOR PHOTO TIPS

As we move through October, depending on where you live, the weather has begun to cool and dry out, leaves are slowing drifting off the trees, and the colors are changing into wonderful hues of yellow, orange, and red – whether in pumpkins or maple leaves- fall is everywhere. Here are a few tips toward better autumn photography:
#1) Easier or quicker usually doesn’t mean better
When you happen upon a nice fall landscape, don’t just settle for a photo from the spot you first noticed it. Move around to find a great foreground, search for that best angle, locate that optimal place to set your tripod down, wait for better light – as we say in the industry, work the scene. Subtle changes with light and location in your colorful compositions can make a huge difference.
#2) Exposure and Flash creates saturated color
If you underexpose red, it will become a deep maroon red – overexpose red and it will become pink. The same goes for colors like orange and yellow. If you don’t understand your meter and miss exposures on these colors, you will lose a big part of your autumn scene. Learn how to expose scenes like this and your autumn landscapes will improve. Another trick is using your strobe in shady situations. Light adds color, so if you capture wonderful warm autumn hues in the cool light of shade, these colors tend to cancel each other out – add flash to these scenes and the direct specular light brings that color back. My book, The BetterPhoto Guide to Exposure can help with this tip: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0817435549
without flash (above)
with flash (above)

#3) Make those colors pop
If you’ve ever seen a color wheel, you begin to understand the relationship of various hues and why they may or may not pop off an image. Red is close to being the opposite of green, yellow is the opposite of blue, and orange sits somewhere between – closer to cyan. If you are able to find subject matter to emphasize these differences, you can produce a fall image where the color jumps off the screen – it’s why a red tree among a row of evergreens, or a mix of fall colored-leaves lying in a puddle with the reflection of the blue sky has so much impact.
#4) Use the weather and the season to your advantage
When the season changes, so does the weather, and consequently the environment as well. As leaves fall from trees, they begin to thin out and new views emerge, nonexistent when the tree was full during summer months. New scenery opening up like this can create window-light framing for backgrounds. If the wrong weather rolls in covering a blue sky, consider shooting scenes that don’t include it. Snow-fed rivers once raging during spring and early summer months have less water passing through them, allowing you to capture still water moments or crisp reflections. When working with translucent subjects like leaves, consider backlighting them in order for the light to shine through – this brings out those wonderful tones and intricate shapes and details.
But the best tip I could give is to simply make the effort to get out there with your camera – the beauty of nature is powerful, and the changing of a season is magical.

PLEASE NOTE:
My new book, The Complete Guide to Nature Photography, comes out in less than two months (December 6th)- I received an advance copy last week and it looks amazing. Pre-orders are available online at a number of stores including Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Nature-Photography-Professional/dp/0817400109
If you are interested in taking an online workshop with me, you can be anywhere in the world, read the lessons at your leisure, shoot what you want when you want, and receive solid feedback. Join me on PPSOP sometime for four weeks of fun! Nature and Landscape Photography online course: http://www.ppsop.net/land.aspx
29Jan

My Facebook fan page

Hey everyone- after writing 60,000 words for my second book last year (The Complete Guide to Nature Photography – coming out this fall), as well as a few articles (Outdoor Photographer – November 2010 – on Point Reyes), and typing many many paragraphs for online critiques, I haven’t been able to blog much.


But I always add my photos, happenings, fun photo links, etc to my Facebook fan page. Check it out – “like” it – invite your photo friends!


Happy Shooting!