Here’s an example of the use of the ArvCamera API of Aravis:

#include <arv.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

static gboolean cancel = FALSE;

static void
set_cancel (int signal)
{
	cancel = TRUE;
}

static char *arv_option_camera_name = NULL;
static char *arv_option_debug_domains = NULL;
static gboolean arv_option_snaphot = FALSE;
static gboolean arv_option_auto_buffer = FALSE;
static int arv_option_width = -1;
static int arv_option_height = -1;
static int arv_option_horizontal_binning = -1;
static int arv_option_vertical_binning = -1;

static const GOptionEntry arv_option_entries[] =
{
	{ "name",		'n', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING,
		&arv_option_camera_name,"Camera name", NULL},
	{ "snapshot",		's', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE,
		&arv_option_snaphot,	"Snapshot", NULL},
	{ "auto",		'a', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE,
		&arv_option_auto_buffer,	"AutoBufferSize", NULL},
	{ "width", 		'w', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_INT,
		&arv_option_width,		"Width", NULL },
	{ "height", 		'h', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_INT,
		&arv_option_height, 		"Height", NULL },
	{ "h-binning", 		'\0', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_INT,
		&arv_option_horizontal_binning,"Horizontal binning", NULL },
	{ "v-binning", 		'\0', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_INT,
		&arv_option_vertical_binning, 	"Vertical binning", NULL },
	{ "debug", 		'd', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING,
		&arv_option_debug_domains, 	"Debug mode", NULL },
	{ NULL }
};

int
main (int argc, char **argv)
{
	ArvCamera *camera;
	ArvStream *stream;
	ArvBuffer *buffer;
	GOptionContext *context;
	GError *error = NULL;
	int i;

	g_thread_init (NULL);
	g_type_init ();

	context = g_option_context_new (NULL);
	g_option_context_add_main_entries (context, arv_option_entries, NULL);

	if (!g_option_context_parse (context, &argc, &argv, &error)) {
		g_option_context_free (context);
		g_print ("Option parsing failed: %s\n", error->message);
		g_error_free (error);
		return EXIT_FAILURE;
	}

	g_option_context_free (context);

	arv_debug_enable (arv_option_debug_domains);

	if (arv_option_camera_name == NULL)
		g_print ("Looking for the first available camera\n");
	else
		g_print ("Looking for camera '%s'\n", arv_option_camera_name);

	camera = arv_camera_new (arv_option_camera_name);
	if (camera != NULL) {
		gint payload;
		gint x, y, width, height;
		gint dx, dy;
		double exposure;
		guint64 n_processed_buffers;
		guint64 n_failures;
		guint64 n_underruns;

		arv_camera_set_region (camera, 0, 0, arv_option_width, arv_option_height);
		arv_camera_set_binning (camera, arv_option_horizontal_binning, arv_option_vertical_binning);

		arv_camera_get_region (camera, &x, &y, &width, &height);
		arv_camera_get_binning (camera, &dx, &dy);
		exposure = arv_camera_get_exposure_time (camera);
		payload = arv_camera_get_payload (camera);

		g_print ("image width         = %d\n", width);
		g_print ("image height        = %d\n", height);
		g_print ("horizontal binning  = %d\n", dx);
		g_print ("vertical binning    = %d\n", dy);
		g_print ("exposure            = %g µs\n", exposure);

		stream = arv_camera_new_stream (camera);
		if (arv_option_auto_buffer)
			arv_gv_stream_set_option (ARV_GV_STREAM (stream),
						  ARV_GV_STREAM_OPTION_SOCKET_BUFFER_AUTO,
						  0);

		for (i = 0; i < 30; i++)
			arv_stream_push_buffer (stream, arv_buffer_new (payload, NULL));

		arv_camera_start_acquisition (camera);

		signal (SIGINT, set_cancel);

		do {
			g_usleep (100000);

			do  {
				buffer = arv_stream_pop_buffer (stream);
				if (buffer != NULL) {
					/* Image processing here */
					arv_stream_push_buffer (stream, buffer);
				}
			} while (buffer != NULL);
		} while (!cancel);

		arv_stream_get_statistics (stream, &n_processed_buffers, &n_failures, &n_underruns);

		g_print ("Processed buffers = %Ld\n", n_processed_buffers);
		g_print ("Failures          = %Ld\n", n_failures);
		g_print ("Underruns         = %Ld\n", n_underruns);

		arv_camera_stop_acquisition (camera);

		g_object_unref (stream);
		g_object_unref (camera);
	} else
		g_print ("No camera found\n");

	return 0;
}

A direct use of the Genicam API is shown in the arv-test.c file in the git repository:
http://git.gnome.org/browse/aravis/tree/src/arvtest.c