ever since i started working on this blog, i have had the idea to do a fun giveaway here that really means a lot to me. let me explain.

i have been taking photographs almost my entire life, with a much more focused study of it just in the last few years. i’ve been blessed with some really generous family members, which have given me the opportunity to own some great equipment, and i’m constantly trying to learn as much as i can about the various items i have.

but in all the effort that i had been putting into learning more about photography, there seemed to be something that i just wasn’t able to grasp. i felt comfortable using my camera, i knew where most of the buttons and things were, but i just couldn’t wrap my head around shooting in manual and getting the right exposure for each photo in order to make it turn out the way i wanted. don’t get me wrong, i did take some amazing shots — but i had no idea what to do to replicate them a second time.

then came my birthday this year — my photographer sister gave me a book that i had been gravitating towards for a few months, but just hadn’t had the opportunity to purchase yet. little did i know what this gift would do for me. the book is called ‘understanding exposure‘ by bryan peterson.

let me tell you, this book changed my photographic life. while reading through it, every piece of the puzzle that i had been chasing around and trying to force into this big picture finally fell effortlessly into place and it all made sense. i can’t tell you how grateful i am to mr. peterson for writing such an easy-to-understand guide that helped me immensely. not to mention my great sister for giving it to me. thanks em!

so, to celebrate this new adventure that i’m taking, and this new blog, i’m going to give away two copies of this book to two lucky readers of this little ol’ blog. and trust me, you have a very good chance if you’re reading this right now because it’s so new!

here’s how to enter:

you can earn one entry for either commenting on this post, following me on twitter (@laurellakeypics), re-tweeting this giveaway, blogging about this giveaway, or posting about it on facebook. for each action, comment here and link to your post or facebook link, etc., and you will be entered once for the giveaway. please make sure that you enter your email address when you comment so that i can notify you that you have won.

all entries need to be received by midnight PST, august 24th. once the entries are all received, i will randomly select the 2 winners and promptly send you your prize.

so please, tell everyone you know who is interested in improving their photography skills, that this is the contest for them!

good luck, i can’t wait to see who wins! ttfn!