My first introduction to photography, that I can remember, was in 2004 at my uncles wedding. As a five-year-old, I vividly remember running around with multiple Kodak disposable cameras, taking magnificent photos of everyones kneecaps. In fact, if I remember correctly, I filled up five or six disposable cameras with photos. My 5 year-old self could not wait to get those photos developed! Looking back at them today (yes, I still have them) they were horrible.

As I continued to grow up; whatever that means, I continued to photograph much of what was around me: family trips, siblings sports etc. I always enjoyed trying to get the neat shots, especially for sports. But it wasn't until high school that I really began to expand my photography.

Plymouth High School was a great test ground for my photography skills. I began photographing as many events as possible. To date, six years later, I have photographed over 230 different events and taken well over a hundred thousand (100,000) photos of just Plymouth High School events. The best part is that I have been able to offer those photos up to students and community members for free through the wonderful platform called Flickr.

I loved being able to do this while in high school. It was very common to see me walking into school in the morning with not only my backpack, but my camera bag as well. After school, almost every day, I would either go to practice or work out, and then run off to a sporting event in the evening. I would come home every night and edit photos right away... many times working well into the morning. Then, I would get back up and go to school for the next day, often times repeating exactly the same schedule as the day before.

Many of you are thinking that's crazy, right? It was, but I loved it. In fact I loved it so much that, now, as a full-time college student at the University of Wisconsin- Whitewater, I still drive back and forth every weekend to photograph sports and different events around Plymouth. It keeps me busy, but the tradeoff is having been able to meet and build some very neat relationships with hundreds of athletes over the years.

Since high school, I have continued to travel the Midwest, photographing tons of sporting events including both high school and collegiate level. I have met so many amazing people along the way, and have throughly enjoyed the journey!

I have run into a problem, though. As I grow up and look to put myself through college, my cost of living is increasing. Traveling around the great state of Wisconsin is fun, but comes at a cost... a pretty big one. I am asking, if you are a fan of my work, and enjoy me coming around to cover both sporting and non-sporting events, please consider donating a few dollars my way to help with travel expenses. To do so, please visit my website www.Luedtkephotography.com and go to the Flickr tab at the top of the page. I thank you all for your generosity!