2020 Locals Love Us Favorite Volunteer: Martelle Luedecke

If you spot Martelle Luedecke wandering around without her camera, please check on her. 
Luedecke often travels around the Highland Lakes with her Canon camera slung around her neck, if she doesn’t have it pulled up to her face to snap a shot. And if there’s a Burnet sporting event, she’s probably there taking photos of the student-athletes. 
Just don’t ask her to sell you a photo.
“Anything that has to do with the students, it’s free downloads,” she said. Luedecke offers the photos of students to parents at no cost. She understands what it’s like being a parent with a child in athletics or other activities. Do you cheer for your kid or take photos? 
“If you ask me after a game or something, I probably have hundreds, maybe thousands, of photos of the kids,” she said. “But if you ask me how many photos I have (of my daughter) Briezie, do you know how many I have?”
She held up her forefinger and thumb with just enough space to let a little light through — meaning she only has a few of her daughter, who ran track for Burnet High School. 
“I was always cheering for her, so I don’t have many photos of her, unless someone else took them,” she said. “For me, I do this so parents can support their kids and not worry about taking photographs.”
That's one of the reasons The Picayune Magazine readers and KBEY 103.9 FM Radio Picayune listeners picked her as their Locals Love Us favorite volunteer in the Burnet area. 
But taking photos at local sporting events is just one item on Luedecke’s volunteer resume. She’s also more than willing to share her photography knowledge with students. The Burnet Middle School yearbook advisor asked her to stop by to talk to students about sports photography, and she’s helping Burnet FFA students prepare for their photography program. At Colt Elementary School in Marble Falls, Luedecke gives kids an introduction to nature photography.
Her volunteerism doesn’t stop when she puts down her camera. As a Master Naturalist, Luedecke loves helping people learn about nature as well as experience it. She volunteers at Candlelight Ranch and the Upper Highland Lakes Nature Center. 
Candlelight Ranch offers outdoor education and experiences to at-risk youths or those with special needs. The nature center, located on Reveille Peak Ranch outside of Burnet, hosts tours and programs and presents regular outreach events such as Taste of Nature discussions at Numinous Coffee Roasters in Marble Falls. 
Luedecke is currently pursuing a way to combine her two passions. She’s applying to a master’s program in wildlife ecology with a photography component.
daniel@thepicayune.com