Brooke Locker may be 10 years old but she has already spent half of her life dedicated to taking photos. For Brooke, photography is a medium that challenges her and sparks her creativity.

Brooke picked up photography at the young age of 5 after being influenced by her mother, Megan Locker, who is also a photographer. At first, she started with playing around with toy cameras in preschool, then that curiosity eventually morphed into using her mother’s old camera from college to take pictures.

The subjects that capture Brooke’s interest the most are plants and wildlife. With wildlife, Brooke said getting up close and personal is where the fun begins for her. She finds the beauty of her subject by shooting with a macro lens.

“I really like to take photos of plants, but wildlife is full of motion. I also love motion as well as macro (lenses).” Brooke said.

“Macro is so fun, because you can get up close and get details. The main thing I love shooting with macro is taking photos of spiders and grasshoppers.”

Through the DeWitt County Shutterbugs Club, Locker has placed first and third in the Youth Junior Division and third in the adult flowers/plants category.

Since Brooke is one of the youngest members in the Shutterbugs, she wants to encourage her peers to pick up photography. With her mother’s help, she created a photo group in 4-H where other kids her age can meet up and share their photography.

As far as her future goes, Brooke wants to mold her passion for animals into being a wildlife biologist, while still using her talent for photography, when she grows up.

Currently her goal for the near future is to become a state photography ambassador for 4-H and teach other about photography.

“I just want to travel all over the world and study different animals,” Brooke said.