Teen’s photos of West Marin wildlife win awards

Leo Dale does not mean to sound ungrateful, recalling the countless hikes on which he accompanied his parents, starting when he was a small boy.

But sometimes, when his mother and father would stop to admire a wildflower or vista, “I would get bored and want to do something,” recalled Dale, 18, who graduated from Sonoma Academy last spring and is now a freshman at Colby College in Maine.

He started bringing along a camera. What began as a pastime and hobby for the Sonoma Valley resident has now evolved into a consuming passion.