Leo Dale’s stunning image of a coyote at sunset won first place in the Young Nature Photographers (under 18) of the National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) annual photo competition. Dale, who turned 18 in September 2025, took the photo at Point Reyes National Seashore in November 2024. He submitted it to the NWF in the early summer and was notified in October that his photo had won. The prominent nonprofit, dedicated to the preservation of wildlife, asked him for some words to accompany the photo, which will be published in the Winter issue of the NWF Magazine.
“I feel like coyotes enjoy trotting across ridges, so I am always on the lookout for them around dusk. As a magnificent and clouded sunset was materializing, I spotted this coyote on a distant ridge. I hurried to position myself and was able to catch the canine as it was crossing a ranch road with lower grasses.” The shot was from about 500 feet away.
Dale explains that he chose this particular photo to submit because it is a “dramatic, fairly unique image, and I really like the feel of the shot.”…