A selection of the Beacon's best imagery from the past year
By Hunter D'Antuono
Canoeists on the Swan River at sunset on July 20, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon
Photographs convey what words cannot, which makes the two the perfect pairing in storytelling. While words can revive the past, detail the present, and sometimes even predict the future, the only way to make a photograph is in the moment, and every story is an assemblage of moments. Here is a selection of frames where time, space, and light came together just so, as seen through the lens of the Beacon in 2023.
Bridget Smith of Flathead High School and Madisyn Frazier of Glacier High School square off at the annual crosstown wrestling duel at Flathead High School in Kalispell on Jan. 19, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconProfessional whitewater kayaker Cheyenne Rogers pictured on the banks of the Clark Fork River in Missoula on Jan. 24, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconThe 44th annual Barstool Ski Races in Martin City on Feb. 10, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconHoshigaki, or Japanese dried persimmons, dehydrate on strings in Stone Hill Kitchen in Bigfork on Jan. 29, 2023. The persimmons posses a sweet, honeyed flavor with notes of cinnamon and ginger, while the drying process lends the fruit a delightfully chewy, candied texture. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconMarc Racicot, former governor of Montana, at his home in Missoula on Feb. 22, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconJoe Senger ice fishes in Somers Bay on Flathead Lake on March 5, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconSt. Patrick’s Day parade in downtown Kalispell on March 17, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconKiel Guffin shoots a .22 rifle as part of a Fish, Wildlife and Parks hunter education course at the Spring Brook Ranch in Kalispell on March 25, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconA gull sprints across the waters of Somers Beach on the north shore of Flathead Lake on April 1, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconWhitefish Mountain Resort’s 16th annual pond skim on April 8, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon.National Park Service crews clear snow from Going-to-the-Sun Road near Haystack Creek Falls in Glacier National Park on April 24, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconHeavy equipment operator Mike Hudson stands by the auger of a snow blower parked along Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park on April 24, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconA windmill is reflected in the waters of a marsh along the Flathead River in Kalispell on April 12, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconCody Baur, owner of Coyote boutique of Columbia Falls, cruises down Montana Hwy 28 west of Elmo in a Mustang with his wares on May 1, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconRafters run the Swan River’s Wild Mile during the Bigfork White Water Festival on May 28, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconA silhouetted osprey in its nest along the north shore of Flathead Lake at sunset near Somers on June 6, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconA grizzly bear track in the mud along trail in the Cut Bank Area of Glacier National Park on June 1, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconA rainbow trout swims through a stream in the Marion area on June 11, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconFlowers blossom along Bird Woman Pass above Hidden Lake in Glacier National Park on June 13, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconMany Glacier and climb to Allen Mountain via the Snowmoon Basin in Glacier National Park on June 17, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconBighorn sheep munch on glacier lilies on Logan Pass in beneath Reynolds Mountain in Glacier National Park on June 13, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconA mountain goat is silhouetted on the slopes of Mount Cannon in Glacier National Park on June 13, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconConnie Rippe, wife of Marine veteran Mike Rippe, places her hand on “The Wall That Heals,” a portable, three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on display at Glacier High School in Kalispell on June 22, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconThe Blackfeet Nation releases a herd of bison into the wild near Babb on June 26, 2023, marking the first time bison have freely roamed the landscape in 150 years. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconMarvin Weatherwax Jr., a Blackfeet leader and Montana legislator, pictured near Babb on June 26, 2023, where the tribe release a herd of bison to roam freely on the landscape. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconHank Williams Jr. performs at Under The Big Sky music festival in Whitefish, July 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconHank Williams Jr. fans at Under The Big Sky music festival in Whitefish, July 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconUnder The Big Sky music festival rodeo in Whitefish, July 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconCanoeists on the Swan River at sunset on July 20, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconThistle Class Association National Championship sail boat race on Flathead Lake in Somers on July 21, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconThe Niarada Fire burns through timber and prairie west of Elmo and north of Highway 28 on July 30, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconThe sun sets through the smoke of the East Fork Fire near Olney on Aug. 18, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconLaura Chenier swims in Yellow Bay on Flathead Lake on Aug. 7, 2023. Chenier made the first known swim of the widest section of the lake, swimming from Elmo to Yellow Bay. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconA skydiver parachutes into the drop zone at the Lost Prairie Boogie in Marion on Aug. 12, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconKeegan Siebenaler of the Glacier Mountaineering Society climbs Reynolds Mountain in Glacier National Park on Aug. 10, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconShawn McDyre of Sun Hands Farm holds a cluster of chestnut mushrooms in Kalispell. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconSteve Larson hikes along the ridge to the summit of Mount Gould in Glacier National Park on Sept. 9, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconAndrea Nunez from Costa Rica, Joe Hauserman from Germany and Iris Aba Mae from The Philippines are pictured after becoming U.S. citizens at a naturalization ceremony at Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park on Sept. 29, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconAerial views of Libby and the Kootenay River on Oct. 4, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconFall colors around Pumpelly Pillar in the Two Medicine Area of Glacier National Park on Oct. 8, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconLarch in the Essex area on Oct. 22, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconTrick-or-treaters roam the streets of Kalispell on Oct. 31, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconAn inversion as viewed from Blacktail Mountain on Nov. 18, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconOlivia Genovese, Norah Schmidt and Isabelle Cooke of the Whitefish High School soccer team pictured in Kalispell on Nov. 29, 2023. Whitefish won the 2023 Class A state championship. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconA thick fog shrouds Kelly Rae’s gas station in Batavia on Dec. 6, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconArmy Air Force veteran Neil Holiday pets Stella the Clydesdale at the Montana Veterans’ Home in Columbia Falls on Dec. 13, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead BeaconChristmas lights from Electric Avenue in Bigfork are reflected in the waters of Bigfork Bay on Dec. 21, 2023. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon
