Photos of the Year 2019 by The Gazette photographers

I was assigned with getting some weather features on a snowy February day. I noticed the lights wrapped around trees lining the street and thought it might make a nice photo of a pedestrian framed between the our-of-focus lights. I used a 300mm lens to compress the distance between the cross walk and two of the trees. I prefocused on the cross walk and waited for people to walk through the frame. Ideally, I was hoping for someone wearing a brightly-colored coat. That didn't happen. I was happy with how the man's head is framed by the light. A man is framed by lights wrapped around trees as he walks along the sidewalk near the intersection of S. Linn St. and Iowa Avenue in Iowa City, Iowa, on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Nearly 80 years after his death in the attack on Pearl Harbor, the remains of Navy Signalman 3rd Class William Shanahan were identified and returned to Cedar Rapids, and the Shanahan family graciously allowed us to document the services. Shanahan had been baptized at St. Patrick's Catholic Church, and a funeral mass had been held following his death, so the return of his remains to the same church was especially meaningful. I knew a key moment would be the procession into the church, and positioned myself in the balcony to capture the grandeur of the church with the casket centered in the frame. The casket of Navy Signalman 3rd Class William Shanahan is brought into the sanctuary for the funeral service at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2019. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

It was a nice warm day when I ventured out to the lake with writer Erin Jordan for this story. There was an algae warning posted outside the gates to the swimming area, but there were still plenty of people there having a swim, including two girls who were just busy enjoying themselves, oblivious to the warning and to me. In the end, I took off my sandals and waded into the water a ways to cool off as well. Tessa Mann, 12, of Cedar Rapids plays in the water at Lake Macbride State Park Beach in Solon on Thursday, June 27, 2019. The lake saw its first ever microcystin warning issued by the DNR following a harmful algae bloom caused by rainy weather and vegetation growth, according to the park's manager. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

Pilot Peter Teahen and co-pilot John Ockenfels fly over the Cedar Rapids area on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019. Admittedly, it is rather easy to make an interesting photo when you're about 3,000 feet over the city as the sun is beginning to set What isn't easy, of course, is getting there. Teahen and Ockenfels are planning a flight around the globe beginning in late March of 2020 and were being featured for a story, they were excited to take me along for a flight. The hard part: working with Iowa's winter weather, a busy photographer's schedule (at one point had to turn Teahen down for a flight because I was busy photographing former Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry) and of course, moving around a small plane with three cameras trying to avoid motion sickness while looking through a lens down at the ground (and back to the cockpit and then back to the ground again and again). Difficulty aside, though, any assignment involving flight is likely to be a favorite of the month, or in this case, year for me. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Ambassador Tim Yuengel looks out toward Greene Square from the Cedar Rapids Public Library while waiting out a rain storm on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019. Tim and his wife, Denise, were homeless for about three years until coming back in off the street in February of 2019 and are now both ambassadors in a program aimed to reduce conflict in public spaces and decrease the need for police intervention. This story marked my first assignment as a staff photojournalist at the Cedar Rapids Gazette. I was an intern at the paper in the fall of 2015, immediately after graduating from the University of Oregon. I came excited to cover the 2016 election and Iowa but never guessed I would be lucky enough to return as a staff member. I was excited to be diving into such an important story on my first day and was welcomed with kindness and warmth by Tim and Denise, making for an excellent return to the paper. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Kelsea Ballerini's stage design was dominated by large video boards, but as the lights came down during one song the simple backlight created a beautiful silhouette. In the midst of thousands of screaming fans, through my lens it felt like a very quiet moment. Ballerini performs at US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids on Friday, May 10, 2019. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

I winced inside when the co-founder of the Iowa Farm Sanctuary said that most of the work tending to the animals is done in the mornings. I didn't have high hopes for finding a nice moment to illustrate the story. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw volunteer Kevin Recknor, of Iowa City, Iowa, laying with Molly Brown in the barn at the Iowa Farm Sanctuary in Marengo, Iowa, on Thursday, April 25, 2019. Molly came to the sanctuary after being found in a semi-trailer at a truck wash. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

The fun part about covering RAGBRAI is seeing how small towns pull out all the stops to entertain the riders. Troy welcomed visitors with the usual refreshments, but also a few unusual ones: a salt lick for replacing lost electrolyites and a chance to bob for metal rings in a stock tank filled with water and giant blocks of ice. Gordon Zheng of New York City takes a dip in a stock tank full of ice water in Troy during RAGBRAI on Thursday, July 25, 2019. Riders trekked 66 miles from Centerville to Fairfield on day five of the annual ride. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

A man continues his walk across the Third Avenue bridge after taking a photograph of water vapor rising from the surface of the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2019. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Officer Morgan Kukla (right) and Officer Blake Crutchley (left) of the Police Community Action Team search a vehicle during a traffic stop on Mount Vernon Road in Cedar Rapids on Friday, Jan. 4, 2019. The team siezed its first gun of the new year during the stop. The PCAT team was started three years ago to engage with citizens in certain neighborhoods in a more in depth and longterm way to address crime, especially gun violence. In its three years, the group has doubled the number of guns it has confiscated. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

Paramedic Zack Berger pushes the gurney from out of the ambulance to get a patient in Iowa City on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Dr. Jenni Doll performs surgery on a cat at the Iowa Humane Alliance regional spay/neuter clinic in Cedar Rapids on Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. The male cat was not ear-tipped or tattooed, both signs of being neutered, while also showing some physical signs of being unfixed. Dr. Doll confirmed in surgery that he had been neutered, and tattooed his belly. The low-cost clinic can spay or neuter up to 40 animals in a day and offers special packages for community cats, including a 'Last Litter' program for mother cats and her litter of kittens. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

If you've been keeping up with The Gazette for the last couple of months, you'll know that education reporter Molly Duffy and I are spending the schoolyear embedding at McKinley STEAM Academy in Cedar Rapids. We're looking at public education, their transition to a STEAM academy, and issues facing schools. While working on our second story about the history of the building, we learned that many people consider it to be haunted. And it just so happened that one of the school's custodians and his wife are paranormal investigators. So for fun, we got permission to do some ghost hunting late one Friday night. Josh and Katie Hopkins took us through the school's darkest passageways in search of signs of paranormal activity. While the pair were unable to reach a definitive conclusion based on what we saw and heard, they maintain that the school is ripe for haunting. Maybe our readers will find clues in the photos that we've missed. (For more haunting images, visit www.thegazette.com/mckinleymatters.) Armani Smith-Gibbs of Cedar Rapids listens as a radio frequency scanner searches for nearby activity at McKinley STEAM Academy in Cedar Rapids on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019. Josh Hopkins and his wife, Katie Hopkins of Cedar Rapids (not pictured) are paranormal investigators who have (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

This was a pretty quick moment to capture as Lance showed me around his property. I had just enough time to dial in some negative exposure compensation since the camera's meter would likely be fooled by the large percentage of darkness in the scene and over expose the frame. I normally shoot in aperture priority, where I set the lens opening and the camera sets the shutter speed depending on the ISO sensitivity and amount of ambient light. I find that I can concentrate on making good pictures instead of worrying about continually adjusting my exposure as the light keeps changing. I've been doing this job long enough that I know the situations where the camera is going to be fooled. Lance Lillibridge walks out of a grain bin storing corn from the last harvest at his farm in rural Vinton, Iowa on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019. Lillibridge uses the wet and rainy conditions to do maintenance on his equipment as well as working to empty the last 60,000 bushels of corn from the bin. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Emmaline Fievet, a biochemistry and molecular biology student at Cornell College, measures milkweed plants in a prairie at Indian Creek Nature Center on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019. Cornell College professor Tammie Middlestein and her students have been researching aspects of monarch habitat for the last five years in an effort to better understand monarch reproduction. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

Middle school boys joke around as they wait for the dparture of the activity bus to their neighborhood at Central Middle School in Waterloo on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019. Any student in the district can ride the acticvity bus, which drops them off at the school where their extracurricular activity meets. Teachers say they see kids participating in sports and clubs who may not otherwise be able to, which in turn has strengthened the quality of after-school activities. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

Sense of place is important in our work at The Gazette, so when given the opportunity to see the roof of Veterans Memorial Building, just after sunrise, I made sure to capture the river and surrounding buildings. Paul Pestel (left), Veterans Memorial Facilities Director, and Tony Hlas, maintenance supervisor, position a mural for installation onto the columns of the Veterans Memorial Building in Cedar Rapids on Friday, June 7, 2019. The mural is part of the HOPE Mural Project organized by Jason Everett of Cedar Rapids, and features letters created by Cedar Rapids artist Melissa Collins (H), Iowa City artist Mike Stenerson (E), and Kurdish artists Awa F. Bakr and Vanila Van. The mural will be displayed through June 24. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

A pineapple hangs above the wood-fired stove and cooktop to absorb heat and smoke at La Vecina in Coralville on Tuesday, June 25, 2019. The restaurant brings modern Mexican cuisine to Iowa River Landing in an open, wood-fired kitchen setting. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

Miles Prior, 2, plays with a toy train while waiting for a steam engine ride with his mother Kendra Prior of Tiffin during the Oxford Sesquicentennial on Thursday, July 4, 2019. The town was founded in 1868 but delayed the 150th celebration by a year. Events continue through Saturday. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Kids play on a merry-go-round in Tucker Park in Cedar Rapids on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

Sid Karasek, 15, of Marion is photographed on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2019. Karasek, who suffers from multiple chronic illnesses, recently started a support group for teens who also struggle with chronic illness. The group meets at the Marion Public Libaray. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

Avia Birker, 5, and Gia Birker, 7, of Vinton eat ears of sweet corn at a celebration of Vinton's Sesquicentennial Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019. The events kicked off a week of festivities to commemorate Vinton's 150th year and included a sweet corn festival throwback, boat parade, and live music by the river. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

Clockwise from top left, Christine DeShazo of Murphysboro, Ill., Joy Kjer of Lincoln, Neb., and Carol Kaufmann of Watseka, Ill., work on the mural 'Educating our Blind' in Vinton on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2019. Artists from across the country have come to Vinton to repaint their original murals, or to add complementary murals on the sides of downtown building. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

I prefocused at the height of the saucer swing's arc then just panned the camera along that arc and shot a frame or two when Bryce reached that point. Kids are fearless. I filed a couple photos that I also liked where both brothers were in the frame. Bryce Hargrow, 11, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, gets a push on the saucer swing from his twin brother Braylon as they play on the new playground equipment at Daniels Park, 940 Oakland Road NE, in northeast Cedar Rapids on Sunday, June 30, 2019. The playground includes a structure with equipment for children ages two to five years, and a second structure that is geared towards children ages five to 12 years. In addition, there are five pieces of stand-alone equipment, slides, a saucer swing, and musical instruments like plastic drums and plastic gourd shakers and learning panels throughout the playground. A net climber was purchased with funds donated by the Cedar Rapids Area Kiwanis. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Christene Dietz of Cedar Rapids shows a monarch butterfly to Beth Livengood of Marion during the Linn Landowner Forum at the Monarch Research Project in Marion on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2019. Dietz raises monarch caterpillars herself and last year released over 100 monarchs. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Cancer survivors pose for a photo before the Especially For You Race Against Breast Cancer in Cedar Rapids on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2019. More than 14 thousand runners and walkers participated in this year's race raise money for the Especially For You fund, which provides free mammograms, breast-care and gynecological services to area people in need. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Brittney Marine with the Circus Collective spits fire during one of the group's performances at the Beat the Bitter Fire and Ice Friday free family fun night at Penn Meadows Park in North Liberty, Iowa, on Friday, Feb. 1, 2019. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk speaks during a Culture War event at the University of Iowa memorial union in Iowa City on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

A ball left behind by Paul Turenne of Winnipeg, Canada, reads 'Je t'aime Toujours' (I love you forever) — a note written for his late father at the Field of Dreams movie site in Dyersville, Iowa, on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Susan Salterberg of Iowa City looks down from the top of of the Celebration Barn in Solon to celebrate the winners of the 2019 Hagie Heritage Award on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. Pat and Enid Cancilla of Iowa City won the award from the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation for their decades-long efforts at restoring prairie and woodland on their property and for their conservation efforts in Johnson County. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

Jacob Roberts swallows a dose of medical cannabis administered by his mother Mary at their home in Coralville, Iowa, on Thursday, Nov. 28, 2019. Jacob takes the medication to alleviate his chronic pain from an inflammatory disease. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Farmer Jake Pedersen drives his harvester down a line of corn while working a 150-acre field of corn in West Branch on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019. Pedersen and his brother farm about 2,200 acres in total and he said, as of Tuesday evening, that they had between 800 and 900 acres of corn left to harvest. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Caleb Bartlett, 9, of Boone laughs as he falls into a pile of leaves from a tarp carried by his cousins at Palisades-Kepler State Park in Mount Vernon on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2019. Friends of Palisades-Kapler State Park organized the fall cleanup, in which approximately 30 volunteers raked leaves from the campground into the forest to allow grass to come up in the spring. The group started in 2018 and was granted nonprofit status this fall. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Laura Adams of Waterloo pushes her daughter Josie Adams, 2, on a swing on the Greenhill Park Place to Play Playground in Cedar Falls on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019. The accessible playground is easier for Adams to navigate in her wheelchair or with her cane. Adams has become an advocate for disability rights while recovering from rare complications following the birth of her daughter in Dec. 2015. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Jean-Claude Shako is interviewed at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019, about his life following a June 2018 car accident. Shako suffered a brain injury and has been hospitalized since the accident. Because he has not yet lived in the US for five years, he does not qualify for Social Security or Medicaid, leaving him unable to afford long-term care. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Forester Jeremy Kuda trims away low branches from the 2019 City of Cedar Rapids Christmas tree before it is set into place at Greene Square in Cedar Rapids on Monday, Dec. 2, 2019. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

A man walks by the City of Cedar Rapids Christmas Tree as snow falls in Greene Square in Cedar Rapids on Monday, Dec. 9, 2019. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Installer Randy James of Tomlinson Cannon smiles as he puts on his boots to start his work on a quick gutter job on a home in West Branch on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)

Mike Bryant of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, pushes snow off the roof of his vehicle in southeast Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

A demonstrator walks to the sidewalk to continue picketing in front of the McDonald's, 1530 First Avenue NE, with other McDonald's workers and union activists in northeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Thursday, May 23, 2019. The strikers are demonstrating for union rights and a livable wage. The demonstration was part of a coordinated protest in more than a dozen cities on the day of the fast food corporation's annual shareholder meeting. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

People walk past a bicycle sculpture commemorating the 2008 appearance of RAGBRAI to the city along Highway 38 or known locally as Cedar St. in Tipton, Iowa, on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019. The City of Tipton filed an application for a federal BUILD grant. The money from the grant would fund the city's share of a joint city-Iowa Department of Transportation project, estimated to cost $7,418,650, to reconstruct Highway 38 through the city. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)