Edhat’s 2023 Photos of the Year

It’s no secret that we have some amazing photographers in our edhat community, professional and amateur alike.

Kudos to all of our readers who braved precarious conditions to capture important news images, readers with keen eyes to capture the most perfect winter sunset, and readers who find beauty in the simplest of subjects.

We appreciate you all and thank you for sharing your photos with us. We’ve compiled a few photos that received a ton of views, but this by means discredits the beauty of photos we’ve posted that are not included below.

As always, anyone can send photos to info@edhat.com to be considered for publication.

With that said, here are some of our top photos from 2023:

The Blue Angels put on a show in March. (Photo by John Wiley)

Onlookers watch the SpaceX launch from State and Cota Streets early one October morning (Photo by Kayla Mark)

A local bear rummaged through some trash in Montecito (Photo: Jim Alzina)

January storms brought intense rain and flooding. The intersection of Olive and Richardson in Santa Barbara was impassible (Photo by The Sandbox)

The January storms also brought out the “biggest surf in 30 years” according to David Powdrell (Photo by David Powdrell)

After the January rains it was decided to release water from Lake Cachuma. This aerial photo shows the lake meeting the Bradbury Dam (Photo: Lael Wageneck / Santa Barbara County Public Works Dept)

Angela Bassett receiving the Montecito Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in February (Photo by Fritz Olenberger)

A February storm brought snow to the local mountainside prompting some daredevils to quickly build a little ski run off Gibraltar. (Photo by an edhat reader)

Before the ski run fun, the snow storm closed Highway 154 (Photo: Mike Eliason)

Jamie Lee Curtis at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (Photo: Fritz Olenberger)

Santa Barbara’s snow covered mountains in February (Photo by Alex Nobel / Nobelvision.co)

Santa Ynez Valley in February (Photo: George Rose Photography)

The USS Santa Barbara paid a visit in March (Photo by Cody Westheimer)

In March a massive boulder crashed onto Gibraltar Road (Photo by Tyler Casper)

The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado struck a mobile home community in Carpinteria in March (Photo: Amy Katz)

Storms earlier in the year brought a “superbloom” to the Carrizo Plains (Photo: Patti Gutshall)

The Summer Solstice parade brought out many colorful costumes (Photo by Fritz Olenberger)

A storm clearing sunset (Photo by Stargazer Ron)

In August, Tropical Storm Hilary brought rain, thunderstorms, 40 mph erratic winds, and funnel clouds over the burn area of the Plant Fire near New Cuyama. (Photo: Santa Barbara County Fire Department)

Maroon 5 performing at the One805 Live concert to benefit first responders (Photo by Patti Gutshall)

Rally in support of Ukraine at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse in March 2023 (Photo by Robert Bernstein)

Sunrise and Stearns Wharf (By Thomas Joyce)

Fiesta Children’s Parade as part of Old Spanish Days (Photo: Fritz Olenberger)

Members of the local Chumash community greet the arrival of the San Salvador into local waters for the 2023 Old Spanish Days Fiesta. (Photo by Isaac Hernandez for Old Spanish Days)

Rainbow over the Chromatic Gate (Photo by an edhat reader)

Members of the Santa Barbara Teacher’s Association protesting outside the Santa Barbara Unified School District Office in downtown Santa Barbara in April 2023 (Photo: SBTA)