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The year in images: Times Free Press photographers present their best work from 2016

By Staff Report December 28, 2016 1 min read

Photo Gallery

A year in photos

Bryson Penson runs through the water Wednesday, August 31, 2016 at Joe Stock Memorial Park.

Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 2/4/16. Tim Nelson embraces his wife Sandy Nelson after being reduced by East Ridge Fire Rescue members when he became stranded in the rising waters of West Chickamauga Creek near Camp Jordan on Thursday, February 4, 2016. Nelson and Sandy are homeless and Nelson was swept 300-yards from the bridge he was living under suffering a minor case of Hypothermia.

Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 2/8/16. Eric Scealf, front man for the band The Unsatisfied out of Nashville, Tennessee, poses for some portraits in East Chattanooga where he grew up playing in one of the first iterations of his punk rock band years ago.

Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 2/23/16. Water droplets gather on a newly sprouted daffodil in the Fortwood Neighborhood on Tuesday, February 23, 2016.

Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 7/6/16. Emergency personnel work to extract the driver of a tractor-trailer that rolled over while accessing TN-27 southbound from Signal Mountain Blvd. on Wednesday, July 6, 2016. The driver was transported by ambulance after workers spent over an hour to free him.

Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 7/7/16. Family members gather at the scene of the accident to mourn the loss of Justin LaVon Trimble who lost control of his motorcycle upon exiting the Wilcox Tunnel a month ago.

Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 10/12/16. One of two Tennessee Air National Guard helicopters dumps water from above while working with the Tennessee Division of Forestry and other emergency personnel to continue to battle a wildfire burning atop Signal Mountain which started this past weekend.

Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 11/8/16. Four-year-old Kadence Cagle waits as her great-great grandmother Elizabeth Conway votes on November 8, 2016 at the Hixson Fellowship Hall in Red Bank Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 11/22/16. Tennessee Aquarium representatives drag whats left of the Lick Branch of Moccasin Creek on November 18, 2016 to record, capture and rescue the Laurel Dace minnow which have been affected by the drought. The Laurel Dace is a rare minnow found along Walden's Ridge in the Bledsoe and Rhea County streams.

Bobby Hunt, left, custodian, and Adelina "Ling-Ling" Corle, cafeteria worker, are wheeled down the hall Thursday as adoring students honor them at Heritage High School on Thursday.

Twin 8-month-old sisters Hadley Thurman, front, and Hazel Thurman wait with their brother Mason Thurman, age 4, during the Easter at Coolidge event on Sunday, Mar. 27, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Acupuncturist Chad Dupuis works with Amanda Cambron Terra McGill at the Yin Yang House on Wednesday, Apr. 6, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Acupuncture can be used as a treatment for allergies and sinus congestion.

Amber Lehmann climbs out of Stephens Gap Cave, a 100-plus foot drop into the SCCi property in Jackson County, Ala.

Drill instructor Sgt. Josiah Makuch shouts at educators from the Tennessee on the 1st day of the Marine Corps Educators' Workshop at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot on Tuesday, April 26, 2016, in Parris Island, South Carolina. Educators are given the opportunity to experience life as a marine corps recruit in boot camp during the 3-day workshop.

Sherlene Lucas, from Washington, D.C., hugs her son Pvt. Alexander Lucas, a new Marine, upon seeing him for the first time since his departure for boot camp 13 weeks ago at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot on Thursday, April 28, 2016, in Parris Island, South Carolina. The new Marines were released to spend time with their families for family day on the day before their graduation ceremony.

Law enforcement officers from around the region wait to lay roses during the annual Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony on Market Street in front of the City-County Courts Building on Tuesday, May 10, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The annual ceremony honors the region's law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the course of duty.

Brainerd Seniors process pass the cheering students on the decorated second floor of Orchard Knob Elementary. The 2016 graduating class of Brainerd High School walked through the halls of Orchard Knob Elementary in their caps and gowns, as a representation of the "vision" for where the elementary students will one day be.

Dodgers player Joshua Castaneda, center, high-fives Yankees player William Hiestand as he rounds the bases with Jadyn Bennett, left, during a Miracle League ballgame at the Miracle Field on Saturday, May 21, 2016, in Rocky Face, Ga. Fundraising efforts are underway to bring a Miracle Field to Warner Park in Chattanooga.

Treasure Strickland, left, and Keaira Colbert comfort each other during a vigil in memory of Ashley McKenzie at the corner of Cambridge Drive and Carousel Road Tuesday, June 14, 2016. McKenzie was killed late Monday night.

Keily Camarillo dances with CLILA's Danza Folclorica during the Folk and Traditional Arts Festival Sunday, June 26, 2016 at the Creative Discovery Museum.

Pastor Charlotte Williams wears rainbow eyeshadow as she speaks during a Black Lives Matter protest in Miller Park on Thursday, July 21, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Protesters marched from Miller Park to the Tennessee Aquarium and back, stopping and blocking numerous intersections along the route.

Waverly Krystaponis kisses the Chattanooga Police Department patch on her husband Officer Adam Krystaponis's uniform during an interfaith vigil outside the Chattanooga Police Services Center on Saturday, July 23, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The vigil was held as a show of solidarity between the community and police.

Five-year old Amelia Dempsey, of LaFayette, Georgia, nussles her mule, Rosie, has they compete in the 3-year and under class. Ider, Alabama held their annual Mule Day on Labor Day, September 5, 2016.

People watch from an empty parking space on Market Street as Caroline Blair with Chattanooga Ballet performs at the annual PARK(ing) Day event on Friday, Sept. 16, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Artists and businesses temporarily took over parallel parking spaces in downtown Chattanooga with art displays and demonstration booths.

Artist Wayne White, left, works on the cardboard face of Confederate General Patrick Cleburne for Saturday's Glass Street LIVE parade. The oversize puppets, fifteen-feet-tall, will be used to commemorate the Centennial of the National Park Service. The event is brought to you by the Shaking Ray Levi Society.

Brad Rogerson, from Holly Springs, N.C., practices with Hooley Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016 at Coolidge Park. The 2016 Hyperflite Skyhoundz World Canine Disc Championship takes place this weekend in Coolidge Park.

Mason Beldin lays in a container of corn kernals at Old McDonald Farm on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016, in Sale Creek, Tenn. Sunday marks the farm's final day of fall festivities.

The colors of fall foliage reflect in the shaded waters of the Hiwassee River downstream from Reliance, Tennessee. Fall color was still evident along the Hiwassee River in the Polk County on October 30, 2016 .

Earl Blanks stands in his Montlake Mountain yard and watches the Flipper Bend fire on the other side of the North Chickamauga Creek late Monday. Crews from Tennessee State Parks, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture Forestry Division and U.S. Forestry Service personnel from the Bureau of Land Management were on scene as two Air National Guard BlackHawk helicopters sporadically dumped water on the expanding blaze.

Two major fires burn at the Flipper Bend forest fire atop Walden Ridge in this view to the southwest from Montlake. The lights on the horizon, at left, is the Northgate Mall portion of Hixson. Crews from Tennessee State Parks, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture Forestry Division and U.S. Forestry Service personnel from the Bureau of Land Management were on scene as two Air National Guard BlackHawk helicopters sporadically dumped water on the expanding blaze.

A young black Labrador dog drinks, at sunset, from the Tennessee River just upstream from the Shelby Rhinehart Bridge. The 750 foot long span was build in 1981 to replace the South Pittsburg to New Hope Ferry.

Chattanooga fire Lt. Jerry Copeny carries a woman from the scene of a residential fire at 934 East 10th Street on Sunday, Dec. 25, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. According to the Chattanooga Fire Department, the victim was treated for first degree burns to both hands and smoke inhalation on the scene before being transported to Erlanger Hospital.

Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 12/12/16. Jerod "Swayyvo" Morton is a rapper, beat producer and saxophone player who lives and collaborates with five other musicians in their Brainerd, Tenn., residence.

Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 12/14/16. SSGT. Jeff Cantu looks out of the National Guard and Armed Forces Career Services Center window before participating in a wreath laying ceremonuy at the Lee Highway shooting memorial on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016. The wreaths were delivered by a police escort of Walmart tractor trailers where an intimate gathering of armed forces personnel and family members witnessed the event.

Ricky Varnell waits for a work assignment outside of the day-labor staffing company Command Center on Brainerd Road at 6 a.m. in September of 2015. Once he and others have been given their day's job assignments, they travel to their work sites and often carpool.

Tim Jones, left, rides a bus home from the Chambliss Center, where his sons Tariq, center, and Timothy go to school, in September of 2015. Without a car, picking up his kids from school involves a lengthy bus journey to make the 9 mile round trip from downtown to Brainerd.

Tim makes oatmeal for his sons before school while Timothy, left, plays a reading game on the computer and Tariq sleeps in a pull-out trundle next to Tim's bed in his studio apartment.

Tim plays basketball with Tariq at the YMCA across from their apartment building. Since his studio apartment is small, Tim tries to go out with his kids to keep them entertained.

Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 11/30/16. Shaylyn Jeffery holds the building owner's dog

Chattanooga Times Free Press photographers look back at the year 2016 with a collection of their favorite images.

Mobile app users can view the photo gallery here.

We’ve gathered the top 10 Chattanooga area stories of 2016 here.