Coastside, Food, Los Altos, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Stanford University

Looking back at all creatures great and small: The Six Fifty’s 2022 year in photos

by The Six Fifty staff December 22, 2022 5:01 pmUpdated July 15, 2025 1:05 pm

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From tiny critters to larger-than-life locals, we take a look back at the year behind the lens.

This year marked the full-fledged attempt at returning to some semblance of pre-pandemic times, with many annual events and customs returning to the Peninsula for the first time since 2019. Our photographers got up close and personal to bring you an array of images from around the region throughout 2022. Here are some of our favorites:

Skateboarder Kat Sy pauses at the top of a ramp at the Foster City Skate Park. Writer Kate Bradshaw spoke to Kat in the spring about the short film “Crashing Wheels on Concrete” that documents her experiences as a queer Asian American female skateboarder. (Photo by Magali Gauthier)

Sitha Yim prepares food for her Cambodian pop-up restaurant Sitha’s Khmerkitchen, including the amok trei served with a side of rice and chopped vegetables. Sitha told writer Anthony Shu about how she learned many of her recipes from watching YouTube videos on her phone. (Photos by Magali Gauthier)

Society of St. Vincent de Paul of San Mateo County volunteers hand food to farmworkers in Pescadero. Anthony Shu wrote about how many farmworkers can’t afford the food they’re growing for the Peninsula. (Photos by Adam Pardee)

Eric Doyle took this photo at Arastradero Preserve in Palo Alto in 2020, which won the landscape category for adults at the 2022 Peninsula Photo Contest. (Photo by Eric Doyle)

Photographer Magali Gauthier and writer Anthony Shu went behind the scenes at SWEET55 in Half Moon Bay to see how the chocolate shop prepares for Valentine’s Day. (Photos by Magali Gauthier)

El Alto partner and chef Traci Des Jardins and chef de cuisine Robert Hurtado in the Los Altos restaurant on March 15. Des Jardins announced the restaurant’s sudden closure in September. (Photo by Magali Gauthier)

Matt Driscoll, owner of The Pizza Series, performs a trick with a silicon pizza dough at the pizzeria on the Stanford University campus on April 21. (Photo by Magali Gauthier)

Steve Squires ran Squires & Corrie Slot Machines in San Mateo from 1977 until it was forced to relocate over the summer due to a new development project. Anthony Shu wrote about what San Mateo lost when the business moved to Stockton. (Photos by Devin Roberts)

A baby bird is fed at the Wildlife Care Center in Burlingame in June. Kate Bradshaw wrote about wildlife rescue workers on the Peninsula and their important work helping orphaned and injured wildlife. (Photo by Devin Roberts)

Co-owners Aaron Porter and Adriana Domínguez-Porter discuss construction on their new restaurant Tal Palo in Los Altos on Sept. 27. They were featured in Sophia Markoulakis’ story on how local restaurateurs have adapted to pandemic-related issues. (Photo by Magali Gauthier)

Pins for sale at Gamelandia in September. The game store opened in the fall in Palo Alto, owned by married couple Berry Hatfield and Lisa Joyce. (Photo by Magali Gauthier)

Children run across the patio of the Loma Mar Store & Kitchen. (Photo by Devin Roberts)

Almira Tursungjan and her sister Kalbi opened Mrs. Khan, one of the Bay Area’s only Uyghur restaurants, in Menlo Park in the fall. (Photos by Magali Gauthier)

Pigeon Point Lighthouse, a Coastside landmark off Highway 1 in Pescadero, turned 150 in November. (Photo by Devin Roberts)

Skyline Ranch Christmas Tree Farm is located on Skyline Boulevard not far from Long Ridge Open Space Preserve in La Honda. Photographer Devin Roberts captured the scene on a wintry December day to accompany a story about the U-cut Christmas tree tradition. (Photo by Devin Roberts)