2009 in Focus: Best of Times photography

R&B star Usher rests his hand on Michael Jackson’s coffin as he sings Jackson’s “Gone Too Soon” during the star’s memorial service at Staples Center. Jackson died June 25. Past coverage >>>  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Sgt. Maj. Leroy Walker lets his emotions show during a candlelight vigil at the Ft. Hood Army post in Texas for the 13 victims of a mass shooting on Nov. 5. An Army psychologist, Maj. Nadal Malik Hasan, is charged in the killings.  (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Kobe Bryant celebrates after the Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic, 99-86, in Game 5 of the NBA Finals to win the 15th championship for the franchise. Read related story >>>  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Kate Winslet goes backstage after her win for best actress at the 81st annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Read related story >>>  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

President-elect Barack Obama takes the oath of office on Jan. 20 accompanied by his family.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Pavement buckled beneath a Los Angeles city fire truck in September, pulling the 42,000-pound vehicle into a massive sinkhole in Valley Village. It was one of the worst in a spate of water main ruptures this fall that have puzzled city officials and flooded city streets.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

LAPD officers arrest a man in a Spider Man outfit after he allegedly assaulted a man on the 6800 block of Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. The victim refused to press charges, but the Spider Man character -- one of several people in Spider Man costumes there at the time -- was nevertheless booked on outstanding misdemeanor charges.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Wyb Kusters, right, visiting from Holland, sings along with Anthony Aquarius as he performs a Jimi Hendrix song on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. Aquarius is a particularly accurate Hendrix impersonator. He moved to L.A. from Ohio in 2008 to hone his act.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Magneto, left, and Jackson bail from their surfboards after a long ride during the inaugural Surf City Surf Dog competition, a fundraiser for animal welfare organizations. Each dog had 12 minutes to catch as many waves as possible. Read related story >>>  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

A surfer spends Martin Luther King Jr. Day waiting for a wave as a golden sunset streams through a tree amidst warm temperatures at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Richie Igama, a certified nursing assistant, gently cradles Austin Rustrum, 4, during a pool therapy session at the George Mark Children’s House in San Leandro. Austin, suffering from cerebral palsy, epilepsy and a rare birth defect, was visiting the hospice for respite care. The facility was in danger of closing as the economy took a toll on donations, which it relies on to meet expenses.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Ceaser Holguin, 8, holds a cross commemorating victims of gang violence during a rally for LAURA (Life After Uncivil Ruthless Acts), an organization founded by Adela Barajas at Fred Robers Park. Past coverage >>>  (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

Billi Gordon, 55, weighed 701 pounds when he was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with a massive growth on his right thigh. He needed an MRI to help diagnose the mass, but the machine for the exam had a weight limit of 530 pounds. So Gordon went on a diet, losing the weight he needed to get the test.  (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

Tlaashchii Gordy, 6, a Navajo, plays in northeastern Arizona on tribal land that was claimed by both the Navajo nation and the Hopi tribe. In 1966, the commissioner of Indian Affairs halted development on the land. The dispute dragged on for 40 years, and no building or upkeep was allowed. An agreement was reached in 2006, but now residents wonder how to revive the area and their lives.  (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

“The things he knows now about adult sexuality effectively separate him from his friends,” says the mother of this boy, who the Los Unified School District concluded was molested by an aide. The boy, who searches for game controllers, is reflected in a television screen.  (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

Edwin Shneidman worded his epitaph (“Lucky, Bright, Loving, Ambitious”) to be as succinct as his wife Jeanne’s (“Beautiful, Bright, Loving, Serene”). Schneidman, a pioneer in the field of suicide prevention, died in May.  (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

Robert Howard Bennett, 40, makes his way through a tent city near the American River where about 200 homeless people reside in Sacramento. The tent city, in existence for about a year, became a symbol of the U.S. financial crisis, appearing on such disparate television shows and networks as “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and Al Jazeera. Read related story >>>  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

A man known as “Raven” shoots at pigeons at his camp under the 7th Street Bridge next to the Los Angeles River in Long Beach. The gritty lifestyles and threat of violence along the river were highlighted by the killings of five people in November 2008.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Within two weeks after her first surgery, Ana Rodarte looks in the mirror for the first time and is pleased with the large amounts of tumor that were removed by Dr. Munish Batra’s team of doctors at his Del Mar office. Batra also removed the sutures and staples and reassured her that the swelling was typical after such procedures and only temporary. Ana’s facial tumors were similar to the Elephant Man’s.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Maria Bautista leads a prayer during a vigil in front of a Wilmington home where a couple and five children were found dead. The deaths came after the couple, Ervin and Ana Lupoe, had lost their jobs at Kaiser for allegedly falsifying income records to qualify for a child-care program.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Bryan Bixler of Laguna Beach is 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs 84 pounds. The 39-year-old has anorexia and needs intensive coordinated treatment at an eating disorder center. Bixler’s Medi-Cal insurance would pay for medical help and psychiatric or psychological treatment but not for the long-term care.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A group of young men watch the Station fire from a hill overlooking Tujunga. The fire, which began Aug. 26 near the Angeles Crest Highway, killed two firefighters and burned more than 160,000 acres. The cause of the blaze, which burned 250 square miles of the Angeles National Forest, was arson, officials said. Read related story >>>  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Julie Garcia, 59, and her daughter Jessi, 19, share an emotional embrace after seeing their home gutted by wildfire. The Station fire that swept through their neighborhood on La Paloma Canyon Road in Tujunga destroyed about 90 homes, killed two Los Angeles County firefighters and burned more than a quarter of the Angeles National Forest. Read related story >>>  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

From a lakeside dock in Yucaipa Regional Park, the McHenry family cheers as a Sikorsky S-64 Sky Crane firefighting helicopter goes in for another load of water. The parents and their son spent the night camping in the park after being ordered to evacuate their nearby home as the Pendleton and Oak Glen fires raged. By about midday, half a dozen aircraft were dousing hot spots and the blazes were all but extinguished. Together the two fires charred nearly 2,000 acres. Read related story >>>  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Four days after the Station fire broke out in Angeles National Forest, a towering cloud billows over downtown L.A. The forest continued to burn for six weeks, threatening to destroy the historic observatory and crucial telecommunications towers on Mt. Wilson.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Drew Gallagher, 23, says a prayer for singer Michael Jackson at a memorial near the Jackson family home on Hayvenhurst Avenue in Encino. Jackson’s death June 25 at age 50 came a month before his comeback concert series in London was to begin. The death is still under investigation, and Jackson’s personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, remains the focus of the probe. Past coverage >>>  (Christine Cotter / Los Angeles Times)

Michael Jackson’s funeral procession arrives at Forest Lawn Cemetery on Tuesday July 7, 2009.   (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Hikers return from a trek over the Matanuska Glacier in Alaska, an active glacier that is 24 miles long and two miles wide. Conservationists worry about the ice’s future amid increased shipping in the Arctic that could triple ozone pollution in the region and accelerate melting.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Researcher Lawrence Plug sets up a camera and tripod as the aurora borealis shifts and sparkles above the Arctic Circle in Alaska. Plug is part of an ambitious two-year study, funded by the National Science Foundation and NASA, that is examining thawing permafrost in Alaska and Siberia and how it relates to climate change.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Engaged couple Robert Franco and Shawn Higgins embrace and kiss as police observe anti-Proposition 8 demonstrators at Grove and Van Ness in San Francisco. Hundreds of people gathered at the steps of the California State Supreme Court building to hear the court’s decision on Proposition 8, an amendment passed by voters to make same-sex marriage illegal in California. The 6-1 ruling upheld the ban on gay marriage. Read related story >>>  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Border Patrol agents near Rodeo, N.M., picked up the trail of these suspected drug smugglers. After capturing and handcuffing the six men, the suspects were made to carry their packs of contraband to a road about a half-mile away. The six backpacks held a total of about 275 pounds of marijuana, with a street value of $220,000.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Hussein, left, gets help shooting heroin, with a clean needle, from fellow addict Anwar at an abandoned building in Kabul. With them is Jaffer, who later joined a 30-day rehab program. With the increase in opium poppy production, Afghanistan has seen a sharp increase in drug addiction, even though most of the opium is shipped to Europe. Full story  (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

A man is among dozens of Taliban suspects arrested in the town of Khwazakhela, in Pakistan’s troubled Swat Valley. Pakistan launched a major military offensive against the Taliban in the northwestern region, driving them out of major towns. Read more about the offensive in Swat.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Ten-year-old Anwar Khail tries to get a block of ice at a refugee camp in Pakistan. The camp held about 20,000 people, among nearly 2 million who fled the fighting in Swat, where the military launched a major offensive against the Taliban. Read more about Pakistan’s offensive.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Augustine Beyai, from Gambia, was brought to Quinhamel Center, said to be Guinea-Bissau’s only drug rehab facility, by his family. Guinea-Bissau, a small, unstable West African nation, has become the ideal stop for gangs smuggling drugs from South America to Europe. Full story  (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

At Princess Christian Maternity Hospital in Freetown, Theresa Mattia, 19, is about to undergo an emergency C-section in an operating room illuminated by small generator-powered lights. The public health system in the West African nation of Sierra Leone is a shambles and the government teeters on the edge. Some fear it could become another Somalia. Full story  (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

A Mexican soldier and officers from the Ciudad Juarez police cover the body of Daniel Chavez, one of six victims of violent crime that day in the bullet-riddled border city south of El Paso. Chavez reportedly was a member of the Aztecas drug gang and was gunned down in a drive-by assault. Read more about Mexico’s drug war  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Trevor Ariza gives an all-out effort and dives into the crowd at Staples Center in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals against Houston. Ariza helped the Lakers win the NBA championship, then signed with the Rockets after the season.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Kobe Bryant holds up four fingers to show how many NBA championships he has won with the Lakers after they defeated the Orlando Magic in June.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Lakers guard Derek Fisher yells to fans along the route of the team’s victory parade in June, after the Lakers won the NBA Finals, four games to one. It was the team’s 15th title. Read related story >>>  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Angels catcher Mike Napoli writes in the dirt in front of the mural of pitcher Nick Adenhart before a July 28 game at Angel Stadium. Adenhart was killed in a car accident in April and served as an inspiration to the team as it reached the American League Championship Series.  (Alex Gallardo / Los Angeles Times)

The Dodgers’ Mark Loretta gets a lift from Matt Kemp, and Russell Martin joins the celebration after Loretta delivered the winning pinch-hit against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 2 of the National League division series. The Dodgers swept the series, then were eliminated by the Philadelphia Phillies for the second year in a row. Read related story >>>  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

USC freshman quarterback Matt Barkley gets fired up in the Coliseum tunnel before the Trojans faced Oregon State in October. USC had an up-and-down year and didn’t win the Pacific 10 Conference title for the first time in eight seasons. Read related story >>>  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Hugh Jackman opens the show at the 81st annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Read related story >>>  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Actress Kate Winslet, winner of the best actress Golden Globe for “Revolutionary Road” and best supporting actress for “The Reader,” is photographed at the Greenwich Hotel in New York City. Read related story >>>  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Rock icon Bruce Springsteen, photographed at the Convention Hall in Asbury Park, N.J., before he began touring with his new album, “Working on a Dream.”  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Gustavo Dudamel conducts the L.A. Philharmonic for the first time as music director in the inaugural gala and opening-night concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Read related story >>>  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Architect and former punk rocker and studio artist Robert Stone stands in the outdoor living room of his one-bedroom desert dwelling, Rosa Muerta, on the outskirts of Joshua Tree. The low-slung black pavilion’s living room is appointed with a large spa, fire pit and free-standing barbecue. “I’m not interested in big unconventional approaches to architecture,” Stone says. “I think there is room in architecture for capturing the moment and local situations -- something both cultural and site specific.”  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Red is hot for fall footwear, and designers are offering it in pumps and boots with impossibly tall heels. Clockwise from top left, Casadei open-toe heels with straps, Christian Dior lace-up high-heel ankle boots and Valentino D’Orsay peep-toe pumps with bow.  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Every morning before the Monterey Bay Aquarium opens, its resident penguins swim and play while their habitat is cleaned by staff and volunteers. The aquarium, one of the state’s leading tourist attractions, celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Read related story >>>  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)