In Focus: Staff photos from June 1-7
A fire devours part of Universal Studios Hollywood’s back lot. The large blue screen at center is used for special effects, and the broken-up plane and the set at lower left are from 2005’s “War of the Worlds.” (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
Los Angeles County firefighters mop up after the blaze, which hit the King Kong attraction, New York Street and Courthouse Square. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
A glass mobile provides yet more color to an oceanfront scene that’s eclectic, frenetic and thoroughly undomesticated on Ocean Front Walk in Venice Beach. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Gymnast Mattie Larson, 16, of Los Angeles seeks a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. (Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times)
Bernice Jenkins and Wallis “Rich” Richard, both 95, lean in for their first kiss as husband and wife at Pleasant Valley Bible Church in Camarillo. Each had been widowed after a marriage that lasted more than 60 years. (Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times)
Matt Kemp tangles with Colorado catcher Yorvit Torrealba after striking out in the eighth inning of a 3-0 loss to Colorado at Dodger Stadium. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Tommy Pearson prepares his boat for his 7 a.m. shrimp run out of Newport Harbor. Pearson fishes for the elusive spot prawns in 800-foot-deep waters in the Newport Canyon area off Newport Coast. The prawns are a seafood specialty. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Maria and Rafael Alarcon stand with a wooden cross that their son Jorge took door to door in their Pasadena neighborhood. Jorge Alarcon was found dead in a county-run mental hospital bathroom after apparently hanging himself. Jorge had earlier wanted to become a Catholic priest (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Rapunzel prepares to eat a handful of carrots as she and the other gorillas at the Los Angeles Zoo are served a vegetarian feast made by top chefs from 10 popular restaurants to promote the zoo’s annual Beastly Ball. During the event, guests are invited to stroll the grounds after hours to view animals. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)
Volunteer Luke Wuesthoff, 10, of Thousand Oaks touches a yearling night snake during a hike led by scientists to count species at Paramount Ranch in Agoura Hills. At Bioblitz, an event coordinated by National Geographic and the National Park Service, scientists and naturalists from all over the country spend 24 hours observing and recording as many plant and animal species as possible in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and Griffith Park. (Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times)