In focus: Staff photos from July 13 - July 19
During low tide, workers Jorge Palma, left, and Ricardo Gonzalez Bernal harvest oysters in Samish Bay in Washington. Because of a bacterial outbreak, future crops will not be as large. (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)
Los Angeles Police Officer Joe Breyer, right, cordons off an area for customers with names on a list waiting to enter the IndyMac Bank branch in Encino. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
A migrating blue whale, classified as endangered by the federal government, surfaces off the coast of Long Beach near an oil rig. The animals, the largest on the planet at up to 100 feet long, have been passing unusually close to shore to feed on tons of tiny shrimp. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Gary Rankins, 40, and his son Joseph, 19, enlisted in the Army at the Van Nuys recruiting station. Although Joseph will head for basic training next week, the elder Rankins served in the Army from 1986 to 1994, so he won’t have to repeat that experience. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
About 3,000 prized rainbow trout were killed this weekend when rains sent mud, boulders and other debris hurtling into the Mt. Whitney Fish Hatchery in Independence, a key provider of fish eggs for the state system. (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)
Freya Bardell prepares for the GLOW festival -- an all-night art festival in Santa Monica. The piece, “Green Meme,” is an art collective composed of Freya Bardell and Brian Howe that will float in the ocean just off the Santa Monica Pier. The sculpture is made up of stainless steel pipes, bailing wire and 4,000 recycled bottles. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
James Harris, a senior security officer at UCI Medical Center, uses the loud voice he perfected during his U.S. Marine Corps training to cheer as he joins dozens of protesters outside the Orange facility Monday. Service workers at UC’s 10 campuses and five medical centers started a five-day strike, seeking better pay. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Creating an impromptu free-speech zone, military veterans show up on a recent afternoon to counter a protest by an anti-war group that meets weekly in the Old Towne plaza in Orange. (Karen Tapia-Anderson / Los Angeles Times)
The Baker and Tarpaga dance group is part of the New Original Works Festival at REDCAT in downtown Los Angeles. The festival encourages risk and experimentation in the field of dance and theater. (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)
Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla loses a fly ball hit by Dodger Nomar Garciaparra in the sun. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)