In Focus: Staff photos from Oct. 5 to Oct. 11

HOPE FLOATS: Father Christian Mondor of Sts. Simon and Jude Catholic Church carries Father Matt Munoz’s surfboard, which bears an image of the Virgin Mary, along the beach after the “blessing of the waves” ceremony at the Huntington Beach Pier. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Sept. 16, 2014 9:45 AM PT

SMOKESCREEN: Los Angeles County firefighters extinguish a blaze in a lot full of wooden pallets at 114th and Alameda streets in Willowbrook on Tuesday. Some neighbors were evacuated as a precaution, but no injuries were reported. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

HOLY DAY: Men enter Congregation Bais Yehuda on North La Brea Avenue before sunset on Wednesday to mark the beginning of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

HEAT RELIEF: Escaping the stifling heat in his nearby apartment, Luis Gonzalez, 30, rests in the shade of Hollenbeck Park in Boyle Heights on his day off, along with his pet rooster, Pica. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

SEARCHING FOR VICTIM: Experts from the Los Angeles Police Department are assisted by the FBI and other agencies in their search for the body of 16-year-old Roger Dale Madison, whom Mack Ray Edwards admitted stabbing to death in 1968. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

THEY LOVE IT: Russell Martin jumps for joy after he and Manny Ramirez score on a double by James Loney to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. The Dodgers went on to sweep the Cubs and will face the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Championship Series. (Alex Gallardo / Los Angeles Times)

CONTEMPLATING FATE: Embryos float in a petri dish held by Dr. David Diaz. In the U.S., infertility patients grapple over the fate of embryos they have no plans to use. An estimated 500,000 embryos are in cryopreservation in the United States. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

POLITICAL EXERCISE: The second debate between Barack Obama and John McCain is front and center as members of 24 Hour Fitness in Irvine work out. (Christine Cotter / Los Angeles Times)

JAINS CELEBRATE: At the Jain Center of Southern California in Buena Park, a marble idol known as tirthankara is carried into the new temple. The center’s recent opening was a triumph for the local Jain community, most of whose members have come to the United States from India in the last three decades. Jains believe in reincarnation and that salvation comes through leading simple, nonviolent lives. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

LANDMARK: Philippe the Original, in downtown Los Angeles, marked its centennial by selling its famous French dip sandwiches for 10 cents and coffee for a nickel. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)