Best of 2008: California photography

Smoke from the Sesnon fire billows over Porter Ranch in the northwest San Fernando Valley. By the time the blaze was contained Oct. 18, it had blackened 14,703 acres and destroyed 15 homes and dozens of outbuildings.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

A tanker drops fire retardant high in the Santa Ynez Mountains north of Goleta.  (Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times)

Patrick Franks, 11, hugs his dog Scamp while taking a break from digging for salvageable items in the ruins of his family home, which burned to the ground in Yorba Linda during the Freeway Complex fire. “He’s the first thing I rescued,” Patrick said with a smile.  (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Jamiel Shaw Sr. kneels at his son’s casket as family members and others gather for the funeral of Jamiel Shaw II, 17, a Los Angeles High School football star who was shot to death.  (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

A protester screams at men standing outside the Mormon Temple in Westwood during a demonstration decrying the passage of Proposition 8, the ban on same-sex marriage. Leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had strongly urged members to contribute to the campaign for the measure.  (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Vallary McDaniels of Inglewood watches President-elect Barack Obama’s victory speech with others at L. Tolliver’s Barber Shop in South Los Angeles.  (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

Kylen Garcia, 10, left, Katie Torrez, 11, and Samantha Dingee, 10, jump over waves while playing on the shoreline at Hermosa Beach.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Sol Shankman is greeted by friends and family as he arrives for a ceremony to dedicate a park bench in his honor at Griffith Park. A fixture at the park, he said: “I was in love with it from the first day.”  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Lamp lighters march in a procession to the main plaza at the weeklong Burning Man event, an annual celebration in the desert near Black Rock City, Nev., which culminates with the burning of large installation art.  (Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times)

Clouds part long enough to permit a view of the Earth’s shadow creeping across the full moon, with Griffith Observatory in the foreground, during a total lunar eclipse. The next one will be in 2010.  (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

Rescuers work to pull people from mangled wreckage after the deadly crash of a Metrolink train and a freight train in Chatsworth.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Emergency workers rescue an injured passenger from a Metrolink passenger car. “People were climbing out of the side, bleeding, crying, screaming,” said Katharina Feldman, who was working out of her nearby home and raced to the site with bottles of water after calling 911. “It was like a war zone.”  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Tori and Kate Kuykendall, who have been together for five years, inaugurate their marriage with a kiss as they hold their 5-month-old daughter, Zadie.  (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Chat R. Warner of the Los Angeles Chapter of Bible Believers shouts at some of the people who gathered in front of City Hall to protest the passage of Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage.  (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Mannequins stand watch in front of a clothing store on the Venice Beach boardwalk. Trendy styles are on display nearly every summer day.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

A lone May Day protester marches up Broadway flanked by police in downtown Los Angeles The LAPD presence was cordial, with officers on foot, bike and horseback addressing the crowd on loudspeakers. Best of 2008 Photography >>> Best of 2008 Main >>>  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)