In focus: Staff photos from Aug. 3 to Aug. 9

CUTTING LOOSE:
Diana Leung, 16, rips up the dance floor with friend Jake Seymer at “A Night in the Orient,” a prom for cancer patients held by the Children’s Hospital of Orange County in Orange. After undergoing radiation and chemotherapy, Diana, who was diagnosed with brain cancer in October, is now cancer-free. To view an audio slide show of Diana’s prom night, go to latimes.com/cancerprom.  (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

IN MEMORY:
People take part in a prayer vigil for Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Juan Abel Escalante Monday in Cypress Park. Escalante, 27, was shot and killed near his parents’ home in Cypress Park early Saturday morning as he left for work at the downtown Men’s Central Jail.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

LESSON:
Lupita Salazar, who has been blind since birth, gives surfing a try at Manhattan Beach with the guidance of Adam May. The Kanoa Aquatics camp is in its ninth year of teaching blind and visually impaired students to navigate the waves.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

TIME IS NEAR:
Army recruit Joseph Rankins, 19, of Whittier shares a moment with his girlfriend, Vanessa Heffernan, 18, while awaiting his flight to South Carolina for basic training. Joseph and his father, Gary Rankins, enlisted together in July.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

MERRY:
With “Harps and Angels” -- his first pop album in nine years -- Randy Newman can afford to horse around on the carousel, where he has fond memories from his youth spent on the Santa Monica Pier.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

FUTURE FARMER:
Kimberly Barnes, 18, feeds alfalfa to her dairy goats inside their pen in Tehachapi. The president of a Future Farmers of America chapter heads for college in Iowa this month.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

WATCH CAT:
Penelope surveys the scene at Acres of Books, a Long Beach institution for nearly 75 years. When the inventory, which once topped 1 million volumes, is gone it will close.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)