Check out our OC photographers’ favorite images from January 2025

A young boy scoots down a path as the sun sets inside Huntington Beach Central Park in Huntington Beach, CA, on Friday, January 3, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Cora Fry (19), left, of Santa Margarita and Sydney Kwasizur (44) of Mater Dei head the ball in a Trinity League girls soccer game at Santa Margarita High School in Rancho Santa Margarita on Tuesday, January 14, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Cypress’ Hayden Roberts (4), center, gets swarmed by fans and teammates at the end of the boys basketball game between La Habra High and Cypress High in a Crestview League contest onTuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, at Cypress High School. Hayden hit a three point shot in the last seconds to win the game. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)

People attend vigil at First Christian Church in Huntington Beach, CA, on Friday, January 3, 2025, for victims of a plane crash in Fullerton on Thursday. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Tucker Smith of Laguna Hills flies through the air at Angel Stadium during a performance at the Monster Truck Pit Party on Saturday, January 4, 2025. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Orange Lutheran’s Michelle Urkov (#10) tries to get past Corona del Mar’s Faith Hastings (#13) during the Bill Barnett Holiday Cup at Corona del Mar High School in Newport Beach, CA on Friday, January 3, 2025. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Firefighters on the First Street and I-5 overpass pay tribute to Kevin Skinner, an OCFA apparatus engineer, as his body is transported to the Coroners Office on January 5, 2025. The veteran firefighter suffered cardiac arrest and died while on a kitchen fire call. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Women lean into the wind while walking across the Chapman University campus in Orange, CA on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. Offshore winds were blowing through Southern California. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Janet Nguyen, left, and U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter, right, share a laugh before Nguyen is sworn in as the First District Supervisor during an oath of office ceremony at Freedom Hall in Mile Square Regional Park in Fountain Valley on Wednesday, January 8, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Corona del Mar guard Luke Mirhashemi (0) is stripped of the ball by Los Alamitos’ Cameron Lovingier, second from right, with the help of Los Alamitos’ Liam Gray, top, in a Sunset League boys basketball game in Newport Beach on Wednesday, January 8, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)

Rows of destroyed homes during the Palisades Fire in the Alphabet Streets neighborhood of Pacific Palisades, CA, on Thursday, January 9, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

JSerra guard Rosie Santos, center, is fouled by San Juan Hills Adelyn Boberg, left, in a non-league girls basketball game in San Juan Capistrano on Thursday, January 9, 2025. San Juan Hills’ Gemma Goldman is at right. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)

Richard Casazza of San Juan Capistrano, left, gets measured by Alan Perlmutter during the annual open casting call for volunteers for the Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach on Friday, January 10, 2025 for the upcoming summer production, “Gold Coast: Treasures of California.” (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Pacific Palisades residents affected by the fires stand while parishoners pray for them at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica. Members of the burned-down Corpus Christi Catholic Church also attended the service on Sunday, January 12, 2025. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Shelley Sykes holds a photo from around 2010 of her son Rory Sykes on Tuesday, January 14, 2025. Rory, who had cerebral palsy, died in the Los Angeles area wildfires. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Joyce Shirado writes a note on the Jimmy Carter Memorial Door at Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, CA on Wednesday, January 15, 2025. The museum and Habitat for Humanity of Orange County are honoring the late president for his work promoting affordable housing. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Artist Wyland paints a mural on the wall next to his gallery in Laguna Beach, CA on Wednesday, January 29, 2025. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Los Alamitos’ Avarie Gonzalez (1) denies Huntington Beach’s Hannah Studebaker (18) a goal during a girls Sunset League soccer game between Los Alamitos High and Huntington Beach High at Huntington Beach High School on Thursday Jan. 16, 2025. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)

Joshua Ellis, 21 and Dima Alaeddin, 20, of Dana Point kiss before they hit the skating rink at Pigeon’s Roller Skate Shop’s pop-up skating rink at the Kaleidoscope in Mission Viejo on Thursday, January 16, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Crean Lutheran guard Jacob Majok, center, celebrates with teammates after the Saints won their Crestview League basketball game against Canyon in Irvine on Friday, January 17, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)

Noah Parker, a third-grader from Emery Elementary School, celebrates scoring a goal at the Buena Park School District’s Superintendent’s Cup Soccer Tournament in Buena Park on Saturday, January 18, 2025. Third, fourth and fifth graders from Corey, Whitaker, Pendleton, Emery and Gilbert schools participated in the event. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)

Thousands of structures sit in ruins in Altadena, CA, on Sunday, January 19, 2025. The Eaton Fire, fueled by intense Santa Ana Winds, ripped through beginning on the evening of Jan. 7 and into Jan. 8. Both the Eaton and Palisades fires destroyed or damaged more than 18,000 structures. Tax documents have not reached some 1,500 property owners because their mailing addresses were not updated. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Six-year-old Paige Nolden is all smiles as she gets pampered during a hair-styling event for fire victims at Pasadena City College on Sunday, January 19, 2025. Nolden’s elementary school burned down. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

People cheer, including Consuelo Robles McWhorter, center, during an inauguration watch party hosted by John Kelly in Tustin, CA on Monday, January 20, 2025. The group was watching the inauguration of President Donald Trump. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The late afternoon light casts shadows of pedestrians on a brick building on the 300-block of W. 3rd Street in Santa Ana on Monday, January 20, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A man rides under sunny skies along Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, CA on Tuesday, January 21, 2025. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A man watches the sunset from above Dog Beach as dusk falls over Long Beach in the distance in Huntington Beach on Tuesday, January 21, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Santa Margarita Catholic High School students Keslyn Logan and Nicole Punto, from left, pick cabbage during a service day in Irvine, CA on Thursday, January 23, 2025. The farm provides food that is distributed through Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

David Levi, left, Dave Elke, center, and Marcelo Dai share a laugh after playing at the Macmull Custom Guitars booth during The NAMM Show at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA, on Thursday, January 23, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Hannah Studebaker (18) of Huntington Beach, center, gets caught between Leah Showalter (14), left, and Bridget Taketa (10) of Newport Harbor as they battle for the ball during a Sunset League game at Huntington Beach High School in Huntington Beach on Thursday, January 23, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Pedestrians navigate through a barrage of motorist instructions at UC Irvine on Tuesday, January 21, 2025. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A lone surfer rides the waves at sunset as lights from an offshore oil platform begins glow near Dog Beach in Huntington Beach on Tuesday, January 21, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A 10-unit building at 2058 Lake Avenue in Altadena is part of 9,500 rental units damaged or destroyed in the Eaton and Palisades fires. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Downtown Los Angeles and buildings along Wilshire Boulevard sit along the horizon over homes destroyed by the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, CA, on Monday, January 27, 2025. The wind-whipped fire destroyed at least 23,448 acres and destroyed thousands of structures. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Yes Ying Tong Dragon and Lion Dance Association perform a lion dance as fireworks go off during a Lunar New Year celebration at Advance Beauty College in Garden Grove, CA, on Tuesday, January 28, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Pacifica Christian forward Logan Stewart, center, reaches for a rebound against Fairmont Prep in a San Joaquin League boys basketball game in Anaheim on Tuesday, January 28, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)

The Thien Long Lion Dance Troupe performs during the Asian Garden’s 2025 Lunar New Year Firecracker Show in Westminster, CA, on Wednesday, January 29, 2025. The Lunar New Year party had firecrackers, music, and a lion dance to celebrate the Year of the Snake. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The Thien Long Lion Dance Troupe performs during the Asian Garden’s 2025 Lunar New Year Firecracker Show in Westminster, CA, on Wednesday, January 29, 2025. The Lunar New Year party had firecrackers, music, and a lion dance to celebrate the Year of the Snake. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Canyon High School softball player pitcher Jordan Simmons (8) in Anaheim on Wednesday, January 29, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

JSerra guard Earl Bryson, right, gets around Mater Dei guard Luke Barnett to score a basket in a Trinity League boys basketball game in Santa Ana on Wednesday, January 29, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)

Anita Bajpai hugs her husband, Brett Peterson, after discovering on Saturday, January 11, 2025, that her 1940s-era childhood home survived the Pacific Palisades fires. Maps indicated it was in the fire zone but only a garage apartment in the back was destroyed. Bajpai’s mother, who is safe, lives there now. The couple are from Orange County. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Jennifer May Nickel says she’s not a glass half-empty kind of person so she performed “Singin’ in the Rain,” in front of her burned-down home in Altadena on Sunday, January 26, 2025 while her friends record her for her Instagram account: Jennifermaydesigns. The tv costume designer lost everything in the home she lived in for 7 years with her husband. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Jose Barrera, 29, in Long Beach on Friday, January 24, 2025 was brought to the U.S. from Mexico before he was 2, even though he has protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA he’s also stuck in limbo, unsure if he’ll be targeted for deportation. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A group of costumed women plunge into the Pacific to celebrate the new year during the annual Surf City Splash in Huntington Beach on Wednesday, January 1, 2025. The group decided to dress like crayons to signify that everyone on the planet is unique, they said. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Grace Greenberg chases the gulls at Aliso Beach in Laguna Beach, CA on Friday, January 3, 2025. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)