CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM

The anticipation of meeting actor Alex O’Loughlin at the “Hawaii Five-0” Season 7 premiere in Waikiki was nearly too much to bear for Bryndall McAluney, 18, (center right). Also pictured are Reiko Ramirez, Madeline Hicks and Maddie Matsumoto, all 18 years old. (Photo taken Sept. 22.)

BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM

Jonathan Dickey and his 16-month-old daughter, Amelia, got a close-up look at a model cast from a 17-foot great white shark caught off Australia that’s on display at the “Planet Shark: Predator or Prey” exhibit at Bishop Museum. “I selected this photo because of the different expressions displayed, from the ferocity of the shark’s face to the serenity of the child’s face.” (Photo taken June 10.)

BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM

“While looking for ‘wild art’ I came across Todd Kamisugi making bubbles for children attending Na Kama Kai’s Ocean Safety & Conservation Awareness Clinic near Queen’s Surf Beach in Waikiki. I chose this photo because it isn’t every day that you see this many bubbles engulfing thrill-seeking kids.” (Photo taken Aug. 14.)

JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM

University of Hawaii football coach Nick Rolovich was doused by his players after they won their final regular season game against Massachusetts, 46-40, at Aloha Stadium. “This is the one sports photo for me that encapsulates all the work I do for football season each year. From dismal seasons, year in and year out, it came down to a dousing and an awakening for Hawaii football. And quite frankly, it was great to document a team that had winning spirit again.” (Photo taken Nov. 26.)

JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM

“When a young boy came to pose for a photo with World War II veteran Ray Chavez, 104, during a Freedom Bell ringing ceremony at the USS Bowfin memorial in Pearl Harbor, he put his hand on Chavez’s, and it made for a quite poignant moment. Each year, fewer and fewer World War II veterans and Pearl Harbor survivors make it to the Dec. 7 commemoration, and this photo represents how important it is for younger generations to acknowledge the contributions of our veterans and our elders in general.” (Photo taken Dec. 10.)

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM

“I had driven to Waianae for a brush fire and was frustrated because I couldn’t find it. Finally, I saw the top of a large black column of smoke rising in another valley. When I arrived, fire engines and trucks were jamming up a narrow dirt side road leading to a burning junkyard. Jumping over rusty barbed wire and metal plates, I cut through a basil farm to get a photo of the junked and now burning cars.” (Photo taken Nov. 18.)

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM

Honolulu DJ and blogger Christa Wittmier at her home, hugging BooBoo, her Pomeranian, for a story on women with cancer who blog about their experiences. “Wittmier was upbeat and holding up well to the photography and interview. As I was leaving, her Pom struggled to follow, and Wittmier picked him up and gave her companion a comforting hug.” (Photo taken Sept. 20.)

GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM

Shepherded by a nearly full moon, a plane from Australian airline Jetstar made its approach to Honolulu Airport. “On the morning of April 21, the solar-powered plane Solar Impulse was slated to take off from Kalaeloa Airport around 5:40 a.m. I reside in a 24th-floor condo with a lanai that faces southwest. I awoke shortly before 5:30 a.m., and I thought I might be lucky enough to photograph the Solar Impulse making its way eastward and incorporate the plane and the moon in a single photo. I noticed the approaching airliner and saw that its path would bring it across the moon. I had set out to get one picture but came away with another.” (Photo taken April 21.)

GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM

During a vigil held at Honolulu Hale, Kourtney Baltazar remembered her friend KJ Morris, who was among the 49 people killed in a nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla., on June 12. “In a world where hope and love could bring us together as humankind, it seems that the acts of hate or terrorism are the ones that bring us closer together, sadly, in horror or mourning. Sadder still is when a terrible act on the other side of the country or killings in another part of the world can touch one personally. This is my picture of that pain.” (Photo taken June 12.)

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARADVERTISER.COM

John John Florence on a wave during the Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau big-wave surfing contest at Waimea Bay. He went on to win the competition. “I shot my pictures at an angle from a rocky ledge, which revealed the waves’ bright sheen and made John John seemingly fly off the wave, creating the shadow below him. … But this photo almost didn’t happen. (Distracted by a phone call,) I looked up and suddenly saw a surfer on the lip of this wave. He shot down and I pulled my camera up and immediately shot him. I didn’t even have time to zoom in. … Thank heavens I got it.” (Photo taken Feb. 25.)

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARADVERTISER.COM

Kumu Robert Ke‘ano Ka‘upu IV, left, and Lono Padilla of Halau Hi‘iakainamakalehua celebrated with Kayli Ka‘iulani Carr after she was named Miss Aloha Hula at the 2016 Merrie Monarch Festival. “I had seen Carr dance and felt she would be one of the favorites. There was a lot of emotion in her eyes when she danced. I always look at the eyes, then the hands. If they are expressive, everything else follows.” (Photo taken March 31.)