HAMPTON, VA – APRIL 17: Phillip Roebuck takes a drag off of his vaporizer while back stage at The Taphouse on Thursday, April 17, 2014 in Hampton, Va.

HAMPTON, VA – NOVEMBER 8: Straps attached to his boots activate the drum rig on his back while Phillip Roebuck performs at The American Theater on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014 in Portsmouth, Va.

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA – FEB 15: Dada Gauche, left, accompanies Phillip Roebuck on stage during his album release party at The Jewish Mother on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014 in Virginia Beach, Va.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – MARCH 23: Phillip Roebuck drinks his master cleanse solution while driving to a concert venue on Sunday, March 23, 2014 in Charlottesville, Va. Roebuck is performing at a benefit concert in the evening.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – MARCH 23: Phillip Roebuck performs at a benefit concert at the Paramount Theater on Sunday, March 23, 2014 in Charlottesville, Va. Poorly promoted, the benefit concert attendees were mostly the musicians that were asked to perform.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – MARCH 23: Phillip Roebuck, left, is comforted by his Phoenix after performing at a benefit concert at the Paramount Theater on Sunday, March 23, 2014 in Charlottesville, Va. Something Roebuck ate didn’t agree with him and made him sick.

LANCASTER, PA – OCTOBER 3: Back in their hotel room, Phillip Roebuck, left, checks his email on his smartphone while his wife Phoenix Roebuck, right, enjoys a microwaved burrito from a gas station after a performance at The Chameleon Club in the early hours of Friday, Oct. 3, 2014 in Lancaster, Penn. Roebuck opened up for The Devil Makes Three for two nights on their tour.

–Feature Picture Story 2nd Place: Rich-Joseph Facun/The Virginian Pilot–“Cosplay” Cosplay, literally means “Costume Play.” Cosplay is a subculture where individuals dress up and pretend to be a fictional character usually based upon a sci-fi, comic book, manga or anime character. The rapid growth in the number of people cosplaying as a hobby has made the phenomenon a significant aspect ofÊpopular cultureÊin Japan and some other parts of Asia and in the Western world. Cosplay events are common features ofÊfan conventionsÊand there are also dedicated conventions and local and international competitions, as well asÊsocial networks, websites and other forms of media centered on cosplay activities. CAPTION: Taylor Whitehurst, 17, cosplays as Bonnie from Five Nights at Freddy’s. Whitehurst said she chose her character because “I could make her cute yet very creepy.”

Robert Laubach III , 20, cosplays as Sorin Lucien. Laubach III said “As an original character for the game from Iron Kingdom me and the group [I’m with] promote the game with our cosplay.”

Alexis Delese, 14, cosplays as Freddy Fazber from Five Nights at Freddy’s. Delese said “I chose to cosplay this character because Five Nights at Freddy’s is one of my favorite horror games and my friends needed a Freddy for their group.”

Cameron Allen, 29, cosplays as Frank the Bunny. Allen said he chose his character because “Frank the Bunny is one of my favorite movie characters from Donnie Darko, he tries to get Donnie to understand time travel and why the world was ending. He is dark and quite misunderstood. Like a demonic bunny version of Alice in Wonderland’s Cheshire Car. Truly a fan favorite.”

Ryan Lee, 22, cosplays as Kamina. Lee asked “Why wouldn’t someone cosplay kamina?”

Elvis Brown, 18, cosplays as the Joker. Whitehurst said “My favorite DC character is Joker so why not dress like him? Harley is my girlfriend’s favorite character anyway.”

Katelyn Heath, 15, cosplays as Foxy of Five Nights at Freddy’s. Heath said she chose her character because “I wanted to do something different with her to make her cute. I also fell in love with the game.”

Matthew stretches his “narm,” a nickname he created as a mix between “nub” and “arm,” while making holiday treats alongside his cousin Tori Critzer.

Matthew plays video games while hanging out with his cousin. Watching the screen it is hard to tell which of the players was using only one hand.

Matthew says the Pledge of Allegiance before homeroom class at Wilson Elementary School. One of his dream’s is joining the military to drive trucks, fly jets or work with computers.

Matthew wrestles with his cousin Patrick Henderson on a chilly afternoon in Waynesboro.

Matthew Mitchell laughs as he’s sprayed with a hose before diving down a slip and slide at a Staunton Braves and Waynesboro Generals baseball game during the summer.

–Feature Picture Story HM: Autumn Parry/The News& Advance–Promise Guy, 13, is encouraged by her host mother Barbara Austin to touch moss on a tree, while on a scavenger hunt in the woods at Claytor Natures Study Center in Bedford, Va. “I’m not built for this,” said Promise as she ventured on the nature walk with her host family. This is Promise’s fourth year participating in The Fresh Air Fund of New York City, which sends thousands of children to rural homes every year so they can experience life outside the city.

Promise and Sahara share a laugh while preparing blackberry cobbler with fresh berries they picked earlier that morning at Morris Orchard in Monroe, Va.

Sahara (left) and Promise (right) cuddle together on the recliner as they watch TV on a slow day at their host family’s home in Madison Heights, Va.

Promise looks out the window at Sahara playing outdoors while at her host family’s home in Madison, Heights, Va. The girls are part of The Fresh Air Fund of New York City, which sends thousands of children every year to rural homes so they can experience life outside the city.

Promise slowly reels in her line as she waits for fish to bite during a fishing trip at a small pond in Bedford, Va. Promise began to express her frustrations after hours of fishing without any luck.

Promise reads recipe instructions as she helps her host mother Barbara Austin make blackberry cobbler from the berries they picked earlier in the morning at Morris Orchard in Monroe, Va.

Promise sits in the car as she refuses to get on the bus heading back to New York City at the end of her ten day stay in Virginia with Barbara Austin.

–Feature Picture Story HM: Mike Morones/Navy Times—The plebes of the class of 2018 arrive for Induction Day, or I-Day, at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., on —-Tuesday, July 1, 2014. I-day marks the beginning of their transformation from civilian to future naval officer, starting with a haircut, memorizing the rules, Navy traditions and facts in Reef Points and the appropriate military responses to commands.

Zachary Wesemsnn, left, and Mitchell Perry get their hair cut as plebes of the class of 2018 arrive for Induction Day at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., on Tuesday, July 1, 2014.

Plebes listen to instructions during Induction Day at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., on Tuesday, July 1, 2014.

–Feature Picture Story HM: Rich-Joseph Facun/The Virginian Pilot — “American Summer” There was a time when summer was punctuated by the cross-country family road trip. In the first half of the last century, freshly laid blacktop helped catapult automobile travel. The idea of heading West on the open road to discover the land, to lasso the unknown, and to churn the imagination was adopted as another facet of the ÒAmerican Dream.Ó Then in the 1950s, the United States became the world’s largest manufacturer of automobiles. Middle-classÊAmerican families were able to afford an automobile and the car culture was born. Under the tutelage of Dwight D. Eisenhower,the Interstate Highway System spread like wildfire, allowing Americans a new-found mobility that permeated the ways of our life and culture.ÊOnce-iconic roads like Route 66 were mostly replaced by larger arteries, relentlessly pumping freight and people across the country. In the residue of today’s tech-savvy culture where life is now set to hyper-drive, time has been forfeited. Kinfolk no longer choose to spend countless hours buckled into the seats of the family station wagon, watching the world go by. Why drive when you can fly? The Facun family, my family, bucked the trend and, from coast to coast, embraced the open road. This is our story, our ÒAmerican Summer.Ó

Despite a push to move away from technology while on the road my daughter, Opal Facun, 3, watches a movie and reacts when she spots dairy cows dotting the landscape while heading west on US 64 in Virginia.

The morning after completing the first leg of the trip my wife Jasmine Facun, our daughter Opal and Levi-Joseph, 9, wait to be seated at a cafe in Athens, Ohio. We stopped in Athens to give my son a tour of Ohio University where I attended school.

Open spaces and radical changes in the landscape serve as a crash course in US geography. Just off of US 76 in Northeastern Colorado, a handmade sign at a gas station, unintentionally serves as a definitive icon of the Americana road trip.

From the terrace of Lookout Studio, my wife Jasmine and our son Levi-Joseph, 9, visit the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. Providing our children the opportunity to visit one of our nation’s National Parks was one of many goals we set prior to the road trip.

Road trips don’t always go as planned. While en route to a relatives ranch in Colorado we discovered that due to a miscommunication we weren’t going to be able to stay at their home. We made a quick adjustment and ended up visiting a friend in Denver, CO where our daughter Opal, 3, curled up in the warmth of the morning sun.

Levi-Joseph, my wife Jasmine and Opal, 3, feel at home in Sedona, AZ. The kids fell in love with Northern Arizona and kept asking if we could move to Flagstaff where Jasmine’s father and stepmother reside.