Southern California Moments

4:00 PM PDT, May 24, 2013

Reader photo: Dew drops on a leaf

While walking across the UCLA campus Friday, Stan Paul noticed the dew drops sparkling on the flowers and leaves. He shot this leaf in the grass with his iPhone 4S.

4:00 PM PDT, May 23, 2013

Reader photo: Afternoon at the Science Center

Lori Worley shot this photo, which looks like it came straight out of a science-fiction movie, during a trip to the California Science Center on April 23.

4:00 PM PDT, May 22, 2013

Reader photo: Tracks by the L.A. River

Lizzy Stardust shot this photo of train tracks next to the L.A. River from the First Street Bridge on May 13 with a Canon 60D.

4:00 PM PDT, May 21, 2013

Reader photo: Morning reflection in Santa Monica

At sunrise on Jan. 15, Laura Rudich shot this photo of a beach reflection of the Santa Monica Pier. She used a Canon 5dmkii and a Canon 50mm lens.

4:00 PM PDT, May 20, 2013

Reader photo: A nice catch

Gulp! Kristina Krause caught this Western Scrub-Jay snacking on a sunflower seed in her Glendale backyard while taking a break from shooting flowers.

4:00 PM PDT, May 17, 2013

Reader photo: Phone break at Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights

Sergey Sus was in the Boyle Heights area in January for a photo walk. At Mariachi Plaza, a few tourists were photographing a mariachi band that posed for the tourists, he said. When one of the band members stepped to the side to answer a call, Sus took the opportunity to capture a candid moment. The contrast between the band and the blue wall in the background caught his eye, Sus said.

4:00 PM PDT, May 16, 2013

Reader photo: In Los Feliz, Frank the cat watches the sunset

From his home in Los Feliz, David Freid watched the sunset on May 9. "I saw the crazy colors of the sunset from a window and went out to take it in in the short time it was there," Freid said. "My cat, Frank, beat me to it. She was already enjoying the sunset from the patio when I arrived."

4:00 PM PDT, May 15, 2013

Reader photo: Makeshift hummingbird nursery in Sylmar

Cesar Aliaga photographed a hummingbird nest at his home in Sylmar in March. Since the beginning of spring, Aliaga and his wife, Olga, have watched a pair of hummingbirds raise two sets of hatchlings on a lamp on their patio. The last two chicks flew away Monday.

4:00 PM PDT, May 14, 2013

Reader photo: A good laugh at the L.A. Zoo

J. Michael Elliott photographed these zebras at the Los Angeles Zoo on April 14.

8:00 PM PDT, May 13, 2013

Reader photo: Resilient tree in the Santa Monica Mountains

In the Santa Monica Mountains, this tree managed to escape the flames of the Springs fire that scorched tens of thousands of acres in Ventura County. Sandeep Kumar took this photo May 3 with a Canon EOS 7D.

4:00 PM PDT, May 10, 2013

Southern California Moments

Reader photo: For you I will

Although it's Mother's Day this weekend, some small recognition does need to go out to some fathers out there who go the extra mile, including wearing their daughter's child-sized backpack around town so she doesn't have to. Photographer Candice C. Montgomery caught this special moment between a man and his daughter on the Metro Red Line with her Canon 40D.

4:00 PM PDT, May 9, 2013

Southern California Moments

Reader photo: Don't look now

Having a dinosaur hang out on a rooftop can be great for advertising, but it can also provide a unique opportunity for photos. The Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum on Hollywood Boulvard provided such an opportunity for photographer Archie Tucker, who snapped this photo of a bus passenger with his Nikon D7000 — all without noticing the dinosaur at the time of the shot. Surprise!

4:00 PM PDT, May 8, 2013

Southern California Moments

Reader photo: Worth it

What's worth a pie in the face? Not too many things. But if it's to raise money to see a high school class graduate at the Hollywood Bowl? Worth it. Here, an instructor put his face in the way of danger to make sure his students graduate in style. Photographer Neil Fitzpatrick caught the moment after pie impact with his Nikon D50.

4:00 PM PDT, May 7, 2013

Southern California Moments

Reader photo: Aftermath

Photographer Albert Valles was checking out the damage left behind by the Camarillo fires last week, when he noticed a group of fire trucks passing by on Las Posas Road in Point Mugu. Valles decided to pull off the road and captured this image with his Canon EOS Rebel T2i.

4:00 PM PDT, May 6, 2013

Southern California Moments

Reader photo: Form and grace

For those of us who lack form (or grace), the world of ballet may be a place where few of us will tread but which never fails to captivate the audience and transport it to seemingly otherworldly places.

4:00 PM PDT, May 3, 2013

Southern California Moments

Reader photo: To or from

Although it's impossible to tell whether this waiter is walking to or from work, perhaps it doesn't truly matter — the mystery and the bustling downtown Los Angeles scene pull together to form a portrait of a vibrant city on the move.

4:00 PM PDT, May 2, 2013

Southern California Moments

Reader photo: Too close for comfort

Benjamin Kuo says he captured this remarkable shot Thursday morning while dropping his children off at school. As of noon today his house was safe, and we're hoping it stays that way!

4:00 PM PDT, May 1, 2013

Southern California Moments

Reader photo: Panels of glass

On March 31, reader Angela Aleiss found herself "attracted to the multiple glass panels and their texture" that she observed inside of a building in Century City. Finding "the abstract pattern [to be] eye-catching," she decided to snap a photo of the panels, using her Nikon P500.

4:00 PM PDT, April 30, 2013

Southern California Moments

Reader photo: Good morning, indeed

This photo of Mission Viejo Lake was taken around 6 a.m. Jan. 2 by reader Alyssa Hunter. She says she used a Canon 60D and a 17-40mm lens. Hunter was documenting the lake for a landscape photography assignment.

4:00 PM PDT, April 29, 2013

Southern California Moments

Reader photo: Just reading her newspaper

Since this is a "So Cal Moments" entry, you might guess that this picture was taken in downtown L.A.'s Chinatown. And you'd be right.

4:00 PM PDT, April 26, 2013

Reader photo: Run

A child runs past a mural on Brooks Avenue in Venice in this image by Michael Ares. The image was taken on April 13 with a Nikon D7000.

4:00 PM PDT, April 25, 2013

Reader photo: Cruising Grand

A group of men sit and play guitar in the back of a pickup truck during Cruising Grand, a weekly event in Escondido showcasing classic cars and hot rods. The image was made on April 19 with a Leica M6 on Kodak BW400CN film.

4:00 PM PDT, April 24, 2013

Reader photo: From up here...

An empty Dodger Stadium lies in the foreground of this image, taken by Nancy Dushkin while on a helicopter tour of Los Angeles on Sunday. "Even with the door off, I felt completely safe," Dushkin said. The image was captured with a Nikon D800.

4:00 PM PDT, April 23, 2013

Reader photo: Abandoned train depot

The fenced-off Santa Fe depot in Monrovia is made more haunting in this image from Justin Jakobson's captured on a Revueflex SD-1 SLR with cross-processed Fujichrome Velvia 50 slide film.

4:00 PM PDT, April 22, 2013

Reader photo: CicLAvia on Main

A man rides a Trikke "carving vehicle" down Main Street in downtown Los Angeles during CicLAvia on Sunday. The image was taken with a Canon 5D MkIII.

4:00 PM PDT, April 19, 2013

Reader photo: Buckeye butterfly

Kris Jaro Hasson shot this photo of a butterfly on Monday at the Butterfly Pavilion at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. She used a Canon S95.

4:00 PM PDT, April 18, 2013

Reader photo: Hollywood commute

Leonel Campos shot this photo walking across Hollywood Boulevard on Argyle Avenue.

4:00 PM PDT, April 17, 2013

Reader photo: Ocean poppies

Nicola Buck came upon pockets of poppies along a path at Will Rogers State Beach on April 10. Buck said she hoped to go to the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve to photograph the state flowers, but found they weren’t thriving this year because of the dry weather.

4:00 PM PDT, April 16, 2013

Reader photos: Waiting at Union Station

While waiting for a few minutes at Union Station in January, Romeo Doneza caught this photo of a woman walking through the center of the light rays and shadows coming from a skylight.

4:00 PM PDT, April 15, 2013

Southern California Moments

Reader photo: Colorful tunnels

Patricia Marroquin shot this photo of a "Los Angeles girl" roaming the colorful spiral tunnels of the Exxopolis Luminarium at UC Santa Barbara on April 4. She used a Canon PowerShot G1X. The Architects of Air Luminarium, a balloon-like inflatable structure, stopped at the university April 3-7 and will travel to various other cities throughout this U.S. this year. 

4:00 PM PDT, April 12, 2013

Southern California Moments

Reader photo: Morning in Venice

Armin Adams photographed a pot of basil and a bouquet of flowers near a kitchen window in his Venice home on Tuesday, trying to capture the light shining through the basil leaves. 

4:00 PM PDT, April 11, 2013

Southern California Moments

Reader photo: Pacific Coast Highway at dusk

John "Rod" Rodrigues photographed this scene of Pacific Coast Highway near Point Mugu, which he regularly passes on his daily commute, on March 2.

4:00 PM PDT, April 10, 2013

Southern California Moments

Reader photo: Looking out on downtown Los Angeles

Cat Harris and her daughter visited the Last Bookstore in downtown Los Angeles in March. As they left, they noticed this group of young men shouting from a window above to get the attention of the young women on the street below.

4:00 PM PDT, April 9, 2013

Southern California Moments

Reader photo: Band-tailed pigeons in Pasadena

Kathy Degner photographed this band-tailed pigeon and its scene-stealing companion in her backyard in Pasadena on March 25. Degner is a fan of these birds, and as many as 15 have visited her small patio, she said. She used a Canon EOS 7D.

4:00 PM PDT, April 8, 2013

Southern California Moments

Reader photo: Tearing down Culver Plaza in Culver City

Erin Xavier photographed Culver City's Culver Plaza in August during its demolition. The complex was torn down to clear space for a new retail and residential development. Xavier used a Fujifilm X10.

10:16 PM PDT, April 4, 2013

Southern California Moments

Reader photo: Gulls face the surf

Chris Valle got this photo of gulls at Long Beach's Alamitos Beach back in early February. He used a Canon EOS 7D camera.

9:03 PM PDT, April 3, 2013

Southern California Moments

Reader photo: An escalated view

"The man with the pork-pie hat caught my eye," David Patrick Valera says of the inspiration for this photo, taken at the Los Angeles Central Library in February. 

9:25 PM PDT, April 2, 2013

Southern California Moments

Reader photo: Feathers and spines

Ric Berryman got this action shot of a bird coming in for a landing on a cactus at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden in Arcadia last month. 

7:48 PM PDT, April 1, 2013

Southern California Moments

Reader photo: A sunset jog, with dog

Damian Gadal got this shot of a human-and-dog jogging duo at Santa Barbara's Butterfly Beach, a popular spot for dog owners and their pets. He used a Sony Alpha NEX-7.

4:00 PM PDT, March 29, 2013

Southern California Moments

Reader photo: Desert retreat

David Sanden captures the sun reflected in a friend's glasses when "something seriously funny happened" during his bachelor party at Ocotillo Wells on Feb. 24. The image was taken with a Canon 40D. 

4:00 PM PDT, March 28, 2013

Southern California Moments

Reader photo: The Western front

Civil War re-enactors take part in a parade of Union and Confederate troops before a "battle" in this photo by Reggie Norman, taken during a re-enactment at the Calico Ghost Town on Feb. 16.  

4:00 PM PDT, March 27, 2013

Reader photo: Every picture tells a story...

This golfer looks like he's enjoying himself at this all-natural "driving range."

4:00 PM PDT, March 26, 2013

Reader photo: In a world of her own

With this photograph, Mark Rosales manages to make his subject -- a young woman on Hollywood Boulevard -- appear as if she is entirely separate from and oblivious to her bustling surroundings.

4:00 PM PDT, March 25, 2013

Reader photo: Dancing on the side of a building

While idling at a stoplight on Sunset Boulevard last Thursday, Kristina Krause noticed a large group of people looking up and filming something using their cellphones. When she looked up herself, she saw two performers suspended in midair and dancing sideways on the windows of a hotel along the strip. She managed to quickly snap this shot before the light changed and she headed off.

3:15 PM PDT, March 22, 2013

Reader photo: Carwash

While some see electricity lines filled with birds and think it spells trouble (read: carwash), others see it as a thing of beauty. Photographer Eric Demarcq, working off the jet lag from a Paris trip, says he decided to be an early bird himself and shot this photo downtown in the morning light. Demarcq took this photo with a Canon EOS.

3:32 PM PDT, April 1, 2013

Past Southern California Moments photos

View more photos of the Southland from readers.