Los Angeles is known for its television shows and movies, but it's also a literary town. Bookworms can be found everywhere, in all corners of bookstores, cafes and ... bars. Just as commonly seen around town are photographers, and when great lighting is thrown into the mix, a beautiful photo can appear. Photographer Joséphine Runneboom and a friend were downtown taking photos of Handsome Coffee Roasters when the two took a detour to Tony's Saloon afterward. "My friend and I ended up roaming around the area a bit afterwards, as we are wont to do, and stopped for a drink at Tony's Saloon, one of the greatest bars in the Arts District," Runneboom wrote in an email. "It was still somewhat early and I really liked the way the light was hitting this young man reading a book at the end of the bar, so I had to snap a quick photo." Runneboom took this photo with a Canon 7D. Each week, we're featuring photos of Southern California submitted by readers. Share your photos on our  Flickr page or tag...

When you're tired, you're tired. Photographer Norman Schwartz happened upon this scene while walking through Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles, early on a Saturday morning. "The park was quiet with few persons lying on the grass or benches," wrote Schwartz in an email. "None seemed as much at rest as the subject of my photo. His serene appearance beckoned passersby to join him on the concrete platform and share his moments of peace, oblivious to any of life's hardships." Schwartz took this photo with a Nikon D800. Each week, we're featuring photos of Southern California submitted by readers. Share your photos on our Flickr page or tag your photos with #socalmoments on Instagram and Twitter. Follow us on Twitter or visit latimes.com/socalmoments for more on this photo series.

When you're trying to take a photograph, intrusions aren't always welcome. While there are people out there who see a photographer and duck out of the way, there are also those who make no effort to dodge and instead offer up cheeky poses without being asked. If you're good, you'll know when to let the intrusions happen, and then something fun can take place. Johanna Siegmann is an architecture photographer who likes to shoot interesting buildings. She was out at the Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts in downtown Los Angeles setting up her camera when a teenager rode across the frame just as Siegmann took the photo. "He stopped and grinned, and asked, 'Did I get in your shot?' To which I answered, 'Did you want to?'" wrote Siegmann in an email. "Well, of course he did, and I invited him to try something fun. This was what he did. It was the first shot I took intentionally with him in it. We did a few more, but this was the best." Siegmann took this photo with a...

Once a year, young musical prodigies who attend The Colburn School in downtown Los Angeles get to perform with a full orchestra. Photographer Armineh Hovanesian went to this year's performance on June 29 because her friend's son was playing the piano and guitar.  Hovanesian took a photograph of the show in the school's Zipper Hall with her iPhone 5S. Each week, we're featuring photos of Southern California submitted by readers. Share your photos on our Flickr page or tag your photos with #socalmoments on Instagram and Twitter. Follow us on Twitter or visit latimes.com/socalmoments for more on this photo series.

When I was a student, one of my photography professors challenged our class to carry a camera everywhere for a week. This was long before our tiny mobile devices could take quality photographs, and so I rolled my eyes at the thought of lugging around my DSLR. He promised us that by simply having the camera in our possession at all times, we would instinctively start to see the world differently. We’d pay attention and recognize opportunities in ways we hadn’t before. “This will become habit,” he said. I remembered this simple yet important lesson as I scoured June's SoCal Moments. Several of the images from last month were referred to as “stumbled upon” or “a lucky shot.” Perhaps our readers may have actually been looking -- whether they realized it or not -- for these elusive and understated moments. There’s Suzanne Danziger’s subtle shot of people's shadows against the travertine blocks at the Getty Center, and Howard Fang’s image of ice cream lamps hanging at the L.A. Farmers Market...

With graduation from UCLA around the corner, Edgar Ortiz and a friend traveled to the beach in early June to break from the busyness. The pair started in Malibu, walked a couple of miles south and found themselves on the Santa Monica Pier in front of an "End of the Trail" sign that marks the end to the legendary American highway Route 66. Ortiz had seen pictures of the sign before, but wanted to capture an image of his own with his iPhone 5S to post to his Instagram account. "Since I got an Instagram account, I have been motivated to go out more and explore L.A. and capture moments of this wonderful city," he said.  Ortiz graduated from UCLA on June 13 with an anthropology major and is volunteering for AmeriCorps at Jefferson Middle School in Boyle Heights.  Each week, we're featuring photos of Southern California submitted by readers. Share your photos on our  Flickr page  or tag your photos with # socalmoments on  Instagram  and Twitter.  Follow us on Twitter  or visit  latimes .com/...

The Getty Villa in Malibu is a favorite spot for many, including Chris Hutchinson and his family, who visit a couple of times a year.  During a January outing to the museum, Hutchinson's then 18-month-old daughter Leighton situated herself in the middle of a tile mosaic and started to jump up and down. "It was a serendipitous capture," he said. "I was shooting with a DSLR the whole time but happened to have the iPhone handy when she hopped into the mosaic." Hutchinson used the VSCOcam app to enhance the photo.  Each week, we're featuring photos of Southern California submitted by readers. Share your photos on our Flickr page or tag your photos with #socalmoments on Instagram and Twitter. Follow us on Twitter or visit latimes.com/socalmoments for more on this photo series.

French bulldog Murphy hates walks. Plopping in the sand at Rosie's Dog Beach in Long Beach, however, does the trick for the 8-year-old pup. "It's his happy place," said the dog's owner, Erica Sanchez. Sanchez captured this moment in June with her iPhone 5. From the same phone, she curates an Instagram feed following Murphy's escpades at @Handsome_bastard.  Each week, we're featuring photos of Southern California submitted by readers. Share your photos on our Flickr page or tag your photos with #socalmoments on Instagram and Twitter. Follow us on Twitter or visitlatimes.com/socalmoments for more on this photo series.

For the third time, Barby Tolentino traveled to the Channel Islands Air National Guard Station to spend the day welcoming home his younger brother from deployment.  This time, Francis Antonio had been gone for four months. "It's always exciting to see him step off the plane and look at his facial expression and then finally get that eye contact," Tolentino said.  Antonio was showing Tolentino and some other family members around the base when Tolentino noticed a perfect moment to take a photo with his iPhone 5. "The photo has interesting formal elements and it gives a sense of scale, which is the reason why I took this image from a distance," Tolentino said. "I feel proud of [my brother's] accomplishments ... and glad he's safe at home," Tolentino said.  Each week, we're featuring photos of Southern California submitted by readers. Share your photos on our Flickr page or tag your photos with #socalmoments on Instagram and Twitter. Follow us on Twitter or visit...

As American as apple pie? Maybe the proverb should say as American as cherry pies. The week's patriotic theme finishes with a big bowl of cherries. One of the great perks of summer is the pile of cherries available in any grocery store. They're such a visuallly appealing fruit, with their deep, rich reds, and they're delicious to boot. Karol Franks agrees, saying that these cherries "looked so beautiful when I poured them out of the bag, I had to take a photo." These cherries in particular, according to Franks, are destined for homemade cherry-flavored ice cream.  Follow @emamd on Twitter. Each week, we're featuring photos of Southern California submitted by readers. Share your photos on our Flickr page or tag your photos with #socalmoments on Instagram and Twitter. Follow us on Twitter or visit latimes.com/socalmoments for more on this photo series.  

Today we're reaching a few months back (to maintain this week's patriotic theme) for this image by Reynaldo C. Obrero, submitted in November, of a locomotive with an American flag painted on it. Obrero also tells us that, sometimes, commitments can wait in order to get the shot: "On the day it was taken, I was on my way to a family gathering in the late afternoon when I decided to take a spontaneous detour to a rail yard off of Mission Road near downtown Los Angeles. I was taking some photos in the late afternoon on an abandoned concrete platform and was about to leave until I saw and heard a train approaching." Follow @emamd on Twitter. Each week, we're featuring photos of Southern California submitted by readers. Share your photos on our Flickr page or tag your photos with #socalmoments on Instagram and Twitter. Follow us on Twitter or visit latimes.com/socalmoments for more on this photo series.  

We interrupt this week's fun summery photos for something with a few more shades of gray. For as much as photographers like to argue about gear, one of the most basic rules of photography is: The best camera is the one you have with you. You never know when a moment is going to appear, such as the one above from David Patrick Valera, taken while he was at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in downtown Los Angeles last month when his daughter was participating in a workshop. He managed to capture the hallway scene, with a figure walking the halls and students' work from last year displayed in the case on the left side of the frame. As Valera says: "I have a camera with me at all times even when I'm taxi dad running them all around town." Follow @emamd on Twitter. Each week, we're featuring photos of Southern California submitted by readers. Share your photos on our Flickr page or tag your photos with #socalmoments on Instagram and Twitter. Follow us on Twitter...