Reader Photo: June 2014: Best of Southern California Moments

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. Both photographers said they frequent these places and it so happened they saw something new. But maybe it wasn’t new. Maybe they saw it because they were looking for it.

The same goes for one of my favorites by Mary Wray of a young boy at a baseball game. When things got slow, Wray, who had her Fuji x100s on her, began looking around the audience. “I waited about 15 minutes and sure enough, this happened,” she says of the shot.

So as you go out and look for photo-worthy moments, remember that the best photos aren’t always the ones that are immediately obvious. Experiment by taking your camera places you normally wouldn’t. Happy hunting!

Feel as thought there’s a photo I left out? Sound off in the comments. See you next month!

Follow Trishna Patel on Twitter and Instagram.

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.