Reader Photo: Best of Southern California moments for November 2014

November is known as the beginning of the holiday season, and in Los Angeles that kicks off with Dia de los Muertos on the first of the month. Opening this month’s set is a photo of a boy dressed for the holiday sitting behind the celebration scenes at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery and eating popcorn. He may have a spooky exterior, but the popcorn bucket is a reminder that behind the painted skull is a human who is hungry.

Rain made its way to SoCal this November and we welcomed it with open arms. Stan Paul took it one step further and went on a “rain walk” with his daughter in Riverside, where he shot a photo of a fallen leaf covered in water drops. The wet leaf’s shades of red remind us that fall does indeed exist in the Southland.

Some of my favorite Southern California Moments photos are those that don’t look like they were taken in Southern California. Karl Klingebiel’s Civil War reenactment photo is a perfect example of that. The soldiers battle in a dark, smoky setting -- one deviant from the clear, sunny skies that normally define SoCal.

Hiking was popular among Southern California photographers this month. San Fernando Valley resident John Megliorino used hiking to take advantage of the ambient light during the photographer’s “golden hour.” He set out for the Victory Trailhead in West Hills an hour before sunset and captured a stunning image of a bush on the trail. In another outdoor shot, Instagram user Thomas Forman caught a man mid-jump while hiking at Mt. Rubidoux with fellow Instagram users.

The last photo of the set caught my eye in a strange, yet funny way. Ricardo Herrera recently purchased a zombie garden gnome and is set on photographing it wherever he goes. This photo in the set was taken near his home in Koreatown.

Feel there’s a photo I left out, or one that doesn’t belong in the set? Sound off in the comments. See you next month!

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.