February 2015: Best of Southern California Moments

While most of the country was buried in snow in February, SoCal enjoyed clear skies and moderate temperatures, with some days even climbing into the 80s. Naturally, our readers spent this month at the beach.

In our first photo of the set, Amparo Rios took a day trip to Ventura County and captured what she describes as a “typical Southern California winter” -- paddle boarders and surfers catching the winter waves.

Farther south on the coast, in Santa Monica, Theresa Solis enjoyed a walk on the pier with her daughter. While there, she was set on finding the perfect spot to photograph a seashell as part of an Instagram project, eventually choosing a deep blue wall that contrasted with the shell’s colors. Nearby in Venice, history buff John Boylan paid homage to The Doors by photographing a girl inspecting the lines of a poem by the band’s lead vocalist, Jim Morrison.

Even farther south, off the coast of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Wendy Miller captured a gray whale in the midst of an acrobatic breach.

Not all of our readers spent their month at the beach, though. Nicola Buck photographed her daughter embracing nature atop a local street in the Pacific Palisades near the Santa Monica Mountains. Meanwhile, in Hollywood, Chris Alo captured an image of a man on his phone next to a sign that says “Live Your Life.” Alo says the image is a moment of our era, arguing that our screen-obsessed lives are “shielding [us] from experiencing the now.”

Feel there’s a photo I left out, or one that doesn’t belong in the set? Let us know in the comments. And, as always, thanks for sharing.

Each week, we’re featuring photos of Southern California and California submitted by readers. Share your photos on our Flickr page or tag your photos with #socalmoments or #californiamoments on Instagram and Twitter. Follow us on Twitter or visit latimes.com/socalmoments for more on this photo series.

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