Species Argia sedula, according to BugGuide. This is a tough identification because there are so many blue-black damselflies that look so similar. I'm pretty confident with my conclusion because of the matching images (for instance, this one), the male's wings held high over the back, and distribution map showing the species in Los Angeles.
The confusing part is that the female does not look like the pictures I've seen (for instance, this one). However, I read here that female Argias can have one of two types of coloration (one being the tan or pale type and the other being like a modification of the male coloring).
Above:
Male in "sentinal" position during ovipositing (top), female sweeping her lower abdomen in the pond water while perched in the Water Rose plant (middle), and the "tandem oviposit "doesn't work at first when a lily pad is confused with the water's surface, another male stands by (immediately above). There are about a dozen male Blue-Ringed Dancers hanging around, but this is the only female I've seen. (Uh-oh.)
Below:
What I'm fairly certain is the shed skin from a damselfly nymph. It must have crawled out of the pond onto the lily pad and let the "incomplete metamorphosis" happen right there. Check out this YouTube video, Birth of a Damselfly. It has great photographic close-ups from the hour-long transformative process. You may find the dramatic musical score moving and/or hilarious.
Last:
Another male Blue-Ringed Dancer. On the leaf of a water Iris. Strangely foreshortened because the abdomen was angled out toward the camera.
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