
Number two is the most photographed natural image in California, Half Dome, overlooking Yosemite Valley. The Golden Gate is beautiful and, because of the way the fog plays with the mouth of San Francisco Bay, it always has a different look. It gets to be pretty magical given some fog and some lingering sun light. However, my personal favorite is Half Dome.

When one takes a picture of grandeur it is an attempt to capture not just the image, but the feel. Of course the feel, that sense of being in a great place with the all of the sensory stimuli a maximum delivery, simply cannot be captured. I was looking at some pictures that Ansel Adams took and even his photographs, I don't believe, do not convey all that he must have felt when he was there. However, he captures a mood and that is what makes his photographs so beautiful to me. Half Dome must be the biggest of all the California iconic images.

This year, the sign was almost lost to development, but a group of citizens got together to contribute funds so the city could by the property. All the years since 1923, when it was first erected, most folks thought it was on city property. As it turned out it was not.

Although all of the beaches do not have palm trees and all of the beaches are not wide and sandy, the picture here represents the majority opinion.
California has beautiful forests and deserts, but no one thought of those images -aabsolutely no one.
Note: the photos use on this post were obtained from Public-domain-photos.com.