The Yo-Semite Fall, Front View by Charles L Weed, 1864

One of 30 mammoth-plate albumen prints of Yosemite Valley, Mariposa County, and the Big Trees, Calaveras County, California taken in 1864 by Charles Leander Weed and published prior to 1867 by Lawrence & Houseworth. Weed is widely believed to have been the first photographer to work in Yosemite. For his 1864 photographic expedition to the Valley, Weed was equipped with a large camera and large glass plates, enabling him to produce these 22x28 inch mammoth-plate prints which won the first-place bronze medal at the 1867 Paris International Exhibition for their superior excellence. This complete collection sold at auction in 2012 for $374,500.