Davoncastle Butte

Carleton E Watkins

Carleton E. Watkins was born on November 11, 1829. He was a hunter and fisherman and participated in Glee Club and Presbyterian choirs. In July 1861, Watkins made a career-changing decision. He traveled to Yosemite. He brought a mammoth plate camera (18x22 inch glass) and a stereoscopic camera. [3] We used stereo scopic cameras to give subject depth, and we used mammoth – plate cameras to shoot in more detail. The photographer returned with 30 mammoth plates and 100 stereo view negatives. These are some of the first pictures of Yosemite from the east.