New York ( CNN ) -- A collection of 46 never-before-seen photos from The Beatles ' first concerts in the United States was auctioned off for more than $ 350,000 at a New York auction house on Wednesday . The evening 's biggest sellers included a close-up of John Lennon and Paul McCartney singing into a microphone , which sold for $ 30,000 and an image of the four Beatles shot from behind , which went for $ 68,500 . The auction , held at Christie 's in Manhattan , was expected to bring in about $ 100,000 , but the grand total ended up being $ 361,938 . The Washington , D.C.-based photographer behind the show was 18 when he took the photos . Mike Mitchell , who is now 65 , said that the thought of someday auctioning off the photos for such a large sum had never crossed his mind as a rookie photographer vying for a press pass to see the Fab Four . `` Nobody knew where The Beatles would go , '' he said . `` They kind of marched and everybody fell in step behind them . '' When Mitchell heard The Beatles were making their first trip across the Atlantic , he managed to get a press pass from a magazine he worked for . `` I had realized that the camera was really a ticket to a lot of places one might not be able to go otherwise , '' he said . Some of the photos that were auctioned off were taken on Feb. 11 , 1964 , at the Washington Coliseum -- The Beatles ' first concert in the United States . The others were taken at the Baltimore Civic Center in September of that year . Mitchell chose the 46 photos to be auctioned from about 450 negatives that had been collecting dust since the 1964 concerts . He chose group shots , close-ups and even photos without any faces . One of his favorite photos is an image of Ringo Starr 's jeweled hands . Another is a photo of one of The Beatles ' boots on a stage littered with jelly beans . Mitchell had to scan and restore the photos for the auction . `` I had to remove all the dust and scratches that had accumulated over that time , '' he said . He decided to release the photos because `` it was time , '' he said . Cathy Elkies , director of iconic collections at Christie 's , said she was nervous going into the auction because Mitchell was a relatively unknown name , but that the photographs and their subjects spoke for themselves . `` They are beautiful , they are intimate , they are evocative , '' she said . `` And the fact that he was 18 just is really a very sobering idea . '' And the fact that the photos had never been seen added to the success of the auction , Elkies said . `` Beatles fans just think they 've seen it all so to have the opportunity to bring something to market that was never seen before was great , '' she said .
The biggest sellers include a close-up of John Lennon and Paul McCartney . The auction was expected to bring in about $ 100,000 . The photographer behind the show was 18 when he took the pictures . They include group shots , close-ups and photos without any faces .