You are always a student, never a master. You have to keep moving forward.
Cinematography is infinite in its possibilities... much more so than music or language.
There are infinite shadings of light and shadows and colors... it's an extraordinarily subtle language. Figuring out how to speak that language is a lifetime job.
To me, the camera is like a musical instrument. You use it to control the flow, shape, size and colors of images.
Dad, wherever you are, you are gone but you will never be forgotten.
Manipulating shadows and tonality is like writing music or a poem.
Every cinematographer I worked with had his own way of solving problems.
Contrast is what makes photography interesting.
Every once in a while, when the audience is expecting to see one thing, you have to show them something else.
It is also difficult to articulate the subtleties in cinema, because there aren't words or metaphors which describe many of the emotions you are attempting to evoke.
Billions of people have seen and been influenced by movies in the short history of this industry.
Painting and writing are solitary arts.
Photography is a very important part of my life.
In aptitude tests, I scored highest in music.
My peers say I have made a difference. That means more to me than winning an Oscar.
I think one of the reasons people quit is because they're afraid they won't be able to get better and better; that they have to come to a zenith of some kind.
I hope I'm still shooting when I'm 80.
The closer the source of light is to a subject, the broader the beams are.
The sun is the most parallel light source because it is so far away.
It's important to know that if you are dealing with shadows.
I don't think of myself as a director or writer. I think of myself as a filmmaker.
With today's fast films, you can light the way your eye sees the scene. You can abuse the film and create subtleties in contrast with light and exposure, diffusion and filters. That's what makes it an art.
But you know you haven't done it all because you know everything keeps evolving and changing; and you know you can evolve with it if you grow and develop as a human being.
But at heart, I am more than a cinematographer.
It was 100 feet of 16 mm black-and-white film of a car coming to a stop sign, and driving off. I had to decide how to frame and light it. It was magic. There was a sense of mystery.
