PART I

DSLR Shooter’s Toolkit

A Cinematographer’s Guide to Crafting Astounding Images and Telling Better Stories

“We bring a light into the darkness. We find the magic and structure the movie.”

—Gordon Willis, ASC (Cinematographer of The Godfather)1

The importance of cinematography and its relationship to storytelling—whether you’re shooting shorts, feature fiction, documentaries, news, weddings, or music videos—cannot be underestimated. To be a good DSLR shooter, you need to think like a cinematographer (whether or not you’re doubling as the director). And cinematographers are fundamentally storytellers—the ones who translate a writer’s words into images that draw viewers into the world. Without a compelling story, you simply have disassociated ...

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