Conrad Hall quotes:

You are always a student, never a master. You have to keep moving forward.

I saw Tequila Sunrise as a romantic picture with complex, bigger than life characters.

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.

Manipulating shadows and tonality is like writing music or a poem.

Cinematography is infinite in its possibilities... much more so than music or language.

I was very happy sitting alone at a dining room table, writing a script.

Photography is a very important part of my life.

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.

Dad, wherever you are, you are gone but you will never be forgotten.

In aptitude tests, I scored highest in music.

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.

The closer the source of light is to a subject, the broader the beams are.

I realize that every picture isn't a work of art.

The sun is the most parallel light source because it is so far away.

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.

I can still recall the thrill of shooting my first film.

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.

Billions of people have seen and been influenced by movies in the short history of this industry.

Every cinematographer I worked with had his own way of solving problems.

I don't think of myself as a director or writer. I think of myself as a filmmaker.

My peers say I have made a difference. That means more to me than winning an Oscar.

There is a kind of beauty in imperfection.

Contrast is what makes photography interesting.

It's important to know that if you are dealing with shadows.

That's why I like fast film. It gives you more freedom to light more naturally.

It took a while for me to grasp that my colleagues believe I have made an impact on the history of cinema.

Every once in a while, when the audience is expecting to see one thing, you have to show them something else.

I suppose I would still be a communicator, maybe a musician.

I knew exactly how I wanted it to play, but you are never sure until you watch the projected images reflect off the screen. That's when you know it worked.

But at heart, I am more than a cinematographer.

My first semester, I got a D in creative writing.

The audience has to understand that if the film is going to have any meaning for them. If they are going to empathize with the characters, they have to visualize the process of concentration involved in making every move.

You have to understand the nature of light.

Painting and writing are solitary arts.

To me, the camera is like a musical instrument. You use it to control the flow, shape, size and colors of images.

In Hollywood, maybe only ten percent will make it and the other ninety percent try. This elusive dream of making it and being on top is the same story as the moth being drawn to the flame. The flame and it's attractiveness is something you'll never eliminate. Some will learn how to live in that environment and others will burn in it.

There are a lot of directors who are knowledgeable about images, and others who aren't.

I hope I'm still shooting when I'm 80.

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.