I used to think being a cinematographer meant knowing exactly how I wanted a scene to look.
It took me a while to realise it’s probably more useful to know why.

I like images that have a reason to exist. Light that tells us something. A camera movement that changes the way we experience a moment.

The best work, for me, starts long before the first shot. Prep is where we argue about the things that matter, make decisions, solve problems, and occasionally realise that our beautiful idea is completely impractical.

That's useful too.

A director might show up with something they can see but can't quite say: a feeling, a temperature, a film they half-remember. My job is to see what they see, then give it grammar.

Filmmaking is mostly a negotiation with reality. The location is smaller. The sun is in the wrong place. The schedule has lost three hours. I don't see those things as reasons to compromise. They're part of the problem we're here to solve. 
 

I like enough preparation behind us that we can stop protecting the plan, because the best thing that can happen to a plan is for something better to happen.