In celebration of Earth Day, we wanted to share with you a little bit of our history with the Earth -  from a different perspective - Space.

Over the past 40+ years Kodak has played an important role in Space Photography. NASA has used Kodak Professional products to capture and transmit some of the most dramatic images taken in space to audiences across the globe. Initially, Kodak made customized cameras for NASA's specialized needs. Once man started taking pictures in space Kodak was commissioned to customize film that could adapt to the dramatic climate changes. In the late 1990s, astronauts quickly adapted to using Kodak digital cameras. Today, Kodak is focusing on the CCD image sensors used in satellites that orbit the Earth, Moon Mars, and Venus.

Lunar Orbiter
In the mid sixties, NASA launched a series of five Lunar Orbiter spacecraft that collectively photographed 99% of the moon's surface in preparation for an Apollo moon landing. Each carried an ingenious photographic system, designed and built by Kodak

This system was designed to be used as an unmanned satellite to take high-resolution pictures of the moon's surface in preparation for an Apollo moon landing. The Lunar Orbiter system took photographs, processed and scanned the film, and converted imagery into a continuous video signal for pickup by Kodak-built receivers on Earth. At that time, it was the most complex instrumentation payload ever launched aboard a spacecraft.

Watch this amazing podcast of Todd Gustavson, curator of Technology from the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, discussing the Lunar Orbiter Camera manufactured by Eastman Kodak. The Lunar Orbiter is now a part of the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film Technology Collection. It is really cool to see how the lunar orbiter really worked!!

Photographs of the Lunar Orbiter

Kodak Film in Space
Did you know: John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth, Kodak film recorded his reactions to traveling through space at 17,400 miles per hour.

Kodak was asked by NASA to develop thin new films with special emulsions double-perforated 70mm film, which permitted 160 pictures in color or 200 on black and white.

Apollo 8 was one of the first missions to use this film. There were three magazines loaded with 70 mm wide, perforated Kodak Panatomic-X fine-grained, 80 ASA, b/w film, two with Kodak Ektachrome SO-68, one with Kodak Ektachrome SO-121, and one with super light-sensitive Kodak 2485, 16,000 ASA film - which produced 1100 color, black and white, and filtered photographs from the Apollo 8 mission.

Digital Photography in Space
In the late 1990s Kodak Professional Digital Cameras were used by the astronauts to document their missions. Kodak made improvements to the cameras enabling them to be easy for the astronauts to use in their bulky suits. The astronauts were able to transmit the images back to earth prior to landing. This was considered a great success!

There are still a few of these cameras in use by the astronauts today!

Kodak CCD Image Sensors
Kodak CCD image sensors are used today in satellites that orbit not only the Earth, but Mars and Venus as well.  Kodak image sensors were the "eyes" of the Sojourner rover that first explored the surface of Mars in 1997.  When NASA returns to the moon with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter later this year, Kodak image sensors will be imaging the surface at 0.5 meters per pixel.  And when the Jupiter Orbiter launches in 2011 to take the first 3-color images of Jupiter, you can probably guess which sensors will be used to take the pictures.

 

What does the future hold? Are the missions of our image sensors a precursor to man landing on a new surface? Will Mars and Venus be the next surfaces man will land on and explore?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 
Earth-rise captured by Kodak's lunar module camera, 1966.

Title: First View of Earth from Moon
Date: 08.23.1966

The world's first view of Earth taken by a spacecraft from the vicinity of the Moon.

The photo was transmitted to Earth by the United States Lunar Orbiter I and received at the NASA tracking station at Robledo De Chavela near Madrid, Spain. This crescent of the Earth was photographed August 23, 1966 at 16:35 GMT when the spacecraft was on its 16th orbit and just about to pass behind the Moon.

Image Credit: NASA/courtesy of nasaimages.org
Original URL: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=1757

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

Title: Earthrise - Apollo 8
Date: 12.29.1968

This view of the rising Earth greeted the Apollo 8 astronauts as they came from behind the Moon after the lunar orbit insertion burn. Earth is about five degrees above the horizon in the photo. The unnamed surface features in the foreground are near the eastern limb of the Moon as viewed from Earth. The lunar horizon is approximately 780 kilometers from the spacecraft. Width of the photographed area at the horizon is about 175 km (109 miles). On the Earth 386,000 km (240,000 miles) away, the sunset terminator bisects Africa.

Image Credit: NASA/courtesy of nasaimages.org
Original URL: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=1793

 

Watch the podcast with Todd Gustavson to see how the lunar orbiter captured the above two images.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

For years, astronauts have been photographing with Kodak Digital Cameras. Below are a few of the images captured.

Image courtesy of Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov

Mission: ISS016 Roll: E Frame: 35583 Mission ID on the Film or image: ISS016
Date: April 9, 2008
Camera: E4: Kodak DCS760C Electronic Still Camera

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Title: Ash Plume from Cleveland Volcano
Date: May 23, 2006

Description:
At 3:00 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time on May 23, 2006, Flight Engineer Jeff Williams from International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 13 contacted the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) to report that the Cleveland Volcano had produced a plume of ash. Shortly after the activity began, he took this photograph. This picture shows the ash plume moving west-southwest from the volcano's summit. A bank of fog (upper right) is a common feature around the Aleutian Islands. The event proved to be short-lived; two hours later, the plume had completely detached from the volcano (see image from May 24). The AVO reported that the ash cloud height could have been as high as 6,000 meters (20,000 feet) above sea level.
Cleveland Volcano, situated on the western half of Chuginadak Island, is one of the most active of the volcanoes in the Aleutian Islands, which extend west-southwest from the Alaska mainland. It is a stratovolcano, composed of alternating layers of hardened lava, compacted volcanic ash, and volcanic rocks. At a summit elevation of 1,730 meters, this volcano is the highest in the Islands of the Four Mountains group. Carlisle Island to the north-northwest, another stratovolcano, is also part of this group. Magma that feeds eruptions of ash and lava from the Cleveland Volcano is generated by the northwestward movement of the Pacific Plate beneath the North American Plate. As one tectonic plate moves beneath another—a process called subduction—melting of materials above and within the lower plate produces magma that can eventually move to the surface and erupt through a vent (such as a volcano). Cleveland Volcano claimed the only known eruption-related fatality in the Aleutian Islands, in 1944.
Image Credit:
Astronaut photograph ISS013-E-24184 was acquired May 23, 2006, with a Kodak 760C Digital Camera using an 800 mm lens, and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and the Image Science & Analysis Group, Johnson Space Center. The image in this article has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast. Lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.

Original URL:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=16689&oldid=13597

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Image courtesy of Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov

Mission: ISS010 Roll: E Frame: 8497 Mission ID on the Film or image: ISS010
Camera: E4: Kodak DCS760C Electronic Still Camera

Caption:
ISS010-E-08497 (24 November 2004) - This picture, apparently the first verifiable photo of the Great Wall of China made from low Earth orbit, was taken by International Space Station Commander Leroy Chiao on Nov. 24, 2004.

 

Additional Resources:
There is a tremendous amount of photographs taken from Space. Visit the following web sites to view other photographs.

http://www.nasaimages.org/

http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov

A special thank you to Michael DeLuca, our very own expert on everything space! Read all of Michael's blog posts.
http://michaeldeluca.pluggedin.kodak.com/

 

Just in case you missed this above...
Watch this amazing podcast of Todd Gustavson, curator of Technology from the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, discussing the Lunar Orbiter Camera manufactured by Eastman Kodak. The Lunar Orbiter is now a part of the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film Technology Collection.

Just because it's dark out doesn't mean you can't take a great picture. Night photography can be mysterious and magical! It does take practice and patience to capture the great image though. Here are a few tips to help you capture the magic at night.

Getting Started:

1. Plan your escapade - scope out the area you would like to photograph. Notice what the conditions are like. Is there a place to set up your camera? Investigate different view points. Try different times as well, just as the sun is going down, when it is really dark out, when there is a full moon vs. no moon.
2. Turn off your flash. Capture the lights of the night, stars in the sky to the cars flying by. When you do turn off the flash the exposure time will increase - you will definitely need to use a tripod or a solid surface!

Experiment with Your Camera Settings:

1. Using a high ISO will allow more light in resulting in a shorter exposure time. A high ISO is perfect when trying to capture lightning or an image where you do not want a lot of movement.
2. Using a lower ISO allows the shutter to stay open longer; use this to capture all the movement with car lights. Take multiple pictures at different ISOs to see the difference.
3. Night scene mode - To compensate for the lack of light, Night Mode uses a longer exposure to catch all the subtle warm and cool colors that come with an intriguing night shot.
4. Be careful with optical zoom it may cause camera shake in the picture. If you can use a release cable or a timer on the camera that will help decrease any movement when pushing the button.

Interesting Subjects for Night Photography
Here are just a few ideas for subjects at night:

• Neon lights
• Streaking cars
• City lights
• Bridges
• Full moon
• Lighting

Things to Remember:

• Take lots of pictures
• Be creative: blurry movement is ok, try different angles,
• Have fun!

This week on our homepage we are featuring a variety of photographs that were captured at night. Enjoy the nighttime photographs!

- - - - - - - -



Belgian Night
Photographer: Jennifer Woodward

Taken in Brugges, Belgium on a cool night in Sept 2007. We walked back to our room a different way and stumbled on this scene off a side street. I wonder how many thousands of travelers and residents have paused at this same spot.

- - - - - - - -


 
42nd Street
Photographer: Broddi Sigurdarson

I wanted to look at an often photographed subject and try to get a look that's a little bit out of the ordinary, while also getting a sense of the bright lights of the big city.

This was shot using an ND filter, which allowed me to increase the exposure to 77 seconds and capture more car lights. The idea was to convey a sense of busy New York City streets.

Taken in New York City, March 2008

- - - - - - - -


 
Wonderful Night
Photographer: Brandon Soh

Taken on New Years Eve, together with my lovely wife at Esplanade Theaters of Singapore. Both of us have wonderful memories of that night.

- - - - - - - -


 
Vegas Storm
Photographer: Ed Puskas

Taken from the top of the Voodoo Lounge rooftop in Vegas.

- - - - - - - -


 
Midway Night Lights
Photographer: Cynthia Bates

This was one of the first long exposure shots I had ever taken and was amazed at how well it turned out for my first time! The picture was taken at the 2005 Texas State Fair - Oct 2005. I chose Holiday and Events as my category - because it is a yearly event in the state of Texas.
 

Today is the day - introducing the revolutionary KODAK eyeCamera 4.1!
This is the kind of breakthrough idea that makes us wonder why we didn't come up with it sooner.


Here is the full scoop on this feature-rich, eye popper...

"What you see is what you get" Viewfinder - Now you can take that photo at the exact moment you see that special scene. Don't try this while driving as objects may be closer than they appear.

Facial Recall Assistant - We have all been there...you are at a party, "I know her. Oh, geesh, she is coming this way...Hello, er, um..." How embarassing. Well, worry no more. This handy feature connects to a customizable "BFF file" connected to your Facebook page. Go to parties and reunions with confidence! Hello Marci, long time no see! Like my stylin' new specs?

Image Stabilizer - After a glass of wine or two, this feature will ensure that all of your photos are razor sharp, maybe even sharper than you remember. Our patented "I love you man Gyro Adjuster" was tested at numerous focus groups and it worked perfectly...I think.



Isn't the design captivating? Our engineers worked very hard to come up with a look that is hardly noticeable from regular eye glasses. Fashionistas everywhere will be clamoring for this accessory to wear at red-carpet events. Okay, back to the features...

Selective Auto-Focus & Zoom - See something you like? Just look, focus, zoom & snap! This is a new feature so use it wisely. It might get you in trouble at the beach so practice at home first.

Wink and Shoot Shutter - Taking photos is now as easy as a winking! We use our patented eyeVu technology to activate only on a wink, not a blink. When you have a cold and are sneezing it is advised you not wear your KODAK eyeCamera 4.1 or you will get pictures of your feet (think about it).

Digital X-Ray Vision - No way? Yes way! In partnership with the Superman Corporation located in the Fortress of Solitude, we co-developed this amazing feature at a bargain price. But remember, even though you will be able to see through walls and closed doors you will not be able to walk through them.

Panoramic Mode - Achieved merely by employing classic Kodak ease-of-use and turning one's head 360- degrees

The KODAK eyeCamera 4.1 is social media compatible so you will be able to stream your life 24x7! Easy photo uploads to Facebook, Flickr, KODAK Gallery, and Twitter are a snap. Now you can impress your friends with an endless stream of photos to accompany the running commentary of text updates you currently provide.

But wait, there's more! The KODAK eyeCamera 4.1 comes with a ton of cool accessories too.

• Super zoom. Oh baby! If standard zoom isn't enough we have the answer (comes with neck brace).
• Lens lashes - Available in natural, bat, and flirt lengths
  
• Baseball cap printer. For prints on the go. The cap's bill is the paper tray! Clever.
• Dual lens steroscopic option lets you take photos in 3-D
• Flash earrings. Genuine CZ (cubic zirconia) rechargeable flash with unmatched cut, clarity, color, and coruscation (look it up ;-)

The team at Kodak is proud to announce yet another breakthrough product. We also want you do do one thing for us when someone looks at you while wearing the new KODAK eyeCamera 4.1. Be sure to...

We think we are really on to something with the KODAK eyeCamera 4.1. Don't you?

It is often said every picture tells a story, a picture is worth a thousand words. When looking at the pictures we are using on the homepage I often find myself drawn to the stories behind them.  Learning about the story behind the pictures adds another dimension of life to them.

Each picture we use on our homepage includes the story provided. Sometimes the story is just a sentence about where it was taken and other times it describes what was happen when the photograph was taken. Each story provides a little bit of insight. This week there was a theme developing in a few of the stories. The photographers took the pictures on their travels of local kids.

Typically, when I am on vacation or visiting another place I take so many pictures of the scenery, architecture and the people I am traveling with. Very rarely do I take pictures of the local people, yet those are the photographs that provide such fascinating stories. Reflecting back on the pictures from my travels where I had taken pictures of the local people I remember so many details about what they were doing, why they were doing it - much more then I do with just the scenery pictures.  

As you are viewing the pictures below, read their stories. I hope they inspire you, as they have me, to take more pictures of the people I see and meet on my future travels. Of course, I will need to remember to write things down in a journal too!!

- Paulette Brandes



 
Going Home
Photographer: Johnathan M. Thomas

This little girl was returning home after a visit to a local mission in Uganda, Africa. Her parents wanted to give her to the church to care for, because they didn't have the resources to do so.  I will never forget her little eyes -- I just wanted to bring her home to my family. I will always remember that day, and her eyes.

- - - - - - -


 
Look what I see....
Photographer: Dave Horton

My wife and I were in Guangdong China, April 2005, adopting our daughter Olivia. We were visiting a country side village and these two girls were following our group.  Our guide said that it may have been the first time that they had seen Americans.

- - - - -


 
Alphabet Drill
Photographer: Wally Orlowsky

This is a Samburu school in Kenya. It was a small masonry building with virtually no supplies. The children were showing off their knowledge of the English alphabet.  Their enthusiasm was inspiring.

- - - - -



Dreaming of Stars
Photographer: Anna Ventura

This photo was taken in Panglao Island, Bohol, Philippines

- - - - -


 
Little Rocker
Photographer: Becky Shadowens

This is my son with his Christmas present. Taken with natural light through a large window. He forgot I was there and I just kept snapping.
 

To start the New Year off we launched a redesign of our homepage in the US. This week is another milestone for us; we are starting to launch the new design internationally! With this launch we wanted to showcase images that captured landmarks from around the world. Kodak is a global country with web sites in more than 30 countries. As we continue to expand our new design into theses countries we really want our homepage imagery to represent the pictures from around the global.

Have you ever wondered how we select the pictures for the homepage? It is very exciting and so much fun! There are many sources for pictures, but one of the key resources actually comes from you - our customers - through Picture of the Day. It starts with a team of people who swift through hundreds of images looking for pictures that represent a technical, artistic and aesthetic quality. As the pictures that meet the criteria are pulled together themes start to emerge.  

Can you identify the theme represented in the pictures?


 
Photographer: Engchoon Lee

Auspicious Red Lanterns
The picture was taken using my Kodak LS443 in Jan 2004, during the Chinese New Year at the Tien Hou Temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I like the colour of this photo.


 
Photographer: Luke Merdsoy

Ancient Roads
This photograph was taken in Rome, Italy during the summer of 2004, during my travels through Europe. I wanted to capture the essence of how a city like Rome acts like a living museum. I was impressed by the way modern infrastructures weave delicately around the ancient treasures, preserving the landmarks of centuries past.


 
Photographer: Nora Drew Josephs

Venice at Night
I took this photo when my two best friends and I went to Italy after graduation. I think it captures the excitement of the time, the energy I had and the beauty of the city.


 
Photographer: Vijay Varanasi

Hyderabad vs London
This picture was taken in Leicester Square, London. It was a quite an experience to see rickshaws in such a city. The fast moving bus in the background of a relaxed rickshaw puller makes it special.


The pictures selected this week have an element of movement - representing our movement forward. 

Did you guess the theme?
 

We are featuring various Cinematographers who were recently nominated for Oscars® on our homepage. Here is a bit more about each one of these very talented artists who paint with light...

Maryse Alberti - The Wrestler

Director Darren Aronofsky and Cinematographer Maryse Alberti discuss scenes on the set of The Wrestler. Photograph by NikoTavernise/Protozoa Pictures.

Maryse Alberti broke into the industry as a still photographer on low-budget films. She went on to work as a camera assistant on documentaries, which led to opportunities to shoot nonfiction films. Alberti earned her first narrative film credit in 1991 for Poison. She is compiling an eclectic body of work, including some 50 documentary, narrative feature and television credits. Alberti earned cinematography awards at the Sundance Film Festival for the documentaries H-2 Worker in 1990, and Crumb in 1995. She won an Independent Spirit Award in 1999 for Velvet Goldmine, and was nominated in 2005 for We Don't Live Here Anymore and in 2009 for The Wrestler.

Her credits also include the feature films Happiness, Zebrahead, Joe Gould's Secret, Get Over It, episodes of Sex and the City, and the documentaries Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, When We Were Kings, All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise, The Power of the Game, Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, and the Oscar-winning Best Documentary Taxi to the Dark Side. In 2006, she was the recipient of the Kodak Vision Award at the Women In Film Crystal + Lucy Awards.

"You have to master your tools to stay in the creative zone. It begins with knowing what you want the images to look like and why. We lit with everything from an 18K to just a flashlight that The Ram turns on after entering his van. That was the only light in that shot."

KODAK VISION2 200T 7217 film and KODAK VISION3 500T 7219 film were used to shoot The Wrestler. More information on Kodak's role with The Wrestler here. 

Ellen Kuras, ASC, The Betrayal

Ellen Kuras, ASC, photograph by Douglas Kirkland.

Kuras majored in anthropology at Brown University. After graduation, she took a course in Super 8 filmmaking, and explored combining her interests in anthropology and film. She took jobs on documentaries, ranging from production assistant to soundtrack editor and camera assistant. Her first documentary, Samsara: Death and Rebirth in Cambodia, earned the 1990 Sundance Film Festival Jury Award. Her first narrative feature film, Swoon, was released in 1992, which garnered the first of two Independent Spirit Award nominations for Best Cinematography for Kuras.

The other nomination came in 1993 for Personal Velocity: Three Portraits. Kuras has earned Emmy nominations for her contributions to Spike Lee's Academy Award® - nominated documentary 4 Little Girls and for the miniseries A Century of Women. In 1996, she was honored with the Kodak Vision Award at the Women In Film Crystal Awards. Kuras is a three-time recipient of the Sundance Film Festival's Best Cinematography Award. Her diverse body of work includes I Shot Andy Warhol, The Mod Squad, Summer of Sam, Bamboozled, Blow, Coffee and Cigarettes, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Ballad of Jack and Rose, Neil Young: Heart of Gold, Be Kind Rewind, and the upcoming Away We Go with director Sam Mendes.

"Depending on the subject, a documentary can be visual poetry that illustrates the words or the cinéma vérité. In traditional documentaries, people tend to edit interviews or they write narrations and use images to illustrate what is being said. I learned how to use dramatic lighting to tell stories, so the images are a visual metaphor that adds layers of meaning as unspoken subtext. It is a more poetic approach. Making The Betrayal influenced how I ultimately see the world as a cinematographer."

Kuras estimates that she used over a dozen Kodak stocks over 23years including Super 8, 16, and 35mm film formats. The Betrayal received an Oscar noination for Best Documentary Feature: Ellen Kuras, ASC and Thavisouk Phrasavath.

More information on Kodak's role with The Betrayal here. 

Wally Pfister, ASC - The Dark Knight

Cinematographer Wally Pfister, ASC on the set of The Dark Knight. Photograph by Stephen Vaughan/Warner Bros.

Wally Pfister, ASC was born in Chicago and raised in a New York City suburb. His father was a writer-producer who worked for ABC News. Early in his career, Pfister was a TV news and documentary cameraman in Washington, D.C. In 1988, Robert Altman began shooting Tanner '88 and hired Pfister initially as a B video camera operator for some scenes, which led to him becoming second unit cameraman. Pfister subsequently studied filmmaking at AFI.

After graduation, he worked on Roger Corman's camera crews before moving on to shoot independent features. His artful cinematography on The Hi-Line led to his collaboration with producer/ director Christopher Nolan on Memento in 2000. Pfister's credits include Insomnia, Laurel Canyon, Slow Burn and The Italian Job. This is his third Oscar nomination, having been previously honored for Batman Begins and The Prestige.

Cinematographer Wally Pfister, ASC (left) and director Christopher Nolan (right) on location in Hong Kong discuss a scene for The Dark Knight. Photograph by Stephen Vaughan/Warner Bros.

"Chris (Nolan) and I agreed that we would create the look in-camera and use physical rather than visual effects because we feel that makes the images more natural and believable. There is some sheen on Batman's cowl and the rest of his costume but his cape is absolutely matte black. He is a creature of the night. You just see his mouth and eyes behind his mask. Bruce Wayne and Batman share the same soul. You can see it in their eyes. We used soft light to put the same glow in both characters' eyes. There is also a little extra zing in Batman's eyes that is almost subliminal."

KODAK VISION2 500T 5218 and KODAK VISION2 250D 5205 were used to film The Dark Knight. More on the Kodak's role in The Dark Knight can be found here.

Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC and Chris Menges, BSC - The Reader

Cinematographer Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC on the set of The Reader. Photograph by Nadja Klier/2008 The Weinstein Company.

Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC was born and raised in the small seaside town of Torquay in Devon, England. He completed his education at the National Film School. After graduation, Deakins focused on documentaries for some seven years, on subjects ranging from the wars in Rhodesia and Eritrea, to a nine-month trip on one of the entrants in a yacht race around the world. He earned his first feature credit shooting the low budget Another Time, Another Place for Channel 4 television. He earns his eighth Oscar nomination for The Reader. His previous nominations were for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, No Country for Old Men, The Man Who Wasn't There, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Kundun, Fargo, and The Shawshank Redemption. His body of work also includes such unforgettable films as Doubt, Revolutionary Road, In the Valley of Elah, A Beautiful Mind, The Village, and Dead Man Walking.

Deakins on shooting The Reader; "My documentary experience taught me to trust my instincts and to work quickly and simply. (Director) Stephen Daldry and I agreed that composing images in 1.85:1 aspect ratio felt right for The Reader because it is an intimate story about two people who are both lovers and friends. We also chose to use a single camera and to unobtrusively concentrate on the performances because much of the story is told by the expressions on people's faces. I reluctantly left the film before we finished because of another commitment but Chris (Menges) and I have the same backgrounds and tastes."

Reader_Menges on set: Cinematographer Chris Menges, ASC, BSC on the set of The Reader. Photograph by Nadja Klier/2008 The Weinstein Company.

Chris Menges, BSC was born in England and raised in London. His grandfather had migrated from Germany to England, where he taught students to play the violin, and his father was the music director at the Old Vic Theater in London. Menges nurtured a boyhood passion for still photography. He also apprenticed in filmmaking with Allan Forbes, a neighbor whose roots were in the United States. Menges began his career during his early 20s shooting film for a weekly television documentary series. During that period, he spent 18 months in the jungles of Burma filming Opium Drug Wars, a documentary about a war between ethnic groups who were battling for control of land. Menges transitioned to narrative filmmaking in 1969 on the independent film Kes. He has earned Oscars® for The Killing Fields and The Mission (1986), and another nomination for Michael Collins.

Says Menges; "I believe your earliest impressions are important. Allan Forbes taught me how to see light, and how camera movement and composition influences how audiences experience stories. I'm a fan of Roger's (Deakins) cinematography, so I was happy to step into the breach. The Reader is a personal story, so we wanted to keep the cinematography as simple as possible with no distractions for the cast. Stephen (Daldry) also wanted a certain sense of anarchy of the set, along with a feeling of continuity and creative energy. Everyone played a role from the production and costume designers to the entire crew."

KODAK VISION3 5219, KODAK VISION2 5217, KODAK VISION2 5218 were used on this picture.

Tom Stern, ASC, AFC - The Changeling

Cinematographer Tom Stern, ASC, AFC on the set of Changeling. Photograph by Anthony Michael Rivetti.

Tom Stern, ASC, AFC was born and raised in Palo Alto, California. While attending St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, he photographed a film for a friend. He later enrolled in the graduate school film studies program at Stanford University, where he concentrated on lighting. Stern began his career working as a gaffer/first assistant on medical films and documentaries. Bruce Surtees, ASC gave him an opportunity to work with him as his gaffer on White Dog. Stern also was a gaffer on many Conrad L. Hall, ASC films. His work with Surtees led to a long-term association with Clint Eastwood, eventually as director of photography on Blood Work, Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, Flags of Our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima and Gran Torino. His other credits include Romance & Cigarettes, Things We Lost in the Fire and Faubourg 36.

Stern says; "We envisioned the look as sort of a cool jazz version of Day of the Locust. Not that I have the talent of Conrad Hall, but that's what I was attempting. We tried to get the leanness of Mystic River going. There is a little more color in it than what we had been doing with the two previous films. It has a rich, yet muted palette. There is directness to these images - they are sort of 'in your face.' I was inclined to make things a little bit photojournalistic, but this story is really one woman's agony and journey. The basic objective was to give the artists room to act."

KODAK VISION 500T 5279 film was used on The Changeling.

Kodak is proud to work with these amazingly talented people who are an integral part of bringing stories to life.

-Tom