Rediscovering My Passion for Cinematography

Over the past few years, starting in 2022, I’ve rediscovered my love for filmmaking and cinematography. It’s something I mainly do on the side of my professional work, but I would love the opportunity to pursue it in a more professional setting. I’ve built a great career in the video production industry, one that I really enjoy, but for a long time, I wasn’t feeling creatively fulfilled. So I made decided to return to creative projects and reconnect with the artistic side that first drew me to this field.

I started by learning everything I could about cinematic lighting. As a professional Director of Photography, I already had a strong grasp of lighting, but cinematic lighting is its own challenge. It’s more emotional, much more subjective, and often more demanding than what’s required on a typical corporate shoot. Once I felt like I had a good handle on it, I started working on as many short films as I could.

To be honest, most of the short films I’ve worked on are not great. I didn’t write, direct, or edit most of them, so my creative input was limited to the camera work. But I’m very proud of some of the cinematography I’ve done. After I’ve color corrected the footage, some of the stills from these films are beautiful. Since jumping back in, I’ve worked on seven or eight short films, many for competitions like the 100 Hour Film Race and the 48 Hour Film Festival. These projects move fast and are often chaotic. I usually end up as both the DP and the gaffer, and while I’m always happy to help, wearing too many hats can stretch things thin. Still, even after very long, exhausting and stressful days on set, I leave set feeling creatively energized.

What I love most is how locked in I feel on a film set. I know exactly what I’m there to do, and I’m constantly thinking about how to tell a story through visuals. It is an intoxicating feeling that I really can't get enough of. There is a focus and intensity that comes with working on a narrative project, and it pushes me to do my best work. Every decision, from lens choice to lighting to camera movement, feels meaningful. It is where I feel the most inspired and useful, its hard to put into words. You can see some of my cinematography here: https://www.chriskimling.com/cinematography