Painting with Light

This article is about a book. For the photographic technique, see Light painting.

Painting with Light (ISBN 0-520-08949-9) by John Alton is the first book written on cinematography by a major cinematographer.

Painting with Light

Author	John Alton
Language	English
Publisher	Macmillan Publishers
Publication date	1949

The book was first published in 1949. The book's primary focus is on light and the many complex ways a camera crew can manipulate it for effect. Although much of the technical information is now obsolete, Alton, who worked on the films noir classics T-Men, He Walked by Night, The Amazing Mr. X, and The Big Combo, explains how lighting, shooting locations, and various camera techniques can be used to create a visual mood in film.

It was reviewed in The Times Literary Supplement no. 4845, (1996): 18 ^[1]