Reuel Gomez

So, how would you "cast" a cinematographer? As in, what things should I look for? (lighting, color grading, etc.)

I'm going to be honest here, I don't have much knowledge of cinematography. As a matter of fact, I plan on going to film school after I graduate high school to be in the film business as a director (Cinematography is possibly something I'd like to get into one day). But I've always been really interested by the different looks that can be created by using different film stock or cameras, different lenses, different formats, and different lights and lighting set-ups. So I'd like to pose a question: What should one consider when choosing a cinematographer? And how should one communicate with a cinematographer? For example: Say I want to shoot anamorphic and I have my own preference of lenses and film stock, but my cinematographer wants to shoot with spherical lenses and digital cameras, how should I try to convince him otherwise?