The American Society Of Cinematographers has named the five finallists in its 23rd Annual Outstanding Achievement Awards to take pace in Los Angeles on February 15.

They are: The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button photographed by Claudio Miranda; The Dark Knight shot by Wally Pfister; The Reader by Chris Menges and Roger Deakins; Revolutionary Road by Deakins; and Slumdog Millionaire by Anthony Dod Mantle.

These are the eighth and ninth nominations for Deakins, who earned top honours in 1995 for The Shawshank Redemption and in 2002 for The Man Who Wasn't There. It is the fourth nomination for Menges, the second for Pfister, and the first for Dod Mantle and Miranda.

'Artful cinematography is generally meant to be transparent to audiences but there are countless visual nuances that help to create a sense of time and place, while evoking emotional responses that are in tune with the intentions of the actors and directors,' American Society Of Cinematographers awards committee chairman Michael Goi said.

'In the opinion of their peers, who considered hundreds of movies, these five extraordinarily talented individuals have set the contemporary standard for artful cinematography in a very competitive field.'