Russell Carpenter, ASC, was born and raised in Southern California. He is a graduate of San Diego State University, where he majored in English literature. Carpenter began shooting 16 mm footage for a PBS in San Diego while he was still a student. He subsequently filmed documentaries for KOCE, a public television station in Costa Mesa, California.

Carpenter broke into narrative filmmaking by shooting ultra-low budget films. His early credits include Critters 2: The Main Course, The Lawnmower Man and Pet Cemetery II. Carpenter broke into the mainstream with True Lies in 1994.

His masterful work on Titanic earned him an Oscar in 1997 in addition to Best Cinematography awards from the American Society of Cinematographers and the Chicago Film Critics. Subsequent credits include The Indian in the Cupboard, Money Talks and The Negotiator. His current film is Charlie's Angels.