Luis Cuadrado Encinar was born on 8 July 1934 in the town of Toro, in the province of Zamora in the autonomous community of Castile and León in Spain.
[1][2] He spent seven years at the Official School of Cinematography [es] (EOC), voluntarily repeating some of the courses in order to learn lighting techniques of certain masters, as well as gain experience in the Spanish film industry.
By the time of his departure from the school in 1963, he had worked in several films, including Los golfos (1959), by Carlos Saura, and El cochecito (1960), by Marco Ferreri.
He was cinematographer on Victor Erice's acclaimed film The Spirit of the Beehive, released in 1973,[2][3] providing an essential contribution which many critics have attributed to its success.
[3] However he continued to provide his services of films made by several of his former fellow EOC students, including José Luis Borau's Furtivos (1975) and Ricardo Franco's Pascual Duarte (1976).