THE very talented Irish American lighting camera man Declan Quinn, took the cinematography award at the alternative Oscars for independent productions, the Spirit awards, in Los Angeles last week. Quinn's award was for Leaving Las Vegas, which dominated the ceremony, taking best picture, director (Mike Figgis) and actress (Elisabeth Shue).

Sean Penn was voted best actor for Dead Man Walking, with Mare Winningham named best supporting actress for Georgia and Benicio del Toro best supporting actor for The Usual Suspects, which also took the screenplay award for Christopher McQuarrie. The other Spirit awards went to The Brothers McMullen (best first feature), Before The Rain (best foreign film), Paul Auster (best screenplay, for Smoke) and Just in Pearce (best debut performance for Kids).

Prior to Leaving Las Vegas, Declan Quinn's films as a lighting cameraman included The Kill Off The Ballad Of Little Jo and Vanya On 42nd Street, and in Ireland Clash Of The Ash and All Things Bright And Beautiful. He has shot music videos for, among others REM, U2, Whitney Houston and Van Halen.

He is a brother of Aidan Quinn, who returned to Ireland last year to play Harry Boland in Neil Jordan's Michael Collins, and Marian Quinn, the leading actress in Maurice O'Callaghan's Broken Harvest, which is showing on Network 2 tomorrow night and is still running in Los Angeles, where the Daily News recently described it as "quite possibly the best" of "some very good films coming out of Ireland these days".