The turning point in his career was as a second unit Technicolor camera operator on Powell and Pressburger's "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp" (1943); they were sufficiently impressed to hire Cardiff as cinematographer on their post-war Technicolor "A Matter of Life and Death" (1946). Their collaboration continued with "Black Narcissus" (1947), which won Cardiff an Oscar and a Golden Globe, and "The Red Shoes" (1948). These films put Cardiff's talents in high demand, and a string of big-budget films followed.