Born in Quandialia, New South Wales, Australia. Cinematographer who got interested in still photography at around the age of nine, and built a darkroom when he was 11. He first used a 16 mm camera to record the motions of swimmers who were preparing for the 1956 Olympic Games. McAlpine began his career shooting news footage and segued into documentary programs. He subsequently moved on to Film Australia, a government sponsored agency, which produced movies promoting tourism, business, and documentaries. McAlpine entered Australian feature films with GENTLE STRNAGERS (1972). Other feature cinematography credits include THE ADVENTURES OF BARRY McKENZIE (also 1972), THE GETTING OF WISDOM (1977), MY BRILLIANT CAREER (1979), "BREAKER" MORANT (1980), TEMPEST (1982), NOW AND FOREVER and BLUE SKIES AGAIN (both 1983), HARRY AND SON and MOSCOW ON THE HUDSON (both 1984), KING DAVID (1985), DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS (1986), PREDATOR (1987), MOON OVER PARADOR (1988), PARENTHOOD (1989), STANLEY & IRIS (1990), CAREER OPPORTUNITIES (1991), MEDICINE MAN and PATRIOT GAMES (both 1992), THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE and MRS. DOUBTFIRE (both 1993), CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER (1994), NINE MONTHS (1995), ROMEO + JULIET (1996), THE EDGE (1997), STEPMOM (1998), MOULIN ROUGE! (2001), THE TIME MACHINE (2002), ANGER MANAGEMENT and PETER PAN (both 2003), THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE (2005), and X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE (scheduled for release in 2009).  Nominated for Achievement in Cinematography 2001: MOULIN ROUGE! 1 nomination