Dan Merkel broke into the world of surf photography more than 30 years ago, at a time when pro surfers like Rabbit Bartholomew, Shaun Thomson, Mark Richards, Gerry Lopez and Buttons Kaluhiokalani were taking the sport to a new level of competition and international attention. A top surfer himself, Merkel had the stamina and skill to get in the midst of the action while working with the cumbersome cameras that were available at the time. Merkel adapted a waterproof housing firts developed by fellow surf photographer George Greenough, experimented with gear-driven glass housings that allowed him to follow focus, and later went on to design splash housings for the Photo-Sonic brand. 

Surf star Shaun Thomson tells PDN writer Kristina Feliciano, "There were a lot of surfing photographers around who were really great at capturing the action, but [Merkel] captured the action and he captured the interaction between us and each other and the environment." Thomson is the author of the new book on surfing's glory days, Bustin' Down the Door, which features dozens of Merkel's images from the Seventies.

In the 1970s, Merkel moved into cinematography. He became an Emmy-winning filmmaker with the classic surf movies Free Ride and Big Wednesday among his credits.
  
These days Merkel, 62, is not resting on his laurels. He licenses his images through A-Frame Media and markets his prints through his web site. He spends most of his time traveling and, when he picks up a still camera, it's usually to shoot panoramic landscape photos--mostly travel shots, often taken near the ocean. He approaches panoramic photography with the same perfectionism and ambition that catapulted him to the top echelon of surf photography. As he puts it,  "I want to be known as one of the top guys."

For more on Dan Merkel, his pioneering surf photography, and his constributions to the surfing book Bustin' Down the Door, see our profile in the December issue of PDN.