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Gruff and disciplined surfing cameraman from Southern California, best known for the high-impact still photography he shot for 

 magazine in the '70s, and as the primary water photographer for 1977's era-defining surf film 

. "They were intent on reinventing the sport," Nick Carroll later wrote of the 

 surfers. "Dan was as competitive as they were—and just as good at what he did."

Merkel was born in Belgium (1946), the son of an army serviceman. He grew up in North Dakota and the San Francisco Bay Area, began surfing in 1963, moved to Southern California the following year, and shortly thereafter enlisted in the Navy. In 1968, he bought his first professional-quality camera, and the following year had his first surf photos published.

 editor noted, "untrained and uneducated in the art of photography." He was also determined, hardworking, and single-minded, and by 1974 his water shots—mostly taken on the North Shore—were setting the industry standard. (He meanwhile continued to surf regularly, and in 1972 finished fourth in the Masters division of the United States Surfing Championships.) The heavily-bearded Merkel was one of surfing's first exercise fanatics, and spent his nonshooting days swimming, pumping iron, and jogging with weights taped to his arms and legs; he "Man Mountain Merkel" was one of his nicknames.

In the winter of 1975–76, with virtually no movie experience, using a high-speed Plexiglass-housed Milliken camera—the whole unit weighed close to 20 pounds—Merkel shot the hypnotizing and technically perfect slow-motion North Shore water sequences for Bill Delaney's 

 star Shaun Tomson later said. "He was hungry and focused; I've never met anyone so determined to get into the spot, with zero regard for his safety." At the same time, Tomson continued, "Dan could just stop dead. He would become part of the wave, yet not part of it. You were never scared he was going to put that big camera box into your face, so you could go as close as you wanted."

Two years later Merkel did much of the water photography for the 1978 Warner Brothers' surf film 

. By this time he had a well-earned reputation as a hardass. "You get in front of me in the water," he later recalled, talking about the dozens of other photographers who flocked to the North Shore each year, "and I'd punch you."

Always a nomad, Merkel told an interviewer in 2008 that he's still on the road, shooting photos, 300 days a year, and that he had no fixed address.

Merkel's still photography has been featured in a number of illustrated surfing books, including 

 (2010). A 21-page retrospective of his work was published in a 2002 issue of 

. Merkel won an Emmy for his camerawork on a 1980 episode of 

Merkel, Dan

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