A traditionalist by heart, Merle will always love film over digital. His early work was strongly influenced by Ansel Adams for whom Merle shares a passion for nature and sharp, detail-oriented imagery. Today Merle shoots almost exclusively with digital. He embraces the various effects made possible by the digital darkroom such as HDR (high dynamic range). Used subtly, this technique allows for his images to include all the highlight and shadow details in a photograph.