Given his profession, it may seem ironic that Dan grew up without a TV. However, it was this seeming "void" that served to magnify and nurture his imagination and creativity. In fact, Dan attributes his first experiences in cinematography to radio dramas from which he developed the ability to visualize characters and environments from voices and sounds. This explains why, even as a cinematographer, Dan continues to place a high value on sound in visual storytelling.

Dan earned an MFA in film production from Chapman University where he served as the teaching assistant for esteemed educator and cinematographer, Bill Dill, ASC.  Before relocating to Southern California, Dan began his career as a cinematographer in Austin, Texas, where he shot numerous independent films and was privileged to work with several award-winning directors.  With over 80 shooting credits on features, commercials, television pilots, documentaries, music videos and short films, Dan's experience includes all film and digital formats--including the new RED One  and SI-2K camera systems.

While maintaining a deep appreciation and preference for film as an acquisition format, Dan is a proponent of the advances being made in digital cinematography.  Seeing film and digital formats as different "tools in a toolbox," Dan approaches each project with a philosophy that each story and its telling is unique and no one format is right for every production.