I just received an invoice for services rendered out in Indonesia. I consider this to be money well spent!

(this is related to @tonywu’s earlier tweet)

I consider myself to be an active conservationist. I regularly donate time, photographs, and money to the conservation organizations I have relationships with, and I give images away to other organizations when I feel that the donation will have a positive effect. Of course, there is a limit to the amount of time I can spend giving away my work. If I give away too many, I not only compromise my own ability to continue to photograph wildlife, but I also contribute to making it difficult for hard-earned images of any kind to have value in the marketplace.

Over the past two days, I’ve had a rather unpleasant exchange with a guy I will refer to as Wayne out in Maui. I am not going to post his full name nor his affiliation unless he continues to antagonize me. (read more »)

Brilliant!

Segal send me a link to this Saturday Night Live digital short called “On the Ground.” Instant classic!

The pump is the path to a manly camera, originally uploaded by echeng.

The thing in the middle belongs to underwater photographer Tony Wu.

Adam told me a funny story while we were en route back to San Francisco from Orlando. It went something like this:

At least four people came up to the booth and said, “It’s my goal to take a photo with you!”

I replied, “Are you sure?”

They said, “Yeah!”, and took a photo with me.

I asked, “Do you know who I am?”

They said, “You’re Eric Cheng!”

I said, “No, I’m Adam Lau!”

This sort of thing cracks me up to no end. Two DEMA shows ago, Kenji Ohmura of Fisheye kept being called Eric at the Wetpixel / DPG cocktail night. It was so entertaining that we now refer to each other by the other’s name. “Hello, Eric! Hello, Kenji!”

This year, I stacked the deck by bringing Adam. They had no chance.

Thanks to Eli for showing me this. :)

More below. (read more »)

Joon-Mo enjoys a dip in the pool

I’m sure Adam will post the rest of the underwater photos soon. :)

All must bow down to the disembodied camel head of Friday Harbor.

(Mona, the camel. 1/250 seconds @ f/11, ISO 160. Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III, Canon 15mm/2.8 fisheye lens, Canon Speedlite 580EX II @ +1/3 EV)

This gave me a lot of joy to produce.

In response to an email I sent out to my parents and sister:

From: Wendy Cheng
Date: February 10, 2009 2:08:02 PM PST
To: Eric Cheng
Subject: RE: Panama plans for Eric

meow meow meow meow?
meow meow

The strange thing is that I speak the same language.

Related to this post.

Oh, the antics that happen during late nights…

I heart The Onion.

AOMORI, JAPAN—At first glance, 17-year-old Misaki Nakajima seems like any other shy and submissive Japanese schoolgirl. She loves shopping, text messaging, and the color pink. But beneath her wholesome exterior lies a wicked secret: Misaki Nakajima is consumed by sexual fantasies involving sweaty, middle-aged American men.

The shy Japanese nymph enjoys fantasizing about fat fortysomethings with excessive neck and back hair.

“I can’t explain it,” said Nakajima, dressed in a pleated miniskirt and pure white knee socks. “There’s just something about American men who are at least twice my age and nearly three times my body weight that totally drives me wild.”

Added Nakajima, “They’re so hot.” [full article]

This is an advertisement, but it’s funny (if you’re a cat person). I have no idea why the company paid for an ad that has no relevance to their business, but I’m glad it was made. :) (thanks, Wendy)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do59qlLOK8A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SA3EyRxdLYA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_vvI26NnwE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A7tLVIsuNw

And then, go back to work. :)

Don, Racquel and me at the Palace of Fine Arts

Me: “Oh… thanks. Um, can you take the shot again? This time, aim the middle of the camera right here.” (points at Racquel’s head)

I’d like to share some correspondence between me and my family over the past week while I was at Gatecon. Stargate is my dad’s favorite television show. It shows, doesn’t it? :) (read more »)