Bat Cam in Pennsylvania is Checking in!

Check out Sandi's post on her blog, here!
It seems the Owl camera has gone MIA. I'm not a happy camper. It's very disappointing...

Dave

Time to catch up!

Jake in Spokane, Washington sends in this report and photos:
For the project itself I took a picture of the Upper Falls in the down town park. The Spokane River runs straight through the center of town, and from what i hear is one of the only cities in the country to have a waterfall at its center. The pics I got are of the Upper Falls, which are smaller, but for about 5 bucks and a long wait you can ride the gondola to see the Lower Falls. I've seen them once, and they're pretty impressive. I'm guessing the waterfall is about 70 ft plus.
When i went to take the digital pictures, I was in for a bit of a surprise. I had forgotten that the Gay Pride Festival was going on, and so was the Battle of the Bands. The pride festival had just ended, so there were a few stragglers running around half naked holding hands covered in body paint. Add that with the bands playing, the usual crowd of homeless people, the people on skate boards, the guys just laying around in the park and the kids playing in the fountains, it made for an interesting atmosphere.
The downtown park is always an interesting place, aside from the people. They've got a huge Imax theater, a big fountain and few other rides for kids. All in all, its a pretty damn cool place. 

For the Record

It seems the highly paid professional observer (my day job is as a scientist) and skilled photographer with a keen eye for detail confused a ghost with a bat! Yeah... that bat. It's a ghost. Oh well. Tradition says it's a bat, so it stays a bat, but we all know (now!) that it's a ghost!

Updates!

The Cams are back on the move. They just left Texas and Alabama, headed for Tennessee and Wyoming! Woohoo!

Colorado Reporting in!

Susan did a shoot in a cool location in Colorado Springs. She even posted a pic of her with the camera! Very cool! That's a hint to the rest of the folks shooting with the cameras! LOL

Here's how she started her blog:

Here is the scoop on the Traveling camera!
I belong to a photography forum and this crazy guy, Dave, found these 2 expired film cameras, one with a bat on it and one with an owl. He had this brilliant idea to start a blog and get other photographers to help him with his project. You can find more info on this project on http://travellingcameras.blogspot.com/.I finally got the camera this weekend and now the camera is off to Louisiana for the next leg of the project

3/30/10

The Traveling Camera.
The Bat Cam visited the old train depot (Giuseppes Depot). Here is the history behind this building;
October 26, 1871, the first passenger train stopped at the soon-to-be Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Depot in the infant city of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Many trains followed, bringing hearty souls of adventurous spirit... miners dreaming of quick wealth in the gold and silver mines of the region, settlers searching for a new start at the gateway to the Colorado Rockies, socialites vacationing in "Little London" founded by railroad tycoon General William Palmer, tubercular sufferers seeking a cure in the dry, healing climate.

The rest of the report, and the location photos are on her blog!
http://www.susannwirkesphotography.blogspot.com/

WIsconsin, by way of Chicago, Bat Cam Reporting in!

Saundra did a shoot at a bar in Wisconsin, a little different from the rest. I'll let her tell the story! :

“Focus on Wisconsin”

Wisconsin- what does that locale mean to me? That was my largest question when I was given that state for this project. Home grown in Indiana and now a resident of Chicago, I only had a few memories of brief vacations to the water parks there and even fewer memories of recent visits to that state for planned activities with new friends.

I delved as deeply as possible into my Wisconsin memories as a child, finding the pool of thought shallow. I remembered always hearing “You only have to be eighteen to go in the bars there!” To a teenager, that was monumental! Of course, their glaring obsession with cheese resonated as well. Growing up, we Hoosiers were reminded of their “cheesiness” on a constant basis; they would sport foam cheesehead hats during every opportunity, primarily football games. The question was, what did Wisconsin mean to me today?

I found that my focus on Wisconsin would be a combination of my memories past and the new memories I wanted to create. I asked one of my recently acquired friends, Angela, who lives in Wisconsin if she had any ideas. She was quick to tell me of a bar near her that certainly piqued my interest, a bar so buried in the past and off the beaten track, that it has almost no presence on the web in today's trendy media culture. It had all the makings of a good subject, and most of all, sounded like the type of place I wanted to visit.

The type of place that sounded best to me was one where I could go and hide for a few hours. I wanted a place where Wisconsin locals went to forget about the troubles of life for the night, where the bartender smoked out of the side of his mouth while serving up drinks, and where the pool table was never empty. I found that place alright.

Thirty miles south of Milwaukee in Kenosha, Wisconsin lies The Port of Kenosha Beverage House. It is exactly as it sounds- a house that serves up beverages. It also serves up a wide variety of music each night and a crowd as diverse as the items that decorate the walls and ceilings.

The story goes that the owner, Johnny Mod, converted his house into a bar back in the 1980's after having too many house calls by the police on his “parties.” He acquired a beverage license and converted this Victorian-style house into a bar that would house a diverse clientele night after night.

Modeling simple jeans and a t-shirt, I felt comfortable there, but I may have even then been overdressed. I was no match for the Wisconsin drinks. They are certainly half of what I pay here in Chicago and, strikingly, more than twice the amount of hootch, catching me unaware and making me feel overly confident at being able to win at any of their multiple bar games. (I did get the winning shot at pool and a bull's eye on the dartboard, if I do remember correctly, which I may not at all.)

I took it all in- the overly smoky air, the Packer's sweatshirt seen here or there, and the graffiti of quotes in the bathroom where the mirror used to be. I searched for subjects through the haze. Every single thing there was “perfect” for my one shot. Yes, only one shot though. I finally settled on shooting near the pool table. I couldn't blast the environment with the abuse of this flash, and the light was best under the glow of the overhead lamps lighting the green felt. I looked around the room, thinking out loud, saying I didn't have any model releases, who should I shoot, et cetera. Angela looked at me and said, “How about you? I'll shoot you!” I said uncertainly, “Okay.”

I may not be from Wisconsin, but this was the place that I chose to escape to, to hide away in for a night. I told her where to stand, I posed, and the shot was captured.

- Saundra Karol

The Port of Kenosha Beverage House

714 50th St

Kenosha, WI,53140

Oregon Owl Cam Report! Jim in AZ is on Deck!

Sue in Oregon sent me this note and the photos above a little earlier tonight:

So the Owl and I went to the Stone Cliff Inn today. It's about ten minutes from me and beautiful! If you ever get out this way, I'll take you to lunch there. They have the best salmon chowder in a bread bowl. Mmmm.
If you're a "Twilight" fan, it is where a lot of scenes were filmed. It's where Edward Sparkled.

If you have the movie (which I know you do) the inside is where the commentary was filmed and the people interviewed. Any-whoo, (get it? Owl, whoo... Ahem) I need and address of the next person that gets the owl. Thanks for doing this it's been fun!

Thanks for the report Sue! Jim in Arizona is next for Team Owl!