Ice Sculptures

Ann McRae

Every winter there is an ice sculpture competition here. I always think "I should go look and maybe try to photograph it". Tonight I dropped the boy at soccer practice, had the camera with me because I was to take a team photo for them. That took about 15 minutes, so I had time to fill, and went looking for photo ops. Remarkably, I remembered that the ice sculpture contest had taken place, and headed there. It was a brisk evening (-15C, so warmer than at the GBP v NYJ game), just after sunset. Several families were enjoying themselves. The stairs behind this little guy lead up to a large slide:



Detail:



And this is


One of the faces on this sculpture:



Her face was angled way back and I couldn't get a good angle on it


Nor was the first place winner well illuminated, and that is unfortunate as the detail on this one is amazing:


And finally, for skippy, a roo in Edmonton:


I was pretty unprepared for my 20 minutes of shooting and ended up with really cold fingers! Nothing a latte couldn't fix though!

ann

Skippy

Ann McRae wrote:

Every winter there is an ice sculpture competition here. I always think "I should go look and maybe try to photograph it". Tonight I dropped the boy at soccer practice, had the camera with me because I was to take a team photo for them. That took about 15 minutes, so I had time to fill, and went looking for photo ops. Remarkably, I remembered that the ice sculpture contest had taken place, and headed there. It was a brisk evening (-15C, so warmer than at the GBP v NYJ game), just after sunset. Several families were enjoying themselves. The stairs behind this little guy lead up to a large slide:

Detail:
And this is
One of the faces on this sculpture:
Her face was angled way back and I couldn't get a good angle on it
Nor was the first place winner well illuminated, and that is unfortunate as the detail on this one is amazing:
And finally, for skippy, a roo in Edmonton:

I was pretty unprepared for my 20 minutes of shooting and ended up with really cold fingers! Nothing a latte couldn't fix though!

ann

Hey there Ann, awwwwwwww too bad that wasn't on when I was over there, did you actually get to see them doing the carving at all??

That would be pretty interesting to watch wondering when they start off what the creation is going to be.

Looking at the Kangaroo looks like its been created in layers??
Is that what they do? put block upon block and then carve?

Thanks for sharing Ann , these look great, how long do they last before they start melting away? .... Skippy
.

raebrown

Skippy wrote:

Hey there Ann, awwwwwwww too bad that wasn't on when I was over there, did you actually get to see them doing the carving at all??

That would be pretty interesting to watch wondering when they start off what the creation is going to be.

Looking at the Kangaroo looks like its been created in layers??
Is that what they do? put block upon block and then carve?

Thanks for sharing Ann , these look great, how long do they last before they start melting away? .... Skippy
.

Too long! Thats why we all try and go somewhere warm at least once per winter.

summerz

Very nice, I have wanted to try ice sculpting sometime...kind of a scary thought lol.
I admire those who do it.

Ann McRae

Skippy wrote:

Hey there Ann, awwwwwwww too bad that wasn't on when I was over there, did you actually get to see them doing the carving at all??

That would be pretty interesting to watch wondering when they start off what the creation is going to be.

Looking at the Kangaroo looks like its been created in layers??
Is that what they do? put block upon block and then carve?

Thanks for sharing Ann , these look great, how long do they last before they start melting away? .... Skippy
.

Now, really skippy if it had been cold enough to keep ice sculptures around when you were here, you would have been quite unhappy!

The way I think this works is that each team is given a certain size of ice cube - x feet by x feet - made from large blocks of ice. They carve it with chain saws, much like the guys that carve large wooden poles do.

They will last as long as the temps stay a good amount below freezing. Today the temps hovered near zero, and there was sleet and wind, so I suspect the carvings were damaged.

That 'roo is well over 8 feet tall, btw.
ann

Ann McRae

raebrown wrote:

Too long! Thats why we all try and go somewhere warm at least once per winter.

Isn't that the truth, Rae.

I dunno, tho, I feel like I've been cold for days on end. I really must find a place that I can earn a living that does not have winter as we know it!

ann

Ann McRae

summerz wrote:

Very nice, I have wanted to try ice sculpting sometime...kind of a scary thought lol.
I admire those who do it.

Yep, it must be quite a skill to develop - fine detail work using chain saw at -20C!!!!!

Thanks

ann