And here are a few of the Confederation Park ice sculpture for Winterlude 2010! Ice carvers did a pretty good job—amazing what you can do with a few blocks of ice and a chainsaw, and I’m willing to bet sculpting ice is hard.
Taking pictures of ice sculptures is also pretty challenging, mind you. First, the park was crowded and just getting close to the works was harder than I had thought. Then, ice reflects light, so I needed a darker background. Finally, when you are holding a maple toffee in your right hand, dealing with the camera becomes quite difficult… especially when said maple toffee starts to melt on your fingers. What? I have to enjoy a treat, I’m hanging out outside and it’s—15C!
Oh wow, unbelievable!! Stunning!!!!
.-= Agnes´s last blog ..Happy Valentine’s Day =-.
That’s really neat! We just went to the winter festival here in Toronto and I was a bit disappointed with the ice sculptures. There were only 4 or 5 and only one was really worth looking at. Someday we’ll make it to Winterlude! 🙂 Beautiful photos!
Wow… amazing… and they do this with a chainsaw ! 😉
Nicely done !
.-= Sidney´s last blog .. =-.
Mmm…maple toffee…
I love that sword sculpture.
All that work and these creations will simply melt.
.-= Beth´s last blog ..Enough Already… =-.
I find it incredible sometimes what talented people can do. Great pictures.
.-= Yogi´s last blog ..Adult Winter Reading Program =-.
The ice sculptures should look better at night, I believe…
.-= Khengsiong´s last blog ..Lanterns in Thean Hou Temple =-.
Oh wow. Pushing the earth is simply beautiful. There’s something about the transparency of ice that I find so breath-taking. Beautiful pictures!
.-= Lizz´s last blog ..Valentine’s Day Must-Have’s For the Romantic Girl =-.
They look beautiful! I love the detail put into the work 🙂
.-= Nigel´s last blog ..Sucess! =-.
Indeed it is hard to take ice pictures. They all came out beautifully! Wow, the dragon, the Ying and Yang, even the bird have so much detail. Did they compete within timeframe too?
.-= micki´s last blog ..San Diao Ling Station。Ping Si Branch =-.
Very cool, I see what you mean though, seems difficult to photograph ice sculptures. The dragons seem very cool. I also like the pushing the earth one.
.-= Seb´s last blog ..Prediction Cat =-.
Amazing and amusing photos!
The Yin and Yang photo is funny!
It’s like when Chinese met Maori?!
You should return at night to take another set of photos.
Have you been to Harbin Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival in China?
.-= London Caller´s last blog ..Hamper from Mr Arctic / 来之北极先生的礼篮 / Hamper dari Encik Artik / 北極さんからのハンパー =-.
it must be wonderful to see those sculptures in person, although your photos of them are quite fine. it’s amazing that some of the sculptures are so intricate. it must be a fun craft to learn.
heh. i didn’t know maple toffee melted at -15 degrees.
you could probably suck on your thumb and get the same flavor
after the toffee has melted into nothingness.
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Very beautiful and lovely sculptures. It sure looks very cold but it must be worthwhile.
Have a good weekend.
Alexander
Alex’s World! – http://www.kakinan.com/alex
There nice shots Z”hu…
It brings back nice memory
My favorite is the Yin and Yang photo from what I can see.
Bons baisers de Paris
Crikette
.-= Crikette´s last blog ..Emily Carr, peintre Canadien =-.
Yesterday they were still making some new sculptures with LOVE theme. Was very nice to be at Winterlude 🙂
@Agnes – Living in a cold place has its perks 😉
@Brenda – Really? No, Winterlude in Ottawa has tosns of sculptures… you’d like it!
@Sidney – I know! So many details… and yet, done with a chainsaw 😆
@Beth – The sword is super cool, it’s original.
@Yogi – I’m always amazed too… must be very dificult!
@Khengsiong – Not sure actually because the park is pretty dark. Some are lit at night but not the ones I shot.
@Lizz – Yes, this one is one of my favorite too. Ice is a great material for sculptures!
@Nigel – The ice carvers are gifted this year.
@micki – Yes, they did: less than a day I believe, it was a matter of hours (12 maybe… I forgot).
@Seb – The dragon head was scary!
@London Caller – I’ll go to Harbin one day… I have heard the art is huuuge! But it’s even colder than Canada.
@Seraphine – Well, me neither! What happened is, the maple toffee is covered with snow, and the snow melt even though it was so cold. And of course, the snow was sticky… and I had to rush to the bathroom to clean up 😆
@Alexander – Thank you! It was definitely something to see.
@Crikette – Thank you! Did you attend Winterlude when in Ottawa?
@Khatia Caroline – I would have loved to see that! I missed it, I was taking pics on the Québec side.
Salut Zhu,
GORGEOUS !!
Congrats to the intrepid photographer for braving the crowds,the cold and.. maple toffee in her second hand . Ha !!
The end result was worth it.
I agree; the clearness is beautiful but is not always easy without a backdrop.
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Oh my god! Those electric chainsaws can carve these?
.-= Linguist-in-Waiting´s last blog ..Library Phantom Shooter =-.