Photographing Ice Palace?

[MHaberman]

Hello,
I am located in Minnesota, for our local winter Carnaval they are building an ice castle. The castle will have something along the lines of a light show that you see at a concert illuminating it from behind the walls. The last time they did this it was quite impressive with all the different colors and patterns iluminating the ice.

Can anyone suggest some techniques for photographing this type of subject? A local photograhper was interviewed on the news a few nights ago and said that this is very difficult to photograph, particularly because of the ICE. He said it requires special techniques to get the ice to appear clear and not foggy looking? Any one know what he is talking about?

-Matt

[Sketcher]

I'm thinkin' about going out there myself. I don't know about settings and such (still haven't figured out how to properly photograph a ruler) but it'd be fun playin' around. If we could just get the temp above ZERO!!

Winter Carnival (http://www.winter-carnival.com/palace2004/index.html)

2004 Concept, Past Palaces & More (http://www.2004icepalace.com/)

.

[Tapeman]

I am going also. My plan is to go several times during different times of day. My wife works in an office with a view looking down on the palace.
I hope it is a good spot to get some shots from.

[BigRed450]

Dependant on the time of day, there shouldn't be a problem if you use a polarizer to cut glare and watch for bright areas. Exposure latitude will be your only enemy here so shoot in manual and bracket if you are not sure. Sounds to me like this photographer is just making it sound more difficult then it really is.

PS You're shooting digital so check your LCD and histograms regularily.

[santa]

Locally (North Pole, Alaska) we have an ice hotel and Fairbanks has a yearly international ice carving contest. I often shoot the competition. It doesn't take anything special, but here we are shooting at night with backlit ice carvings. If you had to shoot in the daytime you will have a harder time getting a nice contrasting background so you may have to work harder at getting good natural light.
I can only recommend using a tripod, don't let the camera get condensation in it (I'm sure there are many threads on shooting in cold weather) and do some bracketing if you're unsure of the exposure. Nothing dramatic unless there is something unusual about your exhibit, but I can't imagine what it might be. I wouldn't want to use a polarizer because the reflections I'm shooting aren't highly polarized and I wouldn't want to lose the light in my circumstance.
Here are some examples:
http://www.pbase.com/santa/ice_carvings_2003

[Tapeman]

The Ice Palace opens tonight. I drove by it today and with windchills of -30F I never even considered getting out of my vehicle.

[santa]

-30F with windchill, eh? last week it was -50F here...and .... we don't even bother talking windchill cause the numbers get too mind numbing. :) :)

[Belmondo]

-30F with windchill, eh? last week it was -50F here...and .... we don't even bother talking windchill cause the numbers get too mind numbing. :) :)

It's pretty chilly here, too. It's only going to hit 73F tomorrow. Oh, the horrors of living in the desert. 8)

[Dale]

Locally (North Pole, Alaska) Here are some examples:
http://www.pbase.com/santa/ice_carvings_2003

Great Photos. Thanks for sharing.