The show has begun…and when I got a few minutes, I wandered out and got a few shots of the ice carvings. The competition started on Feb. 24th so we had to have the cameras up and running by then. With 30 cameras, that means a lot of computer work for me getting the system running because we end up with 4 networks in the building. DSL is linked to all the office and email (the machines used by the carvers and staff) computers, then there is a T-1 network for uploading pictures, then there is a WebCam network that’s internal only so we can access and adjust the cameras and radio equipment locally, and finally, there is an internal working network for the two cameras that act as web servers. These separations of the various networks protect the system from external attack by hackers or bad guys.
Then we have to physically move the cameras around the park on big stands that support the cameras 12 feet off the ground. Reason for that is we have to shot toward the south, were the sun is most of the day, so the downward angle of the camera housing prevents the sun from blotching the pictures…most of the time. We dragged the camera stands out into the park the night before the opening and got them all running by morning when the carvers went to work. The ice is already there ready for them.
In other areas of the park, the Chinese carvers that come each year have made lots of slides for kids, and a few other large incidental sculptures. Like the main stage that BP is paying for this year. Word is that they ponied up $75,000 for the rights to have their name plastered all over the event. If you go look at the web site… www.icealaska.com you’ll find their logo.
Here are some pictures:
The BP stage...
A front view of the stage.
Some of the volunteers who have passed away but left their mark on the event.
New meaning to the term 'Cold call'.
Down the road a way to the first competition piece. Several days later the keys the birds are fighting over fell to the ground and broke.
Here's another shot of them.
Kind of a double helix sort of design.
Something...
I really like this one.
Here's a side angle shot.
Here's a shot of one of the camera stands we have to lug around.
Didn't know what to make of this one.
Very cool.
OK, that’s enough for today, I’ve got to get up to the Ice Park and work the cameras. Talk at you later.